What budget mATX s1156 mobo?

[mb2]

Am currently considering a Gigabyte H55M-S2H.. (for an i3-530 or g6950)

looking to be able to OC as much as possible; within reason/budget.

does anyone have any better suggestions?

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I would not consider the G6950 at all at its current price. It has reduced L3 cache when compared to the Core i3 processors and has no HT at all. At that price the Athlon II X3 440, Phenom II X2 545,550BE or 555BE are better value for money IMHO as they are decent overclockers (and also have the possibility of being unlocked to a triple or quad core) and can be used on cheaper motherboards.

The Gigabyte H55M-S2H does seem OK for overclocking though:

http://www.pro-clockers.com/motherbo...d.html?start=7

I would make sure that the VRMs get some airflow though(just to be on the safe side).

[mb2]

The phenom route is interesting.. can anyone take an educated guess as to what proportion unlock to 4 good cores??
Am concerned about the power/heat they may use also..

[mb2]

Also are there any plans for 32nm or less phenoms on socket AM3?.. does AM3 have a future?

[Calmeister]

Either the Gigabyte GA-H55M-UD2H if your using the intergrated GMA HD GPU or the Gigabyte GA-P55M-UD2 if your not.

All P55 boards work with the new i3s, i5s and the Pentium as long as they have the relevant BIOS update, which most boards in stock should have.

So don't think you are limited to H55 or H57 boards.

Also I don't recommend the Pentium G6950.