core 2 duo motherboard question

[snooze2]

I'm about to upgrade to a core 2 duo processor but i'm not sure which motherboard is best for me, ive looked around at some reviews but most don't list the mid range boards that ive been looking at.

So my question is what would be your recommendations for midrange core 2 duo motherboards. I don't need SLI/Crossfire support (but having it wouldnt be a problem). Also i don't plan to overclock a ton of if any( currently have no clue how).

Some of the boards i have been looking at so far are ASUS P5NSLI, ASUS P5B, and ABIT AW8D. I do not know alot about motherboards and there features or there overclocking abilitys so anything you have to offer would be apperciated. I don't do a ton with my computer, I play games pretty often and just regular computer tasks. If there is another board you could recommend that would be great to.

And one last question, newegg says the ASUS P5NSLI does not support DDR2-800 ram, it it recommend to use that? what type should i buy? Thankyou to any responses.

 

[Assman]

i would recommend asus p5b or gigabyte ds3.
i have p5b with e6400 - so far i think it's a very good match, it's stable and fast even at stock. Also, get a good ram like corsair xms2 8)

 

[pcdoc]

Which Conroe were you interested in?

 

[snooze2]

most likly a 6400 but i might go with a 6600, ive been looking over the benchmarks and it dosent really seem like that much of an improvement. Also for RAM im also on somewhat of a budget i would like to get 2gb under 200 dollars.

 

[pcdoc]

Yes you are right!! The overclocking of the 6600 is not doing so good right now, but I think after a few Bios updates 4 all the 965 chipsets board's and things should improve. I myself am trying to get my hands on a P5WDH-Deluxe to compliment my 6600. I first started of with a P5B Vanilla and the overclocking was pretty bad along with the Bios updates. So thank god 4 newegg's generocity they are going to refund it so I can upgrade. Anyways sorry 4 the rambling. My friend has the exact board and chip, he can run @ 3.5 solid Prime95 tested. So for me I prefer the 975X chipset for now. The board is a bit pricey $269.99 but as they say "You get what you pay 4".

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820145015

If you can squeeze this ram it will easily run at 12-1300mhz at the default timmings.

 

[bilbo3660]

most likly a 6400 but i might go with a 6600, ive been looking over the benchmarks and it dosent really seem like that much of an improvement. Also for RAM im also on somewhat of a budget i would like to get 2gb under 200 dollars.

With the E6600, you get a chip that beats the top AMD chip in most benchmarks for about 1/3 the price. The E6400 is also very good. The last I looked (newegg/zipzoomfly) you can get OCZ Platinum Rev2, Corsair XMS2 Twin2X2048 or G. Skill for ~$200. These are 2GB kits of DDR2-800.