Hello all! This is my first post here at Tom's Hardware. Anyway, getting straight to the point, I'm wondering which motherboard I should get. I recently bought all the parts for a nice gaming system only to find that my Gigabyte motherboard has some serious issues (best I can figure it was DOA). After 2 days of troubleshooting, multiple phone calls, multiple trips to the store, and building/taking apart my system 8 times I finally decided I'd had enough with this mobo.

So I'm left now wondering what I should get. I'd prefer to keep the price tag under 200$ if possible. I'd HIGHLY prefer to stay away from Gigabyte's P35 series... I just want a reliable brand and the X38/X48 chipset would be nice for my gfx card. I do plan to overclock so please bear that in mind as well. Here are the parts I have now:

Power Supply: Rosewill RX750-D-B 750 Watt PSU (tested and known to be in working order)

Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 G0 stepping (I plan to overclock this to 3.6 ghz/core)

CPU Cooler: Xigmatek HDT-S1283 R (amazing reviews for this cooler, also have Arctic Silver 5 thermal paste)

Graphics: Asus GeForce EN9600GT 512mb GDDR3 PCI-e2.0(I plan to overclock this to 700 core/1800 memory)

RAM: Mushkin DDRII 800 2x1gb kit 4-5-4-11 timings 2.1v (please keep the higher voltage in mind here, ran into problems with voltage here on my other mobo)

Sound: Sound Blaster Audigy 4 (salvaged from an older system)

Harddrive: Western Digital WD1600YS R 160gb 7200 rpm Sata 3.0 gb/s

Case: Rosewill R5694-TBK ATX/mATX mid-tower case

I also have a generic IDE DVD+/-RW drive.

When I built this system I was basically trying to build a high-end budget gaming system that'd last me for a while. I've been without a computer to myself for 2 weeks now (which really freakin sucks for me being an online gamer...). I'd seriously appreciate any help anyone can give me suggestions-wise (the sooner the better, hoping to catch UPS today ).

If you are relatively experienced with overclocking the DFI LanParty is a pretty good choice http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813136045

If not, Asus P5E
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813131219

Edit: fixed link

I'd say P5E too. It was mentioned in a newegg review of that Mushkin RAM, so we know it's compatible.

I'd say the P5E over the LanParty, it takes more then just experience to overclock a DFI board, it takes studying, even hardware reviewers have said it took them as long as 2 weeks to figure out the BIOS settings to get a good stable overclock.

Take a look at the abit X38 Quad GT also. The P45's are also right around the corner.

Ordered the P5e, thanks for the advice. I've heard there may be compatibility issues with my RAM at first... but I think that can be solved with a BIOS update. The Mushkin forums list my RAM as being compatible with the P5E so I guess I'll see