upgrading to a e8400, which MB?

[gocartman2]

i have been on planet 939 long enough

i am looking to upgrade my MB, cpu, and ram only. im looking for a motherboard that overclocks a e8400 well and is under $125. i dont need sli and im looking for a ddr2 board, the problem with my current setup is that im limited by my ram i want a motherboard and ram that will not hold the 8400 back one bit, i want the cpu to clock well but thats not my primary goal.

some ideas ive been looking at
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813136043R
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813136038
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128359

i know my psu only has a 4pin 12v connector and not a 8pin, what are the risks of running without one and does it affect oc'ing? id rather not upgrade my 580w unless necessary.

am i on the right track or should i be spending more on the board? i could also use some suggestions for ram, thanks.

[sobe]

Personally I run the UD3R and from my experience with the Gigabyte boards I've achieved easy overclocking with the BIOS (Provided upon entering bios you hit Ctrl + F1 to extend options). Plus, the UD3R you listed is a P45 chipset, so you should be able to take it pretty far as long as the cpu permits it(Or bump voltage a bit to go farther).


And despite the spacing between the cpu socket and the motherboard's heatsink, you can manage to fit most aftermarket heatsinks. I was just barely able to fit a Sunbeam CoreContact Freezer, VERY tight fit, but all in all it works and manages my temps @ 4GHz at about the same as the stock cooling did @ 3GHz.

[gocartman2]

the HSF issue sounds like a deal breaker cause im getting a TRUE and i would have to spend money to buy a chipset HS when i can just put that money into a better board

im leaning towards the p5q deluxe open box now

[sobe]

You should be able to easily fit a TRUE 120 without issue. The Sunbeam CR-CCTF had slight complications due to it's base. It has a plastic circular base that has to be mounted onto the motherboard. You then "clip" on the heatsink/fan similar to Socket 939/AM2 style onto the plastic base. That base is what made it such a tight fit.

The TRUE 120 does not have such a base to worry about. I did some looking around and the TRUE seems to seat fine for those that use it.