Looking for advice on a motherboard

[Fatness]

Ok, so I've gone through 3 motherboards now, first 2 were defective and the thrid one is just a terrible piece of hardware. Ok so, I have an E6400 and 8800gts with 2gb of DDR2 800 (pc2 6400). I don't want to overclock right now maybe once I actually have a working pc, I would like to go with water cooling as well if that helps. Budget isnt really an issue here, I will pay 200-300 maybe 400 if need but anything about 450 is just not worth it for me since I just need a mobo that will allow me to game and surf. I know I ask a lot for help and Im obviously cursed since I cant ever seem to get a PC working right. Thanks.

1. Biostar TForce 965PT (budget overclocker P965) $110~
2. Gigabyte N680SLI-DQ6 got from a friend here in arizona, it was damaged by UPS
3. eVGA 680i - didnt like


I am intensely debating buying a striker regardless of how much of a waste it is. I want a board similar to the n680 I mean it is very future-friendly. I dont know this is turning into a much bigger ordeal than I wanted. Im starting to worry about the wear and tear on my CPU.

 

[o1die]

If you've had problems with 3 boards, I would consider replacing the power supply. Even expensive ones go bad. I would also check your memory using memtest, a free download. I once had 2 sticks of memory go out within minutes of each other. The symptoms appeared to be a bad motherboard, but after 4 rma's, the real problem was the memory.

 

[Fatness]

the boards arent defective, the first board had bent pins on the cpu platform, the 2nd board had capacitors busted off and the third board just wasnt what I wanted and the BIOS was terrible. Im not having issues with faulty boards they are just broken or trash.

 

[Canuck1]

1) Pay a little extra for more care in shipping.
2) Invest in a *good* cpu cooler.
3) Check if you can buy something locally in which you can check out the product before you hand over the cash. If that is not an option, contact the retailer you're think about buying from and mention that you have had bad luck with hardware you bought. See how good the customer service is and what their policy is for faulty hardware. Look for retailers and vendors who have customer reviews on their site.

4) Cross your fingers. Sorry. I'm just trying to Lighten up your bad luck.

 

[hunter_green32]

I am not an ASUS fan, they have cheapened much in terms of quality.

Before I bought a striker, I would buy an P5N32-E SLI. Same board, costs less. The one is marketed to gamers, the other to general users. Look at the pictures side by side, tell me that isnt the same exact board.

 

[hunter_green32]

As an afterthought, two of the three boards you just mentioned are actually the nVidia reference design for the 680i- clearly you dont much like it.

Asus, Gigabyte, MSI, Abit, and DFI are the board partners that arent using reference designs with the 680i. All other 680i boards are the same reference design, available thru I believe six manufacturers, including biostar and eVGA.