Please: Help suggest a motherboard

Hey everyone. Ill be upgrading soon from the pc in my sig :O

It has lasted a long time and has been good to me..... and im currently trying to get back into hardware again

Im going to get a Intel E7200 and I and I'm trying to find a suitable motherboard. It is basically a budget PC. I have been looking at the p5k motherboards but this will be an HTPC and the onboard sound issues that i keep reading about doesnt sound like it would work well for me.

I may be using analog or coaxial sound with logitec z-5500's. im not sure the real benifit of coaxial yet...

Things im looking for:
-Overclock friendly (not extreme)
-Good quality onboard sound
-and possibly onboard wifi (not manditory)

Can anyone suggest any motherboard they think would work well for me? Im finding it difficult to get onboard sound reviews for decent overclocking boards.


Thanks in advance

If you're set on the P5K, but the onboard sound is what's holding you, then just get sound card. The P5K is an awsome board and has all the features you're looking for.

You're going to need a good sound card anyways for the coaxial.

doesnt the digital decoder (built into the z5500's) do the actual decoding and decide the quality of the audio?

i was hoping to find another similar performance motherboard to the p5k and avoid spending more on a decent sound card to reduce my budget

Ahh, gotcha. Well there are some nice boards out, but not all have wifi.

You can go with Gigabyte which is a nice board and clocks very nicely.
DFI boards clock like banshees, but really not an HTPC board.
Abit boards are nice as well. Not extreme ocer's, but nice.

I think out of these 3, Abit has the best onboard audio.

Newegg Linky

i just realized i should also mention this will have an 8800GT in it so onboard video isnt really any matter at all

do you know what the top runners for each would be?

Hmm top runners? In boards?

yep. since im not going to extreme OC any of the top runners should do fine probably, which ever has the most appealing options would win me over

Hmm there's a whole bunch of great boards that are top runners. Hard to just one, but these are the ones I like:

DFI Boards
Gigabyte Boards
Abit Boards

These are mostly P35 chipset which I like for the best bang for buck option.

if you ever plan on a dual video card setup, i'd prolly go with the x38...you could prolly get exchange your 8800gt for a 4850 plus a little cash...the 4850 beats the nvidia 9800gtx...and 2 of those and your set...but if ur sticking with one video card solutions the p35 would be a good choice...i'll have mine for sale soon =)

thanks for your input guys. it will be a single GPU machine. the 8800gt is a hand-me-down from my bro

im having trouble finding something local with above average onboard audio. right now i have an nf7-s rev2 and its pretty much equal to an audigy 2 and i am happy with the quality. im afraid if i get something with onboard it will be a downgrade from my current sound quality

analog vs digital is there a big difference? a cheaper soundcard + good motherboard are becoming more appealing unless i stumble upon something else

actually i just upgraded from a 2500+ barton o/ced to 3200+ on a abit nf7-s rev 2.0...and actually the exact same setup is next to me in my sons rig, and yes im using the onboard sound on it too...and i gotta say my audigy 2 zs have mutalates my abit nf7-s 2.0 sound quality...my p35 i just just got for my rig is just as good as the abit nf7-s i had...so if that helps any