which motherboard do i get?

[braz]

i have 2 motherboards lined up, kinda on a budget... i would like to spend around 450$ max with cpu, ram, and mobo. one motherboard has PCIe 2.0, is that even worth it? will it be good for my 8800GT? also, which will let me OC a q6600 to 3ghz? but yea, which will be the best for gaming? i have an 8800gt SC and will be buying a q6600 cpu. Also, what ram is good? need 2gb ddr2 that works with the mobo i choose(50$ max for 2gb) thanks guys!

LINKS:
Newegg.com - ASUS P5N-D LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 750i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3L LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX All Solid Capacitor Intel Motherboard - Retail

 

[veedubfreak]

Go with the gigabyte board. The asus board is an nvidia chipset and will be more headache than its worth. The ds3 boards are rock solid.

As far as memory, you can get just about ANY brand for under 50 bucks if you are willing to go the rebate route. (2gb that is)

 

[Ste]

Why do you want to stop at only 3 Ghz..

With my replacement X38 board my CPU is stable @ 3.6 Ghz with only 1.3375 Vcore..

 

[mrredskin]

what about this abit ip35-e board? how does it compare to those other two? it's $60 AR. here's some ddr2 mem you might be interested in for $34 AR

 

[UA_Iron]

the abit is an excellent board too.
this ram:
Newegg.com - G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail
buy the oem processor:
Newegg.com - Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz 2 x 4MB L2 Cache LGA 775 Quad-Core Processor - OEM
aftermarket cpu cooler:
Newegg.com - ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro 92mm CPU Cooler - Retail

 

[braz]

Newegg.com Shopping Cart

so far that is what i have chosen. look good? will this setup last me over 1 yr? like will i be able to run top of the line games for the next year? i already have 160gb Harddrive and 600wpsu dual 12v rails, and 8800GTSC. do i need to buy thermal paste? or does that tuniq fan come with some?

 

[UA_Iron]

Newegg.com Shopping Cart

so far that is what i have chosen. look good? will this setup last me over 1 yr? like will i be able to run top of the line games for the next year? i already have 160gb Harddrive and 600wpsu dual 12v rails, and 8800GTSC. do i need to buy thermal paste? or does that tuniq fan come with some?

It does come with it. But Arctic Silver 5 is definitely superior. I would buy some and toss teh stuff the heatsink comes with.

 

[Sora]

Tell me what 600w PSU do you have....you want to make sure it's a good one. The 8800GT and Q6600 both overclocked should handle the newest games with high and a few later on at medium-high settings no problem. only one game has had me turn my graphics down and thats Crysis.

 

[braz]

its an ULTRA xfinity 600w dual 12v rails, @18a and @20a

 

[UA_Iron]

its an ULTRA xfinity 600w dual 12v rails, @18a and @20a

I have an ultra Xfinity 700W in one case thats been a project. I think they're decent power supplies - Frys has awesome prices on them after rebates etc.