Motherboard for E6600

[Joeygates]

Hi, I am purchasing the:


Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80557E6600

and the following RAM:

CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TWIN2X2048-6400 - Retail

I originally had thought about buying the Asus P5B motherboard unconditionally trusting ASUS. I've found that people aren't as happy with it as I thought they would be .

I'm looking to spend under $150 but if the mobo has a good enough Nic and onboard Audio I can be swayed. I've never paid more than $130 and have always been happy.

I'd appreciate any input I can get on this. Thanks in advance!

 

[Joeygates]

Btw, I read the motherboard recommendation post and found that the P5B deluxe is very worthwhile. I think I'll pick up that one.

 

[Operandi]

Personally I would go with the Abit AW9D but the P5B is a good board too.

 

[Zebo]

The best motherboard is Intels Bad Axe 2 (BOXD975XBX2KR) and it happens to be cheaper than most @ 175 at microcenter and tigerdirect.

I have tried 3 C2D boards and this is by far the the easist to OC and least picky with memory. It's the only board which could keep my crucial 4-4-4 up to PC2-7700 the DFi/ATI board couldnt even do PC26400 with same ram. Also has great documentation in real English explaining every setting. Runs cool even with a passive HS.

I'm not much of an Intel fan but I can see why people are after using this board. It'll be faster than the P5B and all it's variants too. (which I havnt used but I seen benchmarks)