Best Mobo to OC a Q6600?

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Feb 20, 2009
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Yes I used the search! :p
I'm having trouble differing between all the different mobos out there and need a couple pointers.

Essentially I'm looking to get +3GHz out of the 6600 which appears to be pretty common, but I'm also confused about all the FSB speeds and Memory OC stable speeds.

This will be a 24/7 system with Windows XP 64bit (and Win7 when it arrives) used for mostly video game development apps (Lightwave, VCPP7, Hammer, etc.).
I also plan to run a water chiller so I'm looking for FSB water block adaptability.

I might have been mistaken, but I think I've seen some DDR3 speeds for a Q6600? That would be really nice to have, but I'm far more interested in memory and system stability.

So can anyone help me with some suggestions?
Thanks for your time,
-Joe
 
Hmmm... Joe Average giving advice to AverageJoe... irony? :)

I've got a Q6600 G0 running at 3.2 (8x400) without issues on a Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3LR, one of their newer boards. Haven't had a single problem or glitch with this thing since I put it together a few weeks ago, and I'm keeping the Patriot Viper DDR2 800 4-4-4-12 at that so I've got the elusive 1:1 FSB:RAM ratio kickin' too.

At 9x333 for 3 GHz, it's just as solid and stable, but I wanted to get a little more *umph* from it (and get that 1:1 ratio happening) and so I did.

The Q6600 G0 is easy to get to 3 GHz without issues, even with the stock Intel HSF, just get some better thermal compound than the stuff on the HSF from the factory and you'll be fine. BTW, this is running at 3.2 GHz on that same Intel stock HSF - I'm still on the wire about which aftermarket HSF I want, either an Arctic Cooling Freezer Pro 7 or I just saw that Xigmatek "Dark Knight" on sale in the HotDeals forum this morning. I think the Freezer Pro 7 would be a better one for this particular board layout.

Good luck...
 
I've had this nick since like '03, but was originally gonna go with JoeAverage haha.

What are the various advantages and discrepancies that the P5Q, EP45 and P35 have against each other?

-Joe
 
What are the various advantages and discrepancies that the P5Q, EP45 and P35 have against each other?
For you, nothing important. Note that P45-based boards are generally better options than P35 boards due to the newer chipset and certain improvements it has like PCI-E 2.0, better support for 45nm CPUs, lower power consumption, and a few other things (although none of that is probably of particular importance for your purposes).

Basically, any decent P45 board will do the trick. I personally recommend either the ASUS P5Q Pro or Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3R, but which one you go with is really a matter of personal preference since both boards are of essentially equivalent quality.
 
Now is memory overclocking essentially equivalent between the P5Q Pro and EP45-UD3R also?

How much does the Gigabyte's DDR2 1366+/1066 affect the processor speed compared to the P5Q Pro's DDR2 1200? Is it a tangible difference with programs?

Is the P45 boards wattage use less than the other two boards?

edit: Ok, looks like I am not understanding the difference between the P35 and P45 because both the P5Q and EP45 show up under the P45 search. :rolleyes:
 
Now is memory overclocking essentially equivalent between the P5Q Pro and EP45-UD3R also?
Yes.
How much does the Gigabyte's DDR2 1366+/1066 affect the processor speed compared to the P5Q Pro's DDR2 1200? Is it a tangible difference with programs?
Ignore stated memory support for different speeds. Aside from the fact that it depends wholly on the RAM itself and not really on the board, higher memory speeds make very little difference to the real-world performance of Core 2 systems anyway. Plus, DDR2-1200 is prohibitively expensive by reasonable standards.
Is the P45 boards wattage use less than the other two boards?
A P45 board will use less power than the same board with a P35 chipset instead. For specific power usage numbers regarding certain boards, you'll have to do some research.
edit: Ok, looks like I am not understanding the difference between the P35 and P45 because both the P5Q and EP45 show up under the P45 search. :rolleyes:
Yes, the P5Q Pro and GA-EP45-UD3R are both P45 boards.
 
Maximus Formula modded to Rampage Running 3.2GHz @ stock voltage, can get 4.2 if I really crank the Vs,
 
I'm running my Q6600 @3.2 with my gigabyte ep35. There's a pretty large vdroop but I'm sure I can fix it if I did the pencil mod. I've read gigabyte's ep45 are good for oc'ing too.
 
My GA-EP45-DQ6 pushed my Q6600 to 4.1-ish stable last winter (2008) with -8F air coming in the door from outside. I lost the hard drive, but it was a sweet OC. lol. Otherwise it was good at 3.6.
 
Do you mind elaborating as to why these are the best boards seeing that everyone else is saying the others are better at overclocking and cheaper?


dfi - its dfi. great bios, stable, well built board with great layout. and i sincerely doubt that there are any mb better at oc. maybe as good.

biostar - after some quick research on this board (i had one last year and was good except for weak bios) i retract my recommendation. no bios update, crappy rma's.
 
Well other than the "2oz of copper!" and heat dissipation I'm not seeing any advantages the EP45-UD3R.
Hm, I'm having trouble finding consistent information on the DFI DK series, mostly because I'm not understanding the differences between the P45, X48, T2RS and T3RS versions.
Anyone know of a good review comparing the various models?
 
p45 - 1 16 lane pcie 2.0, or 2 8 lane pcie 2.0 when running crossfire. the x48 has the full 2x 16 lane pcie slots when running crossfire. so, of course if you dont plan on using more than 1 pcie slot for video, this doesnt matter. in fact, with the amount of bandwidth offered by pcie 2.0, it probably doesnt matter even if you use both slots. the x48, being older, used the ich9r southbridge, the p45 uses the ich10r, which offers slightly more features and some say slightly more performance. the dfi t2rs uses ddr2, the t3rs uses ddr3 (no performance benefit on these chipsets), but as the price of ddr3 has dropped, worth considering (you can use this ram on your next upgrade). the dfi dk p45 actually is a better overclocker the the dfi x48, and is cheaper. if you get the dfi dk p45, be sure to get the plus (fixed some issues, added a few features).
 
Yeah I doubt I'll go with crossfire.
On the DFI board you provided it says that the memory speed overclocked is 1200, but is that 1066 modules or 1200 modules with just the board speed altered?
I've never done any memory overclocking so I don't know how this bit works...
 
it will overclock to that. you dont have to overclock to that. you dont reaaly need to get anything higher than ddr2 800, unless you plan to highly overclock your cpu. but dont worry, it will run any speed ram that you can put in it.
 
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