Upgrading from Micro-ATX to ATX...

[spathotan]

Well, once upon a time (2 months ago) I had been using a Micro-ATX case and motherboard. Well I upgraded to a midtower and still using the mATX board, which is this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128053

Im running a Q6600, 4GB of ram, an 8800GT and Vista 64bit. I want to OC this processor but this board will not even let me get it to 2.6, it used to let me go as high as 3.0, but not anymore , so a new motherboard it is. This system is running off a 530W Hiper with two +12v at 20A and 17A. Im also pondering getting a board with PCI-E 2.0, but even after reading the Toms review on it im still not sure if its worth it for my 8800GT @ 1680 x 1050, or even a 9800GTX for that matter.

Im preety good at picking out parts, so I know the basics, but im clueless as to which chipsets people are using for "the best" overclocking, and which to avoid. I was looking at the EVGA 750i FTW board, but after Newegg has raised the price by $40 over the past week, and reading that Nvidia chipsets are questionable ive ditched that. I cant really go on the reviews on Newegg due to people dropping raitings due to stupid ****. Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[chookman]

If you are looking for a board to overclock your Q6600 and dont have any interest in SLI, i would suggest a P35 chipset it will have plenty of FSB headroom for an overclock and they are rock solid

Anything from Gigabyte or Asus

 

[spathotan]

If you are looking for a board to overclock your Q6600 and dont have any interest in SLI, i would suggest a P35 chipset it will have plenty of FSB headroom for an overclock and they are rock solid

Anything from Gigabyte or Asus

Yes, I have no interest in SLi, sorry for not mentioning that in my OP. Ive been looking at the P35's after reading deep into the General Mobo thread, as it seems PCI-E 2.0 truly is "pointless" right now even for 9800GX2's. I was looking at the DFI Blood Iron at $120, apparently its a monster overclocker, but I have no experience with DFI.

 

[spathotan]

After further research it seems the DFI BloodIron isnt a "great" choise for OCing a quad, as the board has no heatsinks on the mosfets, and the NB gets incredibly hot. Im not going to spend $120 on a board, then another $50 in mosfet/NB cooling, at that point I could have gotten a far greater board.

Anybody have anymore susgestions? Not looking for a $450 ASUS Striker, infact im trying to avoid ASUS period as ive had two ASUS boards die on me in the past (P5N-SLI nforce5, and a P5W wifi which was a Intel p35 i think)