Which Motherboard...? =(

I have spent nearly a month, looking for all my parts for my new built, and im completely ready except for the damn motherboard =P

Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 G0 Stepping Kentsfield 2.40GHz 8MB L2 LGA 775 / E6850 Core 2 Duo
Memory: CORSAIR Dominator 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory
Video Card: EVGA GeForce 8800 Ultra 768MB 384bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP

the memory is already at my house, i have 4 gig total, but i guess i could always send back and get 800mhz if i must, i am also still deciding between those 2 processors but almost every mobo supports 1333/1066 Bus anyways

I need your help bad , COST DOES NOT MATTER.

~CharMz

Well, do you want SLi as a possibility in the future?

If yes, then pick up a eVGA nForce 680i ($220)

If no, then look at motherboard with the p35 chipset.

...experience does though.

It all depends on what you're going to do with your processor. If you know a bit about overclocking and you're going for sheer maximum OC... you'd have to go with the E6850. If you're not going to overclock and you use photoshop or Premiere Pro or something like that, then you should probably use the Q6600. Likewise if you're just gaming you should use the E6850 because it will run cooler and consume less energy.

As for the motherboard... since money is no object... You should get one of the new P35 motherboards (P5K Premium or IP35) or just wait a few weeks for the P38s since you haven't even gotten the processor yet.

rainless said:

...experience does though.

It all depends on what you're going to do with your processor. If you know a bit about overclocking and you're going for sheer maximum OC... you'd have to go with the E6850. If you're not going to overclock and you use photoshop or Premiere Pro or something like that, then you should probably use the Q6600. Likewise if you're just gaming you should use the E6850 because it will run cooler and consume less energy.

As for the motherboard... since money is no object... You should get one of the new P35 motherboards (P5K Premium or IP35) or just wait a few weeks for the P38s since you haven't even gotten the processor yet.

Click to expand...

Not all of this is entirely factual.

The E6850 will OC "better", but the Q6600 still OC's pretty darn well. You don't only get it if you don't want to OC

Also, for gaming, more and more games are taking advantage of multiple cores now, including games like Crysis which will be using as many cores as you can feed it.

The E6850 is a great chip, don't get me wrong, but for me personally, the extra 2 cores of the Q6600 far outweighed the extra ~400mhz I might have been able to get through an OC.

Most people are reaching around 3.3-3.6ghz on Air with their Q6600 which simply screams. You might be able to get 3.8Ghz on air with an E6850, I've seen some get much higher, but not sure when the air->water barrier starts to take effect.

The E6850 will get you better framerates for "older" games, but "newer" games and "soon to be released" games will play better on more cores, that is just the way it is.

The quad cores will run hotter though, that's a for sure thing, but I idle at ~44/43/36/42 on the cores. I have absolutely no problem with that, and can't see a E6850 being THAT much cooler. My ambients are a little higher than normal so comparing my numbers to others isn't really fair. You would probably have lower temps than me.

CharMz said:

COST DOES NOT MATTER.

Click to expand...

DFI P35 board..wait for X38 if you can.

The 680i if you want SLI, but I don't see 2 8800's in your list ,and 2 is really overkill anyway.

Q6600 or the x3210 if you want to save a few bucks. Try the x3230 if you want to try for 4GHz on a quad.

I don't really care about SLI, and yes i am only buying 1 video card

I will prob buy the Q6600 and run it 24/7 @ 3.0ghz on watercooling

How long until the new x38 mobos are released, advantages??

Within the early parts of this month supposedly.