Need Mobo, £130 max, Easy to use overclock, Best value

[london_prophet]

Not sure whether to go P965 or 975X

It's for an E6400 or E6600 (haven't decided yet)

£130 absolute max, less would be preferabe (I will buy from scan or ebuyer). Preferably the £110 mark. The more futureproof the better.

A solid overclock is nice, however as a novice-cpu overclocker ease-of-overclock is the priority.

I require a minimum of 4 x SATAII (preferably 6), 4 x backpanel USB (more would be really nice).

2 x PCI (x-fi sound card and wireless card). If Crossfire exists then It would be nice if the 2nd PCI-e didn't block one of the PCI slots (assuming large gfx cooler), but obviously unlikley.

DDR800Mhz support essential.

I'd prefer NOT to have onboard VGA, it's wasted money.

I'm using a x1900xtx so Crossfire options would be nice (but not essential).

Similarly 2 x IDE ports would be nice but definitely unessential (I have 2 x 250GB SATA II drives and 1 x 160GB IDE drive, which I may turn into an external drive anyway).

 

[Newf]

Asus P5b Deluxe P965 119BPS w/VAT
http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/123001
Has the 2 PCI you need, 4 USB and 6 SATA+.

If crossfire is important, then you need to look at P975 boards.
These use 2x8 PCI-E rather than the 4 lane 2nd slot for 965s.

Asus P5W DH Deluxe P975 137BPS w/VAT
http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/113951

Asus boards have nice features and are easy on the new OC'r.
Avoid Intel boards for overclocking, they don't like it.
Gigabyte and MSI also have options.
Key question is whether you really care to run 2 videocards.
I think it's a waste of $$$, time and energy, but that's just me.

 

[london_prophet]

What about P5B Deluxe/Wifi
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=443853

P965 board with crossfire, 7 SATAII, 3 PCI, 2IDE

Is this a solid board .. apparently it's a solid overclocker.

 

[london_prophet]

How does p5B Deluxe (p965) compare with p5W DH Deluxe (975X), both have wifi.... which would you go for?

 

[BUFF]

abit AB9 QuadGT ~£120

Also think about the nVidia 650i chipset.
Asus has the P5N-E SLI which is very cheap, abit will have the IN9 SLI out mid-Feb although I expect it to be dearer (but also have more features).

 

[Newf]

What about P5B Deluxe/Wifi
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=443853

P965 board with crossfire, 7 SATAII, 3 PCI, 2IDE

Is this a solid board .. apparently it's a solid overclocker.

As I previously wrote:
"If crossfire is important, then you need to look at P975 boards.
These use 2x8 PCI-E rather than the 4 lane 2nd slot for 965s."
If crossfire is NOT important, then a P965 board will work well for you. Pick the one with the features you want/need.
Posts which mention nVidia chipsets are leading you to SLI capable boards, which will not help someone with an ATI X19xx videocard. Intel chipsets have no drawbacks beyond a single IDE channel.
The Asus board you listed is fine. All Asus boards with Intel chipsets are fine overclockers, (that's what they do, otherwise people would just buy an Intel motherboard). OK, maybe that's too simple, but you get the idea...

 

[london_prophet]

Thanks for the help here: I've decided to go with

*drum roll*

Gigabyte P965-DS4

Great price, good cooling, suitable PCI/SATAII provision

http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=113819

 

[Newf]

Thanks for the help here: I've decided to go with

*drum roll*

Gigabyte P965-DS4

Great price, good cooling, suitable PCI/SATAII provision

http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=113819

Good choice.
Not available here in the states, but similar to the DS3 and the DQ6.
I think you will be happy with it, and it should be very reliable. 8)