Before you suggest a mobo read my story. I have E6750 Scythe Infinity HSF EVGA 8800GT 512MB SC 2x1GB Crucial Ballastix DDR2-800 WD Cavair 250GB 7200RPM SATA Sony CD/DVD CorsairHX 520W Vista Home Premium I had GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3R, I liked it a lot. Had CPU @ 3.5 no problem. Had no real issues until a bad BIOS flash sends it to RMA and it is currently still in RMA. I plan to sell on ebay when it gets back. Now I NEED to have a working computer at home, I can't go into full reasons right now but I have no time to wait so I had to order a new mobo. Not to say I don't use my PC to game/bench. I needed a mobo and I heard good things about the ABIT IP35 --- so I ordered it. I had to stretch my budget for it. Sorry to say I had a bad experience with the mobo. Acted all screwy out of the box. 8800GT didn't seem to like it all as it lost video a lot, it was a good card to as it was fine in my old 939 system. I suspect it had something to do with the 1.0a PCI-E spec. Currently a whole thread about that on Abit forums. http://forum.uabit.com/showthread.php?t=131643 Even if 1.0a shoulden't be a problem i still don't want to go trhough ip35 --- again. It didn't seem to OC better if it all then the previous DS3R, I just had it at 3.5 and the vcore needed to be set higher too. I decided I needed to do a mod with the Infinity as I hate push pins on a heavy heatsink like that. I do this mod. http://www.thetechrepository.com/showthread.php?t=16 I forget the insulators and turn it on and therefore it shorted and won't ever go to BIOS, has tons of different post codes. I would RMA if I could but I enlarged HSF holes because I didn't have small enough knobs for the size screw needed. I know my mistake I should of went to Home Depot. Since the holes are enlarged I am not sure I can RMA but I still might try. So I NEED a mobo as I said before so I am looking to order a new one. On a smaller note my Scythe Infinity is pretty scratched and lapping does not seem to help. I would like to order a new HSF without pushpins that mounts via a backplate like the Tuniq which is currently has on newegg for $44. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16835154001 I am not rich and putting the Tuniq into the equation takes money for the mobo out. --------------- I am looking for at least 3.5 with my E6750 -P35 -No SLI -Performance -Overclock -Stability -Good BIOS -No 1.0a PCI-E I saw this thread about DFI Blood Iron 600+fsb on E6850 http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=166590 I do realize largely based on the CPU and I like DFI BIOS a lot So what do you guys suggest? I was looking at MSI ne02 because the same pcb/components and msi p35 platnium but I don't like the PCI-E 1.0a. Do I just buy another DS3R? ASUS Blitz/maximus formula/foxconn mars are way out of budget and the p5k asus boards can screw themselves. Here's what I have DFI Blood Iron - Seems good performance for cheap to me and I like DFI BIOS. But I don't like the crappy chipset cooler of 4 phase pwn. DS3R - Had it before and had no issues. Not sure about DS3L. Is it just no RAID? ASUS P35 Mobos - Don't really know much about them. along with a tuniq
well my top 3 suggestions would be blood iron DS3 IP35 don't know what to say, you're on the right track, keep searching. from my experience, DFI boards are solid and they have good BIOSes, it's just that their infinity series is basically just an overpriced $80 board with a good bios, and their lanparty series is kickass but $$$. if you're patient, just wait out your RMA.
My pick out of any Intel board atm would be the IP35 p.ro. My friend used his to take 7th place in the world SPi rankings under LN2. It's great for running high voltages through, and like most Abit boards, It's built like a tank. I'd be inclined to take another one of those.
get the DFI DK P35, better than the blood iron http://www.motherboardpro.com/DFI-LanParty...oard-p-428.html
