Best motherboard upgrade for overlocking Q6600

Hey everyone,

First post! I'm in the process of upgrading my system and I'd like a few suggestions. First off here's my current setup:
- Core2Quad 2.4 GHz Q6600, stepping G0 (No OC)
- 8 GB (4x 2 GB) Kingston HyperX DDR2 1066 MHz (running at 800)
- EVGA Superclocked NVIDIA GTX 470
- Antec Truepower Trio 650 W PSU
- 3x 320 GB WD Caviar Blue HDDs (SATA)
- Corsair H70 cooler
- CM Storm Scout Case
I'm using an OEM ASUS motherboard from my old HP Pavilion with a completely locked BIOS.

I'd really like to upgrade my CPU. I think I should overclock it instead of buying an expensive new chip- I hear the Q6600, G0 overclocks well. This way the only thing I have to buy is an overclock-friendly motherboard. I ordered a refurbished EVGA nForce 750i FTW board but I've had endless problems with and and I'm returning it.

So basically I'm looking for some advice on what motherboard is my best option. I'm looking for something that is:
- Socket 775
- DDR2 so I can keep my RAM (ideally 1066 MHz)
- OC features in BIOS
- preferably ATX but I could go with Micro ATX
- at least at least 4 SATA (preferably 6)
- I would love to have SLI so I can upgrade to 2 GPUs in the future but I could live without it.
- I need to be able to buy it *new*, now. (I'm sick of dealing with refurbs)

BTW, this system is used for video editing. Any ideas/help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks.

Gigabyte EP45 UD3R is about the best for overclocking quads. It will not do SLI. Problem is with SLI chipsets (750i/780i) is that they are not great for overclocking. Though still better than nothing.

I would go with the EVGA 750i FTW motherboard. If you look, you might be able to buy 1 new (kinda doubt it), or you can turn to EBAY where they sell for about $60. It supports 1600+ FSB for overclocking, DDR2 1066, SLI, it is ATX, 6 SATA ports, and is a known stable overclocking board. The advantage of upgrading to the newer sockets is not gigantic, and overclocking your Q6600 will bring it closer in performance to the newer chips. I believe that XFX also made a 750i FTW board as well. Hope this helps.
-Greg

Thanks for the suggestions. I guess since I have an EVGA 750i in my possession, I should RMA it and see if I can get one that works properly. For some reason, once I finally got it to POST (improperly seated BIOS chip for a while) it wouldn't boot windows or my windows installation DVD. No matter how I changed my BIOS settings, I couldn't get it to boot anything without a BSOD and restart. Also, the northbridge was getting hot enough to burn me even with a fan.

Do you think an exchange for another refurb would solve these problems or is this inherent to my setup or the board somehow. Any troubleshooting ideas before I stick this thing back in the mail?

Thanks.

Rma it then...yes. that is not proper behavior. You should be able to push into the 3ghz range with that board. But again its not the best chipset fir overclocking.

EarthDog said:

You should be able to push into the 3ghz range with that board. But again its not the best chipset fir overclocking.

Click to expand...

So do you think I could push it much further with an Intel chipset like on the Gigabyte EP45 UD3R board? It's $100+ on ebay or $200+ new elsewhere. Whereas my EVGA refurb board was only $60 from Newegg.

I'm not opposed to shelling out the extra cash, I'm just wondering if the performance difference is worth it or is it marginal?

-Justin

That EP45 UD3R was a $120 board last it was at newegg. Grab it from Ebay.

That board should let you bounce of the limits of the chip (3.4Ghz give or take). The 750i may do that, but Im not sure. Of course saying temperatures are under control.

Get your 750i back and see what it can do first, then go grab another board.

Before I even read the thread I was coming in to say get the Gigabyte EP45-UD3 (any version really, they all rule) as they are the king of 775 quads.

They'll do SLI just fine if it has 2x PCI-e slots, just Google "SLI Hack" and follow the easy directions, 3-4 minutes and you are set I'd post a link but this is the only Forum I can access at work.