Mobo Choice...

Hmmm...

I've been going back and fourth over a motherboard, and really do not have the experience required to pick one. It's easy to read reviews, but I'd like to hear what the community has to say.

I'm going to be running a Q6600, and want to OC it to around 3.3. I chose this number because most of the reviews I've read started running into problems around 3.4ish. Anyhow, I've never OCed before, and want the simplest, easiest, least anxiety-provoking experience possible. I'm willing to spend the extra money to make that happen.

Given that I intend to run only one GPU, I'm thinking a P35 based mobo would be for me. But which one? FYI, I'm going to be running Vista Ultimate 64, so keep that in mind when you make your recommendation.

Asus has the easier BIOS's to OC as they are easily read. So id go with Asus over Gigabyte there.

If you are getting Intel, its obvious it has to be an intel based product.

If your only running one GPU you dont need SLI then an Intel chipset is the best option.

Currently P35 and x38 intel chipsets are best for q6600 with single gpu...

Which brings us to Asus P5K and P5E range mobos. P5K is cheaper and more mature, whereas P5E has PCIe2.0 and support for 2x16lane PCIe slots. As i believe you dont need either of these the P35 is the option...

So we have P5K range. from there we only need to pick what version is best. P5K, P5K-e, deluxe and there are a few others... my suggestion would be P5K-e as its has the most features for the best price.

If you do go with Gigabyte get the GA-P35-DS3R. It's a bit better than the DS3L (it allows RAID and 8 disks instead of 4). I guess you can afford $30 more, since you bought Vista Ultimate

Funny, I read in a few reviews that Gigabyte has the friendlier BIOS when it comes to newbies overclocking. Maybe both Asus and Gigabyte did a good job there. You can't go wrong with either, I guess.