Looking for Conroe mobo in $150 range

[Scatterplot]

Hey all, newbie here... been doing a lot of reading, and I need some help picking out a motherboard for a Conroe. I've decided on getting a E6600, and my motherboard budget is about $150. That's probably a top limit- could possibly go just a smidge higher, or lower, but that's about what I would like to spend. I'm not going to be doing much, if any, OC'ing. I was looking at the Biostar Tforce P965 Deluxe (I think that was it?) reviewed in the AT guide and thought it looked pretty good, but I can't find it for sale anywhere! Is it not for sale yet perhaps? Maybe I'm just overlooking it or something. Anyway as far as video cards go, I haven't quite decided yet, and the mobo is sorta higher on my list for now, since I know you have to have a mobo that supports your card- or again have I heard wrong? Anyway if you could point me to the Biostar one so I could look at some prices etc. that would be cool, as would any other recommendations on motherboards. I'm sure I'll have more questions here, but that should get me started. Thanks

 

[nitromullet]

I'm an Asus man, so I'd go for the P5B if I was looking for a ~$150 Conroe motherboard. No personal experience with this particular board, but I've owned and built enough Asus rigs to give them the benefit of the doubt.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131030

 

[customcoms]

The Gigabyte DS3 is currently the best Intel Mobo for conroe under $200.

 

[customcoms]

Originally posted by: Brahmzy
Geez you guys. You all need to hang out @ xtremesystems and read for about 5 hours.

The 965P boards are having issues with the 9x+ multi's and 4mb cache(i.e. E6600 n up). By issues, I mean that the same E6600 will usually clock about 100-200MHz higher on a 975X with similar voltage.

I'll say it again:

E6300/E6400? Get 965P (i.e. GB DS3 is a great board for these procs)
E6600+? Get 975X (P5W DH is a great example)

This may change as BIOS improvements are made to both platforms, but for now that's pretty much the deal. Yes there are those that defy this rule, but in most cases, this has proven itself.

 

[Scatterplot]

Originally posted by: customcoms

Originally posted by: Brahmzy
Geez you guys. You all need to hang out @ xtremesystems and read for about 5 hours.

The 965P boards are having issues with the 9x+ multi's and 4mb cache(i.e. E6600 n up). By issues, I mean that the same E6600 will usually clock about 100-200MHz higher on a 975X with similar voltage.

I'll say it again:

E6300/E6400? Get 965P (i.e. GB DS3 is a great board for these procs)
E6600+? Get 975X (P5W DH is a great example)

This may change as BIOS improvements are made to both platforms, but for now that's pretty much the deal. Yes there are those that defy this rule, but in most cases, this has proven itself.

OK... so what board would you recommend for me then in the $150 range? The P5W DH is $300. Is there even a low-price 975X?

 

[Scatterplot]

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