Best budget MOBO for Q6600

[Phil-M-Tech]

I am thinking about upgrading my current setup: AthlonX2 4200+ @ 2.6Ghz w/ XP-90, 2GB Ram, on Asus A8N32X, 8800GTS 512MB, 2 Sata HDD, 1 IDE DVD Burner, Thermaltake Pure Power 550W, Windows XP Pro.

I would like to change out the Motherboard, proc, and ram and that's it.
If I could use the XP-90 that would be wonderful.

Been researching for a couple days now but there are so many options
(p35, p45, x38, x48, 650i, 680i, 750i, 780i, 790i)
I'd like some advice from anyone whose already put together a C2Q system.

Looking at getting a Q6600 or a new Q9300. Gonna run either WinXPro or Vista (w/ Aero).

Notes:

Bought my current ASUS from eBay and it's unstable (OC'ed or not) so I need something I can rely on.
OC to at least 3.0Ghz
Don't think I will ever use SLI or XFire.
2-4GBs RAM
buying parts from Newegg.com or Directron.com (I'm near Houston)

System Use:
Gaming, General Adobe Creative Suite use, some video encoding (bittorrent > dvd), java programming.


Recommendations for motherboards?
Is the Q9300 worth the extra 75$?
Budget ~150USD

Thanks in advance!!

-Phil

 

[Grimmy]

I use the 650i chipset. And to tell you the truth, its pretty bitter in OC'ing the Q6600, but I've managed to get 3.2ghz out of it. One of the main problems I had, was heating issues with the linked cooler, which I replaced with separate coolers for the NB/SB/& Mosfet VR/HS. Even after that, I find it pretty impossible to boot the system past 1500 FSB.

So if your wanting more then 3.2ghz of speed out of a Q6600, 650i will simply not cut it. I'd look for a good P35/P45 chipset.. or with cross fire X38/X48, from what other people recommended.

I'm just lucky I able to get 3.2ghz rock stable on my system which took allot more work then it should of. :lol:

Edit:

On a side note, forgot to mention about the Q9300... it is not supported for my MB, from MSI.

 

[mossberg]

The q9300 will run cooler but most likely will not clock as high as the Q6600 due to the low multiplier of the Q9300. No knowing how much you want to spend on a motherboard, I will go with the Asus P5Q or if you want to spend a bit more the P5Q pro. Both offer 8 phase power which will help you with a quad core when overclocking. Granted the P35-DS3L can overclock a quad to the 3.0 to 3.2 easily the vdroop is horrid in comparison due to the 4 phase power.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2000200280%20107172615%2050001315&bop=And&Order=PRICE&CompareItemList=N82E16813131322%2CN82E16813131295%2CN82E16813131299

 

[heavyginge]

P5K pro runs pretty sweet on the Q6600

 

[jimmysmitty]

What mossberg said. My personal opinion would be the P5Q Pro from Asus as its a P45 chipset and not too bad in price ($139.99 @ Newegg).

Also the P5Q Pro has 2 full PCI-e 2.0 x16 lanes.

 

[Proximon]

The P5Q Pro does not run x16 in crossfire. It will run one card at X16 or 2 at X8. Both PCI-E slots ARE x16, just not when they run together.

However, I do support it as a choice. It has good features for the price and you can crossfire it with decent performance at resolutions 1680x1050 or below. It chokes with crossfire at the highest resolutions.

You definitely want an Intel chipset over nVidia. Since you want to OC I think P45 is your best option. The ASUS BIOS is really full of stuff and should make your OC painless.

On my P5Q-E, I had my FSB up to 533 quite easily, but the RAM (OCZ 1066) didn't run well there, or anywhere over 400.

 

[mossberg]

The P5Q Pro does not run x16 in crossfire. It will run one card at X16 or 2 at X8. Both PCI-E slots ARE x16, just not when they run together.

However, I do support it as a choice. It has good features for the price and you can crossfire it with decent performance at resolutions 1680x1050 or below. It chokes with crossfire at the highest resolutions.

You definitely want an Intel chipset over nVidia. Since you want to OC I think P45 is your best option. The ASUS BIOS is really full of stuff and should make your OC painless.

On my P5Q-E, I had my FSB up to 533 quite easily, but the RAM (OCZ 1066) didn't run well there, or anywhere over 400.

They are pci-e 2.0 8x but they are the equivalent of x16 pci-e 1.0. So they should be able to handle any current gen graphics card CF setup without bottlenecking with the exception of maybe 2, 4870x2's

 

[glasshouse]

go with gigabyte if its not atleast a 100.00 board dont bother, i like the p35 chipset, chk my profile on hardware setup...i bet thats what your looking for...happy hunting

 

[Proximon]

They are pci-e 2.0 8x but they are the equivalent of x16 pci-e 1.0. So they should be able to handle any current gen graphics card CF setup without bottlenecking with the exception of maybe 2, 4870x2's

Should, but the tests so far say they do not at higher resolutions. Well, some tests said not at all, but later tests after BIOS and driver improvements showed pretty good performance at lower res.

 

[Reynod]

Asus P5K SE - works a treat all the usual goodies bar SLI.

DDR2 ...

Good price.

 

[Mousemonkey]

I would like to put the Abit IP35 forward for consideration, should be quite cheap by now and mine has done a year of service with zero issues.