To add to my reference to the ABIT mid-range motherboard,
I found this post which specifies that the ABIT IP35-E overclocks very
well with four sticks of RAM.
http://forums.anandtech.com/me...=2063989&enterthread=y
...
I've seen reports about the Abit IP35 Pro's inability to remain stable with four sticks of RAM north of 510MHz. Fortunately, the Abit IP35-E has no problem running four sticks of Kingston DDR2 800 "N5 OEM" up to 564MHz (DDR2 1128 with 1:1.50 memory divider). Timing is set at 5-5-5-15-2T with 2.1Vdimm. System is Orthos and Memtest86 stable.
...
Based on the detailed review given throughout that linked post, I'd
have to say that the IP35-E might well be a very suitable motherboard
for 4-DIMMs with a quad core Q6600-G0 @ 3.3-3.6GHz or the
new and better/improved Intel quad cores in the Penryn/Yorkfield/Wolfdale
series which will appear in Q1-2008 for the Q9450, et. al. which will run
at around the same speed [3.6GHz@450MHz overclockedRAM]
(limited by RAM speed and FSB speeds over 450MHz needing better chipset
cooling etc.) but give better power/performance.
You could OC to under/around 520x8 = 4.1GHz with a 45nm good Yorkfield quad
core Penryn CPU, if you had 500MHz RAM that you could OC that far
and a Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme heatsink on air, or a decent water cooling
setup. Your chipset would be pretty hot and you'd need superior case airflow
and good active fan + heatpipe cooling for the chipset though to get better
stability above 450MHz or so, so I'd get a higher end motherboard than
any of the $70-$140 models if that's where you want to go.
I'd saythat the P5K-E or P5K-Deluxe are better boards in some aspects
of engineering, but depending on your particular peripheral needs and
performance goals, I'd think that the ABIT mid-range IP35-E is a
fine contender if you can save $40 or whatever on it vs. the
comparable ASUS models. I think you'll get a decent overclock out of
any of them for a dual/quad core and remain very stable to around 3.3G to 3.6G
(around 8x450=3.6GHz) on a Q6600-G0 with a heatsink like the
ThermalRight Ultra 120 Extreme, and even much better overall power
consumption and software performance at the same overclock frequency
(probably limited by RAM speed) if you wait for Penryn class CPUs.
If you really want to set overclock records and squeeze that last possible 10%
out of the overclock (3.8 through 4GHz range), though, then it's probably
time for a $230-$300 motherboard, penryn/yorkfield quad CPU,
500 MHz rated RAMs, etc. etc. basically probably not worth the
incremental expense vs. getting 90% of the performance for 50% of the price.
A few weeks ago places were dumping the CoolerMaster GEMINI-II heatsink
for basically free after a $29 rebate or around $15 no-rebate (newegg,
zipzoomfly, etc.). I don't know if that's still the case. It's a pain in the arse
to install, and doesn't cool near as well as the
ThermalRight Ultra 120 Extreme ($60ish), but for $0 - $20 it's a decent choice
for a Core2 or Q6600 or Yorkfield Penryn Q9450 type CPU. It's kind of
monstrously big and gets in the way of changing DIMMs/cables after you
install it etc. So if you want good OC for less hassle and $40 more, go
with the TR120UE or a superior next-generation (???) product.
D12SL fans from jab-tech are cheap and effective with either of those heatsinks
for a quad CPU and certainly more than enough for a dual core.
. 
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