Looking for Input: Best P4 Board Available And............

[EndGame]

I know this has been done REPEATEDLY, but, am looking for the most up-to-date info taking into consideration newest bioses and problems.

Looking for opinions on what the best available motherboard for a P4 in both performance and in value at this very point in time.

Reasoning; I have a family friend whom insists upon building a new system RIGHT NOW while they have the $$$$. Tried to get him to wait a bit for A64 or Prescott..............but you know some people!

Also would like input concerning best ram as far as truoblefree operation and performance as well as cost

Best Heatsink Fan combo for the money.

Will be going with SATA HD's, Antec Case, Antec 400W P/s, ATI 9600pro, Audigy 2 Soundcard................

Thanks In Advance for your patience and assistance!

 

[EndGame]

Nobody has any opinions? Come on, I've been out of the country for a while and really don't know what's the hot thing right now. Been reading all I can, but don't know which reviews to trust and threads all seem to claim something different.

 

[Tetsuo]

Overclocking?

 

[Corporate Thug]

IS7/IC7 or P4P800/P4C800. you cant go wrong with any of those

 

[RalfHutter]

The boards that Shady06 suggested are the ones to choose from, without a doubt, although some (but not me) might also add the Abit IC7 Max3 to that list.

Zalman7000 is the best HSF for the P4 platform right now.The Thermalright SLK900 or SLK947 is another heatsink of equal performance to the Zalman7000 but it comes without a fan so you can choose whatever fan best fits your requirements, from maximum cooling at any cost to acceptable cooling at the lowest possible noise level.

 

[EndGame]

Thanks for the replies!

Probably won't be much overclocking, but, do want the option available.

As far as ram, is there any that seems to perform flawlessly on 865/875 boards? Been reading about some ram problems with each and as I've always previously been a Corsair/Mushkin fan read that these are the ones seemingly giving some problems.