Motherboard Help - E6600 Core Duo

Afternoon everyone,

Hoping you can help - i realise there are a lot of similar threads! But all day I have been trying do decide what mobo to get with my E6600, i eventually decide on a P5B deluxe, but then I keep changing my mind!

I read quite a few reviews which mentioned that the P5B deluxe was better then the P5W DH. But now im not so sure. I believe the P5B has the newer chipset (965, over 975X). Also on overclockers there are two more expensive boards, above the P5W DH:
Asus P5WDG2-WS Professional Intel 975X
Asus P5W64-WS Pro Intel 975X

Not to sure on these?


Basically my requirements are:

-Compatible with Quad core for future proofing
-Compatibility with DX10 (not sure if all the mobos out at the moment are or not? But i think i will purchase a mid range gfx card, so i can upgrade to dx10 at a later date)
- Obviously good performance with the C2D E6600
- I am a beginner at overclocking, but would like to overclock the E6600.
- I would have liked SLI, but this doesnt seem to be viable on the mobos out at the moment, so crossfire will suffice - also i have read that crossfire can be hacked to drive SLI?

I am looking to spend about £1000-£1200 on the entire system. So far I have the E6600 planned :D I already have the case (Akaska eclipse 62) and the PSU (tagan 580W). I would like good ram obviously to compliment the CPU/Mobo, but havent got that far yet in the planning!

Any help would be appreciated.

Steve

The professional is an awesome board but very expensive. I have the P5W and it is a decent board with some nice features...but my friends have found that the P5B is better for overclocking

The abit AW9D Max is a top notch board and SLI works 100% perfectly on it...with hacked drivers - unsure of quad core support though

The P5B deluxe wifi. Unless you actually need any of the extras of the others. The P5B is a great overclocker and is rock solid :)

Thanks for the info guys - think im leaning towards the P5B deluxe (already got a PCI wi-fi, so no need for the wi fi i guess?).

Although, bearing in mind ive never overclocked before, will it be easy to overclock the E6600 on the P5B?

I read the review on the Abit - it had some bad comments on the PCI placements, but it also sounds good :S

The P5B has crossfire though, so i guess thats as good as SLI - had a quick google for SLI hacks for the P5b, couldnt get a clear answer as to whether or not it was possible. Will these mobos be compatible with DX10 gfx cards?

fully compatible with all future PCI-E (16x) cards, so yes R600/G80 should be fine.

i have the p5w dh its a really good board with the latest bios can clock to 3.6ghz pretty easy just need to keep an eye on the temps,
i've heard that the 975 boards are better for the e6600+ and the 965 boards are better with the e6300/6400

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mi9tchy

i have the p5w dh its a really good board with the latest bios can clock to 3.6ghz pretty easy just need to keep an eye on the temps,
i've heard that the 975 boards are better for the e6600+ and the 965 boards are better with the e6300/6400

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Thanks for the info -will have a read up on the P5W DH.... The P5B and P5W were the two i couldnt realy make my mind up on - in the end i leaned towards P5B as i think its got a newer chipset then the P5W?

Also - Ive never done much overclocking before - i realise that theres no point getting top notch mobos/cpus/ram unless your going to o/c, but how difficult is this to do? I would like to o/c, but not to potential breaking point :D just before that! When your changing the values to find ur o/c point, can this damage the equipment?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mi9tchy

.....
i've heard that the 975 boards are better for the e6600+ and the 965 boards are better with the e6300/6400

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That is correct, with the 6300/6400 & overclocking you need to be able to push a really high fsb as you have only a low multiplier play with. So use a P5B deluxe

With 6600 and above you have a higher multiplier so you dont need a high fsb to get a decent overclock. So use a P5W-DH and get the added bonus of Crossfire and unofficial SLi support (hacked 85.96 driver).

The gigabyte DS3 with latest F7 bios will overclock E6600 chips with ease, had mine at 3.2Ghz 100% stable only a tiny voltage increase. Plus the 965 chipset is faster than the 975x or so say anandtech.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by steveh2001

Also - Ive never done much overclocking before - i realise that theres no point getting top notch mobos/cpus/ram unless your going to o/c, but how difficult is this to do? I would like to o/c, but not to potential breaking point :D just before that! When your changing the values to find ur o/c point, can this damage the equipment?

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I have E6600 and P5B and hadn't a clue about overclocking and managed it easily, it's so simple (thanks to mister Clunk!). I don't think changing the fsb can damage the equipment, it can just stop the system booting, but it's easy to get it back :) The thing is the higher you want to overclock the more volts you have to give it, and THAT is what can damage the cpu (as far as i'm aware).

I have my E6600 at 3ghz with arctic cooling Freezer 7 pro and 2 sharkoon silent eagles with the P5B. Could probably get it faster but i want a quiet system so I have a fan controller and have the fans slower. Still, im on 1.35v (is that stock?) and with all 3 fans fully going I get around 38c, so you should be fine! :)

Hope that was a useful 500th post lol