Hey there, so im looking to buy a new mobo cause im building a new PC
CPU - Q9450
GFX - HD4870
Mem - DDR2 probs 4g then 8g later

im looking to overclock my 9450 to like >3.2 and im eventually going to get a second 4870 so i think i would want both PCIe 2.0's @16x bandwidth.

Ive been looking at the X48 DQ6 but its just shy of $300 and with nehalem coming i dotn know if i want to drop that on a mobo... is there any other mobos that have the features i will need that overclock well and are more or less idiot proof. IE. Bios recovery

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] E%2bDeluxe

that looks dope ThX bro

Or http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] GA-X48-DS4

yeah i looked at the DS4 too, ive just heard of Gigabyte Issues. Right now i have a Asus Mobo with a Gigabyte GPU and the GPU has always worked great for me... mobo has some quirks nothing serious, but when you pay money you expect it to work 100% right.

Which Gigabyte issues?

You could also look at aBit IX38 QuadGT or some DFI X48 if you want. They tend to be a little cheaper than the Asus and Gigabyte.

on the Asus board would i be able to fit a ultra 120 extreme on there easily? or would it take some NB modifacations?

Don't know for sure.

I know the Xigmatek HDT-S1283 fits OK on that board, if that helps.

Edit: BTW, I wouldn't invest in the TRUE any more. Nehalem CPUs will be wider, so the TRUE won't work on them.

I would think it would fit, but I don't have that HSF.

my question about the DFI boards is ive heard that if you overclock and your system stalls up then its difficult to reboot, and you have to manually reflash the BIOS? ive never used one so i dont know, cause yea i was looking at an MSI X48 or a DFI LT X48

Have owned DFI and MSI MBs in the past. ASUS is a step above in my experience. ASUS BIOS will default and require to 'press 1' to enter BIOS and reconfigure from there if a 'bad' overclock causes a system crash. Nothing wrong with DFI and MSI, but premium ASUS MBs have worked for me in recent years. ASUS is American Megatrends BIOS. DFI and MSI are Award I believe. Modern MBs don't normally require a reset of the CMOS where a failed overclock is involved. Flashing the BIOS is a different procedure than resetting the CMOS jumper to default BIOS.

If you get the Rampage Formula, the TRUE definitely fits.

so if i do a bad overclock on the DFI its a simple Jumper CMOS reset still?

Modern MBs do not 'normally' require a manual CMOS jumper reset. The BIOS will default itself and the computer will reboot and allow you reenter the BIOS upon key and set up a defaulted BIOS from there. It's not foolproof (you don't it want now!) and at some point a CMOS jumper reset may be required. My ASUS X38 maximus Formula SE has a "lighted foolproof"CMOS jumper reset button on the ouside I/O panel in the back.

k yeah that makes sense, this guy at the store told me that DFI boards had to be like brought in so you could reflash a crashed BIOS, and i was a little confused, cause on my A8N32 lux i just switch the Jumpers and it resets. Ok so if the DFI would be similiar id be fine with that.

i was looking at the DK X48 T2RS? would it be a prety solid mobo?

sorry or the LT X48 T2R

Anyway, this is the back I/O shield of the ASUS x48 I linked. I circled the CMOS jumper. I am not entirely certain it is the same CMOS reset jumper my ASUS x38 has, but if it is resetting the CMOS to defaut BIOS is as simple as pressing it if need be.

I have the A8N32-SLI. I have no problems having to reset the CMOS jumper manually if an overclock fails. Just press F1 at the next reboot and enter a defaulted BIOS. I just installed Vista 32 on that board. I hope you didn't try and install Windows XP SP3 on there! Crash!!!!!

http://img49.imageshack.us/img49/5 [...] 101us0.jpg