Which one of these combos?

[Gixxer2k7]

Fry's is having a sale that ends today that feature a
Gigabyte DS3 board with E6600 C2D for $460

or for the same price, I can purchase separetely
Abit AW9D-MAX with E6400 C2D

Will the DS3 support dx10 boards or just higher end gigabyte board will?

I might consider the Asus deluxe but I've read a lot of reviewers with POST problems and compatibility issues on newegg..not sure. The only bad thing I think of the Abit is it's layout with constriction of its only PCI slot when running XFire (no x-fi)

Which of the combo should I get or is their an alternative you prefer? I plan to do some OC and will either pick up OCZ or corsair 800 ram with maybe a 1900xt if fry's has it.

 

[hlmaniac]

DS3 will support DX10 that I know. Which combo to chose I am not sure. I my self am trying to decide what mobo to get for E6600. So far it looks like I go with the Abit aw9d. Some people say that the 4Mb cash processors like E6600 and E6700 overclock better with 975X chipsets while the 2Mb cash processors, like E6400, overclock better with the 965 chipset, if this is so, its best to get the E6400 with the DS3 or the E6600 with the aw9d max. Its up to you to decide whether to favor better price or higher performance.

 

[rwaritsdario]

Both combos would OC broadly the same.
The DS3 is a good P965 mobo with a 500Mhz cap.
But the Abit is the best OCer for the 975X chipset. Something youll need to make the most out of the E6400.

If you dont want Asus then the Gigabyte DQ6 is an awesome OCer that takes the most voltages crown in almost everything. Besides having a 600Mhz cap, if you can pick this up along with the E6600 it would be a KILLER combo. I would take a second look at the Asus P5B Deluxe for its got the FSB crown all the whole C2D scenary.

Make sure the RAM you pick is CL4, DDR2 800 preferably for E6400 but DDR2 667 would cut it for the E6600.