Right now, I'm checking out the Gigabyte GA-X48-DQ6. Looks very very nice to me, with its eight SATA ports, large heatpipe coolers, and boatload of extra little features. The price isn't really an issue, as I'm still within my budget when choosing this board. I do have a few questions however.
1) Somebody here on Tom's had mentioned that all the copper on the back of this motherboard would get in the way when installing a backplate for a CPU cooler, such as the Tuniq Tower 120 I'm looking at now. Will this be an issue?
2) What exactly are the differences between X38/X48, besides the fact that X48 is certified for 1600 FSB (400 MHz)? It looks like I'm going to have to crank my FSB up to 2000 FSB (500 MHz) to hit 4.0 GHz with a Q9450, so I want a motherboard that will be as stable as possible at such a high FSB. Is X48 a better choice? Remember, extra cost is not really an issue here.
3) If the Gigabyte GA-X48-DQ6 is not a good choice, could I get a recommendation for another X38/X48 board that will allow me to push my Q9450 to its limits?
Any help is greatly appreciated!
1) Somebody here on Tom's had mentioned that all the copper on the back of this motherboard would get in the way when installing a backplate for a CPU cooler, such as the Tuniq Tower 120 I'm looking at now. Will this be an issue?
2) What exactly are the differences between X38/X48, besides the fact that X48 is certified for 1600 FSB (400 MHz)? It looks like I'm going to have to crank my FSB up to 2000 FSB (500 MHz) to hit 4.0 GHz with a Q9450, so I want a motherboard that will be as stable as possible at such a high FSB. Is X48 a better choice? Remember, extra cost is not really an issue here.
3) If the Gigabyte GA-X48-DQ6 is not a good choice, could I get a recommendation for another X38/X48 board that will allow me to push my Q9450 to its limits?
Any help is greatly appreciated!