Hi guys, I'm new to building computers... this will be my first and a half computer (first computer I only put the parts together, cousin did wiring and adjusted settings)

I'm about to buy one of these boards(Gigabyte p35 ds3r or Abit Ip35-E), my local hardware store is having a sale and I can grab both of them for around $100-100. I game medicorely, and multitask a lottttt, so I'll be looking to OC a bit at first. I have the E6750 and 2gb of Crucial ballistix ddr2 800 ram. I want to try and get this to at least 3.0ghz without making the temp increase a whole lot.

Also, I've read a few reviews about "double booting" with the abit.. will that hurt me in the long run? i.e maybe hd dying faster? And when I'm installing the CPU and RAM, would I be good to go and install xp right away, or would I have to adjust some settings first, like cpu and ram volts? I've seen a few cases where people said theirs didn't boot without modifying it.

one last thing, when applying arctic silver 5, should I put a tiny dab and rub it through out the whole cpu or just put a dab and put heatsink over it?

thansk in advance

I have no idea which boards you are talking about

Check out GA-P35-DS3R, it's my favorite these days.

sorry, i forgot to add it
gigabyte ga-p35 ds3r
or
abit ip35-e
and bump!

I'm getting the p35 ds3r for my e6750. I'm hoping to OC to 3.8. I can't answer the rest. I always spread the thermal paste evenly & thinly on the proc but thats just me

http://www.overclockersclub.com/

alright thanks.

asus or gigbbyte with p35 chipset - then do you need onboard wirelss or raid - choose the mobo

you need the "R' south bridge - low end asus do not have it
asus has way better overclocking - gigabyte has idiot setting like plus or minus .1 .2 .3 volts - totally stupid - but its a nice mobo

stay away from abit - i had bad luck with alot of their mobos and their tech supports speaks bad chinglish not even good chinglish - you get better english from india then california

abit makes some many bad bios mobo's