Motherboard recommendation

[gareth2061]

Im upgrading my gaming rig and ive decided on a core 2 Q6600 quad core G0 stepping Quad for my CPU, and an ATI 4970 graphics card.

I want to overclock the CPU and probably the graphics card too. Can someone recommend a nice motherboard and memory?

My budget for the mobo is about £100 give or take.
For the RAM, £ 50 - 80

Id appreciate any suggestions.

 

[Mondoman]

Any DDR2-800 RAM rated at 1.8V or 1.9V will be more than fast enough for overclocking your CPU up to 1600MHz FSB. For the MB, get a non-low-end one with an Intel chipset that gets good real-world reviews. Gigabyte makes good stuff.

 

[aevm]

Hmmm, ATI 4970, where can I get one too? OK, I'm sure you meant HD 4870, If you have a 24" monitor get the 1GB version of the card.

P5Q Pro, 107 pounds. It even has Crossfire, even though it's not ideal for it with HD 4870. (An x48 board would be ideal, but it's around 170 pounds or more)
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/145751

GA-EP45-DS4, 121 pounds
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/145693

Corsair 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2 800MHz 4-4-4-12 62 pounds
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/142433

 

[bobbknight]

One of the DFI P35 or X38 boards would be great.
But for gods sake stay the hell away from Asus, their service is crap.

 

[gareth2061]

Thanks for the great advice.

Lol I dead mean 4870. Im going to go for this one at overclockers
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-100-HT

But a new monitor is on my upgrade list in the future so do you think this will be any good?
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/PALIT-1GB-RADEON-HD-4870-SONIC-PCI-E-2-0-DUAL-EDITION-R_W0QQitemZ120323455087QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item120323455087&_trkparms=72%3A1301|39%3A1|66%3A2|65%3A12|240%3A1318&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

One more thing. Ive heard good things about Corsair, but if I go for a cheaper option like this
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-086-OC

Would it really make much difference?

Cheers

 

[aevm]

I don't know about that Palit card. Palit in itself is not a bad brand. What worries me there is the eBay thing. What kind of warranty do you get if you buy from that seller?

OCZ makes reliable memory AFAIK. I've got OCZ myself right now, and it's fine. The Corsair is better for overclocking because it has better timings, but that's about it.

 

[Mondoman]

I'd stay away from OCZ, as most of their stuff is "pre-overclocked" and often has trouble running at standard voltages. Corsair tends to be more stable and compatible.

 

[gareth2061]

Thanks for all the advice, very helpfull. I ended up going for the Corsair and GA-EP45-DS4. And I think you were right about buying from ebay so I got the same card from Ginger6 for 6 quid more. All round I've got the guts of a pretty nice system for well under 500 (new HD as well) so I'm happy.

Thanks again