Which motherboard for E8500 system

I've been waiting patiently for my new financial year to start on the 1st April before buying a new computer. I'm pretty settled on the E8500 (3.16Ghz, 45nm) when it arrives but am unsure about motherboard choice.

I do plan on overclocking and want a board that I can get the most from. I will use a combination of air & water cooling. With DDR3 prices still too high I'm guessing that DDR2 is the way forward at the moment.

Any thoughts? Preferably I want to water-cool the Northbridge and want a board that can support a Northbridge waterblock. Many of the new boards have a fancy heatpipe system and I'm concerned about removing them. I've seen it done but also heard of problems. Any thoughts?

i have removed crazy heatpipe systems before to reapply the heatpaste, i didnt have any problems at all. I would say the best solution would be the P35 (Abit IP35 pro) or X38(Abit QuadGT)/X48. Are you going to be wanting crossfire or sli?

No just a single card. The Abit Ip35 "dark raider" seems a popular choice. However, technology moves on at such a pace and P35 boards have been out for quite a long time. What about the Abit iX38 Quad-GT? Again, it has a "crazy heatpipe system" but if I remove the whole lot and put a waterblock on the Northbridge what about the Southbridge. I wonder if a passive heatsink could be added?

Any other suggestions?

Looking again, I see the IP35 Dark Raider doesn't have eSATA :eek: This is something I definitely want.

I'm now looking more seriously at the Abit iX38 Quad-GT. Before I Google, has anyone read any reputable reviews on this board?

CustomPC has done a review of it.

All I remember is the conclusion which is what I was thinking all along which was that the P35's overclock better (I believe it was an Asus P5K delux or premium) so they couldn't justify the extra costs.

Both that ASUS board and the ASUS PK5E wifi have eSATA as does the Abit IP-35pro which was around £94 on scans today only.. yesterday lol

Abit IX38 QuadGT | Motherboards | Reviews | Custom PC

As for the additional chipset coolers, picking ones out of this product range would be my solution. Check on the thermalright website to make sure the motheroard you choose supports them and visa versa. A flatmate used the backside cooler for his 8800GTS and it dropped the temps in his case down and stabilised the graphics cards temps quite effectively

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I'm now looking more seriously at the Abit iX38 Quad-GT

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Some hate it!
I love it!

Best buy i have made for a while.

Its a true enthusiast board that is rock solid and a good overclocker.

Thanks for the link StaffsMike and for everyone else's comments. I read the reviews on CustomPC for both the Abit and Asus boards and I have decided that I can't possibly make my mind up! They both sound great boards so a little more reading is required before I make a final decision. It seems like it's a two horse race between the Asus P35 based P5K wifi and the Abit iX38 Quad-GT.

I do plan on overclocking but I'm not interested in getting the last drop of performance, merely making the money spent on the CPU go just that little bit further. For this reason I wonder if the Abit board would fit the bill better. I don't need Wifi and I plan on dumping the heatpipe cooling. However, the Asus has been raved about so much and is actually cheaper than the Abit board.

Neither will dissapoint you when overclocking so leave that out of your decision.

Just go with whatever makes the most sense for you :) If they both offer what you need then I'd go for the cheapest lol

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Originally Posted by cotswoldcs

It seems like it's a two horse race between the Asus P35 based P5K wifi and the Abit iX38 Quad-GT.

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why not the IP35 Pro as well?
The only advantage to X38 over P35 is the dual x16 PCI-E 2.0 for gfx which it doesn't sound is a benefit for you.

You sure you don't want to go for a quad? I mean, if you are overclocking you can do an awful lot with a Q6600...

Sure you won't hit the high frequencies of a 45nm chip, but if you get it to 3.4GHz then it'll probably outperform the dual core in everything that matters. You won't notice an improvement in games between a 3.0GHz dual core and a 4.0GHz dual core. They'll both max out everything else in the system... (And going from 120fps to 160fps in an older game doesn't count, as you won't be able to tell...)

Whilst there are places where you'll see benefit from the quad :)

OK, I think I'm convinced about the Quad. Question is do I go for the 65nm Q6600 or the 45nm Q9450.

Which would overclock better?

I wouldnt advise an overclock of very much at all on the Q9 so the Q6600 would overclock better - probs looking at around 3.4-3.6 max

If you are still looking for a motherboard, here is a good solution for you Asus Blitz Formula Special Edition | Motherboards | Reviews | Custom PC got a northbridge waterblock and all...
By the way if you are sure about q6600, it will easily go beyond 3.6, just make sure that you get the g0, my one is on 3.2 24/7 without even touching the voltage :)

chances of finding a new Blitz are very low & if he does it will probably be dearer than an X38 ...