Need a good motherboard for overclocking.

harvest

Please don't recommend a Gigabyte DS3L or DS3R. I've got a DS3L and it's a piece of shit. Google 'DS3L overclock problem' and I've got every one of the things people complain about.

Let me tell you about my hardware.

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo e6300 (1.86ghz, it can handle at least 3.22)
Memory: 2x 1gb Crucial DDR2 1066
Video: PCIe EVGA Geforce 7900 GS
Sound: Creative X-Fi Professional

See, it's not like I have any weird needs. What I want is a board that I can jack the FSB up on to at least 460 to overclock this mother. That is the number one requirement. It has to overclock well and it has to be easy to do. I like the feature set of the P35 boards but I'm not adamant about which chipset I use. Preferably the suggested board will cost ~$140 or less.

Violynt

Well, I can tell what not to get. Asus P5K-E, that board's bios is a piece of shit. You must use 0602/0603 to get any overclocking done. It has voltage drooping and a bad memory compatibility. I tried Corsair and Crucial in the board and both were incompatible.

I have a MSI P6N Diamond and it's a awesome board. However not good for overclocking and to expensive.

harvest

Sad to hear, that's one of the boards I was looking at.

bbmartini

Ive heard good things about the MSI P35 Neo2, it comes with rather large heat pipes on the chipsets. Toms hardware used one of them in an overclock challenge recently.

here is the mid/low range board of that family: MSI P35 Neo2-FR
and i think this is the upper end of MSI: MSI P35 Platinum

if you're looking for a heatsink/fan for over clocking this guy is a beast: ZALMAN 9500A
and his bigger brother
I own the ZALMAN CNPS8700 and it very solid.

squirly

P35-DS3P

Carnarvon

XFX NFORCE 680I. You can overclock your Video Card, Processor, and I believe your memory. I got mine in September for $219. Nice board, I like it.

harvest

squirly wrote: »

P35-DS3P

Care to elaborate?

waterlogged

The best OC boards are intel P35 or x38 based.

Do not get nforce 680i or any nforce board unless you plan to use SLI. They have a high failure rate and are prone to cooking your RAM.

I'd go with an abit IP35-PRO

harvest

I think I will get This One unless I can scrounge up some more money for the Abit p35 board.

Violynt

That looks like a great board. Tell me how you like it when you get it if you don't mind, I'm actually looking for another board.

Monkey Ball Warrior

DAMN that northbridge has more heatsink than a lot of processors did in the 90's.

Do they really run that hot or was it just designed to be massively overclocked against a locked multiplier?

I'm so happy my multiplier is unlocked. This $24 mobo can only take a few extra mhz before it freaks out.

Stock is 200 x 13 = 2.6Ghz

waterlogged

A lot of the "uber heat pipes" are simply for show and marketing. Some of the top end OC boards use minimal ones and no heat pipes.

Intel chipsets, other then x48 do not run crazy hot, nvidia based ones do. Also there is little to be gained by linking them to the PWM area which runs hotter then the chipset.

Also, while and unlocked MP does help with MB temps due to NB stress, it does not remove them. Locked or unlocked if you fill all for memory slots you're going to end up with a lower OC and higher temps.

If you're just buying a board I'd take a look at these guys http://www.motherboardpro.com/ I've bought from them before and they often have really hard to find stuff, and stock items before the egg gets them, good prices as well, also try NICX US, again good prices.