Which motherboard?

[DrZeto]

I'm upgrading my friends computer, choosing the folowing parts:

? Intel Core 2 Duo E6600
? Corsair TWIN2X 6400C4 DDR2, 2048MB CL4
? Asus GeForce 8800GTX 768MB
? ZALMAN Power Supply 600W-HP SILENT

Now the question is which motherboard to choose for the above parts. I've looked at the Gigabyte GA-965P DS3 and Gigabyte GA-965P-DQ6.

He will not upgrade again for a looong time so I'm thinking it's not worth the extra money buying a board with the new P35 chipset since it probably performs equaly to the P965 (ICH8) chipset with the above hardware.

Any comments or ideas? Thanks

 

[covert24]

Get a P35 chipset from gigabyte or msi and you should be all set.

 

[DrZeto]

ok, which one is best:

Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3,
Gigabyte GA-P35C-DS3R or
Gigabyte P35-DS4 ?

 

[drakore]

If you want to be able to put DDR3 in later than go with the GA-P35C-DS3R, if you don't care then get the GA-P35-DS3R.

Please change that power supply to a corsair 620HX

 

[drakore]

Also you may want to consider changing that ram if he plans on overclocking... get something with micron D9's

the crucial ballistix sticks are on sale right now on newegg for a great price.

 

[orion23]

How much are you paying for the RAM?

Buy.com is selling a 2X1GB Crucial Ballistix Tracer DDR2 1066 mhz for $140 or $130 using the google checkout option.

That's probably the best RAM in the market!

http://www.buy.com/prod/crucia...loc/101/204681868.html

Get a different Power Supply. Maybe an OCZ 700W SLI from Zipzoomfly.com

http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/...jsp?ProductCode=316505

About the board, Get the Gigabyte P35 DQ6 DDR2 board or the Abit P35 Pro one. The Asus P5K deluxe is also a great option. Look @ the board layout and rear ports and make your decision.