Motherboard choices

[Hidden Hippo]

Well, I've pre ordered my E6600 (only cost £220 for a retail ) and now I need to order the rest. However, my motherboard is proving to be a problem part. I know that I would like a Gigabyte and it will either be the DS3 or the DS4. However, do the extra features (2nd PCIe x16 slot, dual BIOS and heatpipe) on the DS4 really make much of a difference? Also, are the northbridge coolers available worth the effort of fitting and the (minimal) expense? Thanks in advance.

[spazman]

Board i chose is in my sig

[Davion]

Asus P5b

[Clunk]

Board i chose is in my sig

good luck mate

[Hidden Hippo]

Thanks for the responses. I had a look at the P5W DH, but it was a touch expensive, especially when I would need either another BIOS chip or a cheap celeron to even get it to work with a conroe. I also considered the P5B, but wondered whether this would have the same sort of problems as the P5W DH. Over on another forum, one person had 2 faulty P5W DH boards delivered, the first had a faulty PCIe slot, the second didn't seem to run the RAM at full speed. The reason I was considering the DS3 was that it seems to be fairly decent quality (haven't heard of any faulty boards yet), can run a conroe out of the box and is quite cheap as I can get one for about £100. My maximum price is ~£130, although I might be able to stretch to £140.

[EtheAv8r]

I believe Asus P5B Delux (P965 chipset) is 'conroe ready' and £120 inc VAT at Scan...

[Hidden Hippo]

£140 including VAT on that one. What are people's opinions on the Abit AB9 and the DS3 listed above?

[amjedm]

£140 including VAT on that one. What are people's opinions on the Abit AB9 and the DS3 listed above?

Have you seen the opinion in this thread?

http://forums.hexus.net/showthread.php?t=81736

[lukpri]

the asus p5b is an awesum board my mate has one, and i cant get over how many features it has

[darrensen]

Asus P5W DH Deluxe i975X gets my vote!

[james.robinson]

I have an E6300 and a DS3. The DS3 is an outstanding board, it thrashes the Asus P5W DH Deluxe in every benchmark going, by a good margin. Dont waste your money. Get Gigabyte.

[Azza]

Go for the Asus P5W DH Deluxe i975X. Its an great board.

[Hidden Hippo]

Well, it's decided then. I'm going to go for the Gigabyte, although I might spend an extra £15 for some heatpipes and dual BIOS insted of a bit extra on an aftermarket northbridge cooler (besides, I could get an aftermarket one anyway )

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