Best motherboards for QX6700 without overclocking

[dsidious]

Hi,

I would really appreciate some comments about the various higher-end motherboards that support QX6700.

I don't intend to overclock and I don't really need pretty LEDs and temperature indicators on LCD and other cool things inside the PC's case.

What I do hope to get is a MB that:

1. works well and comes from a good company that can be relied upon to provide new drivers as needed in the future
2. helps with later upgrades (lots of PCI-E, USB ports, PCI, eSATA, etc.)
3. would allow the PC to be as quiet as possible

I expect to get my new PC when Intel drops prices for the QX6700, use it as is for 2 or 3 years, then start adding or replacing parts. From this point of view, which boards would you gentlemen recommend?

For example I read glowing reports about the Striker Extreme, but then some people in the Motherboard forum said it should be avoided at all costs (but they didn't say why). The 965P-DQ6 also got nice reviews...

Thanks!

 

[pausert20]

Intel Boards that support QX6700:

Bad Axe 2 - Hghest end Based on 975 chipset (D975XBX2)

Lemont - Mainstream board based on 965 chipset (DP965LT)

 

[dsidious]

Thanks, I'll investigate it.

There's another promising one here:

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,2085337,00.asp

 

[chuckshissle]

None-SLI then Bad Axe 2 would be it. SLI then the Striker is a good one.

No overclocking? You must be rich.

 

[chuckshissle]

Thanks, I'll investigate it.

There's another promising one here:

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,2085337,00.asp

Okay Quad-SLI is four-SLI right? Is that the right pic of the mobo or thy eyes deceive me. I swear there's 3 PCI-e not four. Or I'm going nuts here.

 

[-silencer-]

It means support for Quad-SLI through 2 pcie-16x slots if nVidia releases more dual-GPU graphics cards like the 7950gx2. It looks like a slick board though.. what the Striker Extreme SHOULD have been, and for the right price.

 

[IcY18]

I only see 3 also and as quoted from the article

Aimed primarily at gamers for whom overclockability is paramount, the Gigabyte GA-N680SLI-DQ6 features optimized quad-core FSB routing and support for Nvidia Quad SLI technology (for up to four of the latest Nvidia GeForce 8800 GPUs).

It says 4 of the current 8800 series GPU's, something is not right in there writing, since nvidia hasn't even hinted at doing something like the 7950GX2 to the 8800 series something is a little off here

 

[ajfink]

I think Anand had an article about an RD600-based motherboard that did extremely well against a Bad Axe and 680i board, with Crossfire support as well. Someone have a link? I couldn't find it.

 

[chuckshissle]

It means support for Quad-SLI through 2 pcie-16x slots if nVidia releases more dual-GPU graphics cards like the 7950gx2. It looks like a slick board though.. what the Striker Extreme SHOULD have been, and for the right price.

Well in that case, there would be a dual gpu DX10 sometimes this year.

 

[dsidious]

None-SLI then Bad Axe 2 would be it. SLI then the Striker is a good one.

No overclocking? You must be rich.

Not really, but I do have a programmer job that pays pretty well.

I don't think about overclocking because I'm hardware-challenged and afraid I will blow things up or cause them to die earlier than otherwise. I'm hoping to keep my next computer for at least 5 years, maybe even pass it on to some kid for another 5 after that.

Thanks everybody for the help!!!