Best motherboard option for Q6600?

OK, you guys were VERY helpful with my CPU cooling dilemma, though that was the warm-up question, now the biggie. I don't fully understand everything with all these chipsets running around like X38, P35, and so forth. All these choices have me confused about what to get. Bottom line, what motherboard/chipset do you suggest for a machine looking to run a Q6600?

Right off the bat I'll answer a few questions I figure are coming to aid you people in your aiding me:

What's your budget?
I'd like to be under $400 when it comes to buying a motherboard and at least 2GB of supported memory.

Do you plan to use SLI?
Maybe, I have plans to buy one 8800GT at first, but I may decide later on to go SLI if it proves more worthwhile than just buying a single newer generation card.

What do you plan to install with the PC?
Single Video Card, but I would like the possibility of SLI open if I decide to do it. RAID seems highly unlikely. I had my eye on 2GB of DDR2-800 memory from Corsair. Wi-Fi (802.11g) would be nice built in, but it is easy enough to get a USB adapter I wouldn't sacrifice other features or pay loads more in price for it.

Have you been looking at any particular models previously?
I have been looking at the ASUS Striker Extreme and the ASUS P5N32-E SLI as of late and have been impressed with both.

That's about all I can think of at the moment to help from my mind. Let me know if you need more information to help you better suggest a more appropriate motherboard.

Thanks!

check out the abit ip35-pro http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=3142

and the DFI UT P35 http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=3129

basically you have two options. then sub options under those two.

if you want to ever go SLi you have to have a board that supports it. now, the only board for that is an Nv based board.

for a quad i would go with the *A1* version of the eVGA 680i.

option 2 - No SLi. go with any of the P35 or X38 boards. people have been reporting some pretty good overclocks on almost all the p35 based boards. *non- budget*

ChinStrap said:

[...]*A1* version of the eVGA 680i.[...]

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right!

ChinStrap said:

[...]any of the P35 or X38 boards[...]

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wrong!


if you like to do some OC, please look out for an gigabyte-board (P35-DS4 maybe), if you do not like to OC, just take INTEL's DP35DPM... and if your budget will increase to 500$, INTEL's BAD AXE (2) maybe you board... please don't touch the x38-boards! the power-consumption is terribly high and there is a problem with Intel's EIST... do you can wait for the X48-chipset? because of the problems with the X38 INTEL will not release a board with this chipset. in jan/feb next year the DX48BT??? will come... just use google!

Le Padre said:

if you like to do some OC, please look out for an gigabyte-board (P35-DS4 maybe)

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I wouldn't buy a Gigabyte motherboard again after my last with experience with them. The computer lasted a few months before the board fried... this WITHOUT overclocking.

If someone is suggesting a board it would be nice if it was one they themselves use or have used and are/were pleased with it. I am not trying to stop people from making suggestions, but there are so many boards out there I don't want to read reviews on 40 different ones and decide myself as thats where I started. I'm stuck between the two I mentioned before, the ASUS Striker Extreme and the ASUS P5N32-E SLI, and am looking for reasons why to buy one motherboard versus reasons not to buy another based on what I am trying to do which I explained in my first post.

I apologize if this comes off at all as rude or ungrateful as by no means am I trying to be and I have been trying to phrase my words about 20 times and have just given up since I gotta leave to meet some friends.

no pass on the p5n320e sli as it doesnt oc as good as the earlier one you stated. now while the stricker extreme ocs the best so far out of the 680i motherboards. my suggestion is to go with a EVGA 680i-A1 or T1 board. why? the ocing headroom isnt that much higher on the asus striker. while it does get you higher oc on your quad its not worth the add price to it.

if you could wait though and really want sli then 780i might be our answer to higher quad clocks with sli. other then that we are holding our breath for intel/nv to work something out to get sli on x38/x48 boards.

its all text my friend, how someone takes your post you cant control. its all about how they feel at the time of reading it. as one time they are calm they take it one way but if they are angery then it comes out to them in another. just remember no personal attacks and make what you want clear when asking a question.

EVGA do thte best 680i boards, but wait until Nv bring out their new chipset. IF you dont want to wait, a p35 board like the Asus P5K deluxe wifiAP edition would serve, or the X38 edition which is the P5E deluxe wifi AP.
I donr know what they are in $, but they arent very expensive in £, so they should be within you budget.

subverb said:

this WITHOUT overclocking.

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Overclocking doesn't kill computers, people do

to OCF!!!

aja said:

Overclocking doesn't kill computers, people do

to OCF!!!

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I just meant that there wasn't any "abuse" or "modifications" done to the chip speeds to induce more stress or heat or nothing.

subverb said:

I just meant that there wasn't any "abuse" or "modifications" done to the chip speeds to induce more stress or heat or nothing.

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I know hehe, it just sounded like you were making overclocking out to be a bad thing haha!

i love the p5ke and would recommend that line to anyone...but probably not anything less than the wifi/ap version

i wouldnt even look at a 680i. i had one to use with my quad. it was a pretty lame board, but it booted faster than my intel boards. it would be good for a dualcore, but i dont think it would be good for a quad, its not made for it, even the A1 version, wich is what i had. some people got lucky, and were able to get to 400fsb, some a lil more, some a lil less. get a good board that has the power you need, abit, asus, maybe dfi.. i know asus has gtl ref. voltage, was told abit did as well. honestly if i were to run with sli, id probably go back to amd to do it.