Looking for a ROCK SOLID Q6600 capable board around $150.

[Pez D Spencer]

To make a long story short, I'm tired of this flaky ass, unstable EVGA NF68-A1 and ready to look for an alternative. I'm gonna RMA it this week and plan to sell the new replacment board. I won't go into the problems I've been having, but I'm finally fed up and ready to move on.

Anyone have some suggestions for a new board? OC'ing capability would be nice but it's not a requirement. I just want something that's STABLE. I had bad luck a couple years ago with an Asus board so I've been leery of them ever since. I used to have an Intel G915 board and it was solid as a rock. Unless someone has a better idea, I'm kind of leaning towards another Intel. Even though it won't OC, at least I'll know the Intel won't take a dive down BSOD lane every half hour.

I like to game and that's the reason I got this 680i board. Originally I planned to go SLI but the more I read about SLI the more I think it's overrated. So SLI on an alternative board isn't a requirment and truthfully I'd like to stay away from Nvidia chipsets if possible.

Any advice is appreciated. See my sig for what's going in it.

 

[boglwe]

Gigabyte p35 GS3R or L . How do you like that Arctic Square?

 

[LR6]

I have been looking at all of the P35 boards. It seems that for every board currently available, someone is having some major problem with it, it died after a month or so or received it DOA. Also for every board currently available a lot of people love the board and it works great for them, so their are no guarantees when buying any board.

I think that the best plan is to buy a board based on the features, chances are if you chose your other components well and assemble it correctly it will work fine.

I will probably buy the Intel DP35DP for my upcoming system, You can't overclock with the board and I don't care to, You must use standard JDEC 1.8v 5-5-5 memory which is great because it is cheaper and it has ESata and firewire. I have read a lot of people who have problems with the board, but most of them are using high performance memory that does not use standard JDEC memory and timings.

 

[ultra laser]

The gigabyte P35 boards have really impressed me. I've been using a P35-DS3R for work and gaming for the past three months, and I haven't had a single BSOD. I think there's something to the "ultra durable" hardware they've been using. By the way, mine board's been running at 425x8 with 4-4-4-12 timings - solid as a rock. I'd get the DS3R or DS3P depending on what features you want/need.

 

[secretanchitman]

your best bet is the P35 or the 965 boards..

 

[Snakexor]

the new DFI Blood board is around 130 and o/cs like mad

 

[Snakexor]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813136038

 

[Timecop1967]

The Gigabyte boards like the DQ6...... I hear have the backing plate and won't work well with the Thermalrights heatsinks. I have the SI-120 heatsink and would like to use it on a Intel Duo2 Core. Would the P35-DS3R also have this problem? Looking at the Abit Pro board also as that might be a better option for me.

 

[adairusmc]

I have a Asus 680i board that was rock solid for my q6600 in the for sale section.

I have only had a P35 board for a couple of days now, but so far, so good. A p35 would be the best bet for a new board.

 

[Heidfirst]

Originally posted by: LR6
I have been looking at all of the P35 boards. It seems that for every board currently available, someone is having some major problem with it, it died after a month or so or received it DOA. Also for every board currently available a lot of people love the board and it works great for them, so their are no guarantees when buying any board.

that's mass production for you - when you think of the volumes of mobos shipped there are always going to be some DOAs & some premature failures but compared to the nos. of happily working boards it's a very small %.

For the op both, abit's & Gigabyte's P35 chipset boards seem to be pretty good but as advises buy what you need in terms of features/layout.

 

[buddhatb]

Originally posted by: Timecop1967
The Gigabyte boards like the DQ6...... I hear have the backing plate and won't work well with the Thermalrights heatsinks.

There are instructions in the Gigabyte manual that tell you how to remove the crazy cool backing plate to install an aftermarket cooler.

 

[de8212]

I'm in the same boat as you. As soon as my 680i gets here fro RMA land it will be up for sale. Thiniking of getting a gigabyte p35, just not sure which one.