Motherboard Recommendation (to go with Q6600 & 2GB OCZ DDR2 800 Cas 4)

[andper10]

Well, it is black friday, and I have been monitoring my games with my P4 3Ghz and they seem to be bottlenecked by my CPU. In source I get around 35-40 FPS and in the new NFS Pro Street game I am lucky to get 30 FPS, sometimes it sits at 13 FPS. This is running at 1280x1024 @ 85hz with an X1950XT video card. I saw a deal for a Q6600 at Fry's for today, so I went in and they still had a few left at about 12:30pm when I got there :eek: . So I got it and I also ordered the 2GB OCZ DDR2 800 deal on their web site ($60 -$40 MIR = $20). Now I just need a motherboard.

FYI, this upgrade is going to be for the computer in my sig.

I have been looking around and I think the P5K SE is the best choice for me. I don't need 2 PCI-E 16x slots since you all have convinced me that when you need to upgrade video, get a new single card instead of an old one to pair with your old one for SLI / Crossfire. I have a PCI Sound card that I want to use and a PCI HDTV Tuner that I want to use, and I have a PCI-E 1x SATA card that I don't really need to use, but it would be nice to have the option. I want to be able to overclock my new SLACR Quad Core too. I have an Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro HSF to use on it.
What motherboard should I get? Recommendations are appreciated greatly!

I already have (or have ordered) the following 2 parts:
http://shop1.outpost.com/product/5436039?site=sa:Homepage:Spot1
SLACR (that means G0 Stepping, right?) Q6600 Intel Core 2 Quad CPU

P5K SE: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131189
Open Box (don't like the idea): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131189R
Buy.com has it for $104 shipped after google checkout offer, that is the best price I could find: http://www.buy.com/retail/product.asp?sku=204871912&listingid=10782640&dcaid=17902
Does anyone know if this motherboard or a similar one that would work well for my situation is going to be on sale on Cyber Monday or this weekend?

Thanks for your help!

[flanzig1]

That's probably the best price for the SE board. May see it a few bucks cheaper at some time.
You should really get the CAS 5 ram since it works better with the Intel stuff. With the CAS 4, probably will need to do a bunch of tweeking in the BIOS to get a stabile usystem.

[andper10]

As long as I can get it to go into bios I don't mind tweaking afterwards. I am getting the ram for the cheap price after rebate more than the cas 4.

Any other motherboards that I should consider?

Thanks for the help, if anyone else has any recommendations or comments I'd appreciate them.

[andper10]

I have a question about overclocking. Does the P5K SE let you set the memory to DDR2 533 when a 1066Mhz FSB CPU is used?
That would be a 1:1 CPU:Ram ratio, right?
From what I have read you have to choose a setting and the P5K SE increases the setting when you overclock (ex. chose DDR2 667 with DDR2 800 Ram and when you overclock the 667 number goes up).

According to the information on the Asus website, the P5K supports a minimum of DDR2 667, so unless there is a manual mode where you can set it to DDR2 533, that is a bad thing for overclocking, isn't it?
http://www.asus.com/products.aspx?modelmenu=2&model=1705&l1=3&l2=11&l3=534&l4=0

The P5B says that it supports as low as DDR2 533 on the Asus web site, and it still says it will support the 45nm CPU's with a BIOS update.
http://www.asus.com/products.aspx?modelmenu=2&model=1178&l1=3&l2=11&l3=307

I want to order a motherboard by the end of the weekend if possible, so what should I do? I want to avoid being limited by my RAM when I overclock if that is possible, but I still don't want to loose support for the next get CPU's.

EDIT: After reading some of the P5B Reviews I don't know if I want to go with that board, what do you all think?

[flanzig1]

For an 1066 FSB CPU, the DDR2 667 is the optimal ram speed for a non-OC system. And like I said earlier, using CAS4 ram can cause stability problems which may or may not be adjusted out with BIOS tweeks. Save yourself the grief and get the CAS5. Would go with Corsair Value Select DDR2 667, this has been a proven ram with the Core2Duo CPUs.

[andper10]

Flanzig, I value your imput, but I already ordered the ram, and I want to overclock, so I will just have to chance the Cas 4. I will up it to Cas 5 in BIOS if I need to. Just FYI OCZ is on the DDR2 1066 QVL list so hopefully it will at least boot with DDR2 800 OCZ.
Just to make it clear, I ordered that ram because it was $20 after MIR, and still cheaper than Corsair DDR2 800 before MIRs.
I'm not seeing the overclocking potential of DDR2 667.

[glc]

There is a good chance leaving the ram at auto settings will be fine. Just be prepared to have to relax things a bit and possibly up the ram voltage if it's 2.0+ volt ram.

[andper10]

Unfortunately, I am back here looking for help again. I have the new parts in place, but when I power on the computer, all the fans spin up and the gfx card fan runs at 100% (sounds like a hair dryer on high), the keyboard lights (num lock, caps lock, scroll lock) all blink once and then the computer just stays like that. The gfx card fan doesn't slow down (it did with my old motherboard) and my monitor just stays in sleep mode, I tried both video card (DVI) ports. The LED on the motherboard is green.

I am thinking that the ram is the problem (I guess you were right flanzng). FYI, When I take both sticks out it beeps. My guess is that the ram needs more voltage than the motherboard is supplying it with in order to boot. What is the cheapest and easiest way to get around this(if you think that the ram is the problem)? I was thinking that I could go to Fry's and buy a 256MB or 512MB stick of DDR2 667 that takes 1.8V and boot into BIOS with it and then change the voltage to ~1.9V and then take out the 667 and put in my 800 and return the 667 to the store.

I'd like to get my computer back up and running asap so I'd appreciate any ideas you have.

[Tin]

I think you may just need new RAM altogether. The RAM would default to loose timings if the board isnt supplying enough volts. Give the Asus website a look and see which memory is compatible with your motherboard..

[glc]

The P5K/Q6600 combo runs fine with CAS 5 1.9 volt Corsair XMS2 DDR2-800 without changing any settings.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145590

[andper10]

Well, I guess I can try that Corsair ram. Unfortunately, Newegg takes a long time to ship to my house (3 or 4 weekdays) so that means my computer will be down until at least Wednesday waiting for the ram to arrive. Fry's has the ram, but it is $109.99 :eek: . Thanks for the suggestions.

[glc]

Reset your CMOS and put one stick of your ram in - see if it will POST.

[andper10]

Ok, I will try resetting the CMOS. I have tried each single stick in all four slots individually and it still gives the same response of not showing anything on screen.

[andper10]

Tried resetting CMOS and it still won't post. I am going to order the Corsair Ram and return the OCZ. Thanks for the help.