Help on Mobo? Q6600 Mobo? SLi? P35-p45 or x38?

Hey my favorite gear freaks!
Any recommendations for an old OC'er (soyo p3 slot1's, iwill MPX2's, DFI lp4 U-D slip mod) on mobos? I'm a bit out of the new gear knowledge (mostly clueless now).

I'm on the fence so far with these (been reading the threads here and reviews on everything for the last 36 odd hours...)
ASUS P5N-E SLi or
AsRock Penryn1600SLi-110db set up. Perhaps the
ASUS P5NT-WS.

It is a workstation, almost nothing else.

I've got a q6600 -will be using quads for sure
7900 gtx (maybe two or three) nVidia is all we can use with our software, so CF isn't necessary- nor SLI, but I need two fast PCIe slots for monitors (see below)
3-4 monitors (CAD work) ....so at least two 8x slots would be minimum
ddr2-800, 4gb (want 4 more) -maybe even 16gb for virtualization (p45 chips then?) I have no idea really what to do about memory right now. ddr2-800 is about as nice as one can get around here, at a decent CAS level...

Sooooo.........
Chipsets and OCing has been the ignorant part here for sure for me... still not sure- too much conflicting reports on OC'in the Q's....
I won't be playing games but I need those two or three fast PCIe slots for my monitors and cad windows and virtual machines.

$220 USD limit





[edit #5]
Older chipsets are fine- don't aim to push any envelopes with this rig- just want something fun under the hood since my boss is picking up the check (yes I have a boss and she is older than me -LOL!)
-Also I'm using Linux distros mostly, VM'in my windows stuff if necessary- so the more memory and cores the better, short of getting a 2nd machine- lol!

IS there a mobo that has....


1) 16gb ddr2-800 (4dimms- yeah?)???
2) 3x x16 PCIe's, (don't need SLi) or x8x8x16, x16x1x16 (like the Asus p5nt-ws, but with 16gb ddr2 support)???
3) Dual Gb LAN???
4) can do 1600fsb?


[edit-note]
Everyone is away- and I'm still reading. Looks like, outside of OC issues that might still be pending, that the choice is down to two cheap contenders for my q6600 workstation.
Asrock penryn1600sli-110db taking the lead so far- that future cpu upgrade possibility takes the cake, it is almost identical to the Asus p5n-E sli but with 3 old school pci slots (-great for my older cards) and solid caps....the 650i will be interesting for OC'in but it's more a work machine. So unless you have something to add, I'll post once I got the system up and running and let the folks here know what happened and what that horrible smell is...
("...Wha-Huh? No that's not plastic burning, that's the smell of pcb meeting hot metal, you fool -pour some milk on it, but hand me those cookies!...")

nope. I havn't seen anyhting mainstream. There are a handful of p45 boards that have everything but the 3 x 16x pci-e slots. They have 16x max single, 8x max dual with 1 or 2 1x slots depending on the board.

Intel X48/x38 do Dual 16x, Nivida's 780i has support for triple 16x

meionm said:

Intel X48/x38 do Dual 16x, Nivida's 780i has support for triple 16x

Click to expand...

sub $220 and meets all the other requirements?

Well not sure anymore, except in post #2 (I didn't see anyone was back from naptime and had posted)...

2x or 3x SLI (16x16x, 16x16x16x, or 8x of the same) isn't so necessary but a stable OC q6600 is the most important. I'm using ddr3-800 for now.
next priority is the two 8x PCIe cards. 8x8x is fine in my case, SLI or not. no CF needed. I save gaming for the xps7950gtx and 1920x1200 lcd 17" screen.

Most of these mobo's I'm looking at can be found stateside (on the other side of the world from me right now) for under $220- unless it's the p45/x48 chips. So I'm looking for more older 2nd/3rd gen gear (new here and new prices in East Europe).

I've been reading everything I can and have time to on here, but no definitive answer on best luck with OC'in a q6600 with a mobo that supports 8x8x minimum, sli or just two+ cards. I'm getting closer though. There really is like a WEEK of reading one could do to just BEGIN to catch up on the new technology after 3 years of sitting on my OC'd DFI lanparties (LP2 and LP4 ultra-d's)....

which brings me to another question...... and a different topic.

Where are you located?

no not that topic, but the one on performance upgrade from my DFI LP nf4 to something of the above.... probably 4x faster?

(I'm near Varna, Bulgaria right now)

What are the options for 3 video cards @ 8x, SLI or not?

Hmmm... still reading reviews and what people use on here. Most of it is still out of my limited budget (I think =my boss's willingness to spend ON a newer expensive mobo vs. a couple of newer monitors for the office as a better investment)...

What are the options for 3 video cards @ 8x, SLI or not? Anyone know or have some links to share- I"ll keep reading of course, but you might be way way ahead of me with this info.

*wink*

Thanks again for the help so far.
(Oh and I miss NewEgg shipping in CA and WA, USA- like so fast- sometimes the next morning. Arghhhh!...)

TangoGrandma said:

no not that topic, but the one on performance upgrade from my DFI LP nf4 to something of the above.... probably 4x faster?

(I'm near Varna, Bulgaria right now)

Click to expand...

I was asking so I could get an idea of what's availible in your area and what kind of prices we're talk'n.

It might be easier if you tell us what you can get your hands on over there within your budget.

Ahhh...well, some Asrock, a few MSI boards, some Gigabyte and most Asus stuff- that's about it- up to almost the newest stuff. Prices are...well, they might spring for a x38 but not an x48 set up I don't think.
Here's a link to the two providers we'll probably buy from
http://www.mostbg.com/most/PriceList.aspx
or
http://www.jarcomputers.com/l_en/?m=10&i=10018

I'm hoping to find something with dual lan and 3x pci videos, SLI or not, that can OC a q6600 and maybe supports 1600fsb... though I'm not sure if I need 3 video cards or just two. The chipset seems to be the decision, as most makers offer some variant or another... so 2x lan, 2x UATA and 3 or 4 pcie, 2-3 for video, SLI possibly, or at least 2 SLI possibly....650i/680i looks good so far to me, and in the sub-$200 USD range over here.

thanks again for the input!
Ideally, if money is no object (it might not be) what would the mobo be to aim for simply without fussing over a few $100's, to get for 3x SLI and future flexibility and dual lan/2xuata133, etc...???? It would be nice to not need to upgrade till a year or two from now. So far I have some stats for out Cinema 4D statistics- a phenom 9700 will render a scene in almost 5 minutes for almost half the price of a q6600 and a decent 650i mobo, but the q6600 rig can do it in half the time and still do other things, for a minimal less than $100 USD more.... 5 minutes vs 2.5 minutes all day long.