Micro ATX Motherboard? which one...

[gavrob1981]

Hi i am building my first computer in a while and am quite excited.........


I have been doing some research and i have decided on a few things

1) a micro ATX cube case for portability etc
2) a HD 4870 card so i can o/c it
3) a budget e5200 processor to also o/c
4) 4 gig ram (not sure which yet)

But what motherboard? i have been reading about the g35 and g45 chipsets, but i am struggling to decide on the board.

I would like to serious over clock my processor and i am willing to buy a good cooler, would like to try for 4.0 ghz or as close as.

Has any one done this using a micro atx board or have any advice and also which ram would you use? my budget is tight but i do appreciate that sometimes you get what you pay for

All advice much appreciated.

Thanks Gav

 

[calinkula]

If you want to OC in a small cube case, then I think your biggest problem will be heat. Have you picked out an exact case yet? Airflow will be a big issue with limited space. ie, not enough airflow through the case, space limiting the size of the CPU cooler, not enough space to cool GPU, etc.

 

[gavrob1981]

I Have got a massive arctic cooler 7 that should be OK, i have temp sensors built in the case with an LCD dispaly.

I know i may not get a good clock out of the e5200 but i want to make sure my motherboard is up to the job, hence the question above.

 

[IH8U]

There is a very good chance that that AC7 cannot fit in the case. The best cooling for a LanBox (or similar) is a singlr 120mm watercooling setup.

 

[shabaa]

I have had good success with a Gigabyte GA-G33M-S2L and have an E2180 O.C. to 3.2 GHz that I use to surf the web. However I think that you are missing the point that everyone is trying to make ... with that small of a case you will have a heat problem regardless of an overclock or not. Micro ATX cases are not known for their airflow and if you are using air cooling then you will be trying to cool the processor with the hot air in your case. No matter what air cooler you use the fact of the matter is that you will not have sufficient "airflow within the case" for a large overclock like you are wanting....