Which motherboard for Q6600?

Yesterday I purchased my Q6600 and an ASUS P5N-D motherboard from Tigerdirect. Unfortunately today I'm returning the motherboard to TigerDirect because the fan, SLI adapter, and the ASUS Q-Connector Kit were all missing from the box. This was also the last one they had of this motherboard.

What they do have
XFX 680i LT - $149
EVGA 680i $209 with $20 MIR
EVGA 780i $249

The CPU is the Q6600 whic I purchased yesterday, G0 stepping which I confirmed.
Video is 2 EVGA 8800 GT 512mb cards
Memory I plan on getting either one of these
OCZ SLI-Ready 4096mb PC6400 DDR2 $104.99 with $35MIR
Crucial Ballistix 2048mb PC6400 DDR2 $49.99 with $30MIR and I'd get 2 of these and your allowed 2 rebates
Patriot 4096mb PC8500 DDR2 $124.99 no rebates

Joe

Another satisfied customer of Tigerdirect

I going to see what kind of deal I can get. Yesterday I also wanted to purchase the memory and use a Gift Certificate I have. It was a $500 dollar one and I had $94 left one it after getting the 2 graphic cards last weekend.

When I tried to use it they stated it was a closed account and I couldn't use it. I had to call TD's 800# and get them to straighten it out. The finally fixed it this morning.

So not only am I returning the motherboard from yesterday I was going to return and get the memory with the rest of the GC money.

They should sell me the EVGA 780i at a discount since the other was missing pieces and I have to return it and for all the trouble I had with the GC.

If you're stuck buying from Tiger Direct, then the EVGA 780i is your best bet. However, if you can get your money back, consider the P7N Diamond @ newegg. It's a better built and better equipped board than the evga reference board, and it's just as capable an OCer. On the down side, the BIOS is harder to work with and a bit less mature than the reference BIOSes, so OCing can be harder... but if you do want to OC and don't mind rolling up your sleeves a bit, the P7N is a great buy.

If you bought it at one of the TD Outlet stores in Miami, you have to check it carefully BEFORE you buy it. Hooleeo and his sticky fingered brother steal parts out of boxes that are not securely fastened shut. I also think some of them are returns.

I bought a 939 Biostar Tforce board there, looked through 5 boxes before I found one with all the hardware inside. I took it home, got it out of the box, flipped it over and there was a MASSIVE circuit burn mark across the back of the board, a CPU trace was cut in half with 1/16th inch missing. They would NOT refund and tried to charge me a restocking fee for a board that could never be resold (well maybe at TD). Finally they gave me full store credit, but it could only be used in that particular store even though the other store had a board I wanted.

Some guy working there was not happy that I was looking through boxes, but didn't have much to say when I showed him the parts missing in several boxes.

I returned the P5N-D to TD and got a refund. I then went home and purchased the same board online from ZipZoomfly for $134, a savings of $45 excluding tax and didn't pay any tax with Zoom fly. So I added a 320Gb Sata drive to the deal and end up paying $217 including 2day express mailing. $25 more than the amount refunded from TD.

A much better deal in my opinion.