Any good mobo in $100-150 range?

[hivebattleii]

I decided to go for BFG 280gtx and Q9550 ( planning to oc it to 3.4 with antec 900 and xigma128 ) but I am not sure which mobo I should choose

It seems like many people are using Asus P5Q , P5Q pro

but at neweggs there so many problems with these boards that
it feels like there are 50/50 to chance of getting a defective mobo.

What do you guys think of

BIOSTAR TPower I45 ( over $150, but it seems to offer good OC performance )
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813138118

Foxconn P45A-S
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813186148

What other good boards are there?

 

[niko084]

P5q-e!!!!!

 

[PaulieG]

I decided to go for BFG 280gtx and Q9550 ( planning to oc it to 3.4 with antec 900 and xigma128 ) but I am not sure which mobo I should choose

It seems like many people are using Asus P5Q , P5Q pro

but at neweggs there so many problems with these boards that
it feels like there are 50/50 to chance of getting a defective mobo.

What do you guys think of

BIOSTAR TPower I45 ( over $150, but it seems to offer good OC performance )
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813138118

Foxconn P45A-S
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813186148

What other good boards are there?

There are so many good boards out right now. I've found better and more stable performance out of p35 and x38 boards, then the p45's. You should check out the DFI boards in your price range. You can get a p35 Blood Iron for $110. Probably the best budget board ever. I'm still running one in my second rig.

 

[ShadowFold]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131299

I love mine I recommend it to everyone

And most newegg reviewers are noobs and most noobs go for ASUS or Gigashit.

 

[hivebattleii]

There are so many good boards out right now. I've found better and more stable performance out of p35 and x38 boards, then the p45's. You should check out the DFI boards in your price range. You can get a p35 Blood Iron for $110. Probably the best budget board ever. I'm still running one in my second rig.

Yeah. I was originally gonna go for p35 boards but since they are not good at ocing ( compared to p45 ) I excluded those from the lists.

For p5q pro...I heard that mobo has a lot of issues.I am still considering getting that board
but Id wait more and compare more with other boards.

 

[NastyHabits]

It seems like many people are using Asus P5Q , P5Q pro

but at neweggs there so many problems with these boards that
it feels like there are 50/50 to chance of getting a defective mobo.

What do you guys think of

BIOSTAR TPower I45 ( over $150, but it seems to offer good OC performance )
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813138118

Foxconn P45A-S
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813186148

What other good boards are there?

I drowned my P35 (Gigabyte P35-DS3R) . I bought a ASUS P5Q Pro because I got a good combo deal. It was frustrating at first. Turns out most of the problems you've heard about are due to the BIOS. Make sure you download the latest one, or better yet, get the latest mbios by ketxxx.

Once I took the time to read through the forums here on TPU, I was able to OC my board relatively easily. (No where near as easy as it was on my P-35 mind you.)

 

[dark2099]

The P45 boards are great boards, but they are getting more technical with the settings needed. Any of the ASUS P5Q series probably would be a good choice since they are so common.

 

[Squirrely]

I would suggest any of the P5Q boards as said here. Intel chipsets are great. They are fast and energy efficient. I would suggest the P5Q Pro, as it is right in the middle, with 8 phase power, and such, which is great. May want the better cooling of the P5Q-E, or 16 phase power for the Deluxe.

 

[hivebattleii]

I would suggest any of the P5Q boards as said here. Intel chipsets are great. They are fast and energy efficient. I would suggest the P5Q Pro, as it is right in the middle, with 8 phase power, and such, which is great. May want the better cooling of the P5Q-E, or 16 phase power for the Deluxe.

hmm. What is the difference between 8 phase power and 16 phase power?
I remember reading somewhere that phase power should not be a deciding factor.
Some even say that 16 phase power is a marketing hype and just a dual 8 phase power.
but regardless, what exactly does it do?

Also what justifies the reason for spending $60 more on p5q-deluxe over p5q pro?

 

[Squirrely]

hmm. What is the difference between 8 phase power and 16 phase power?
I remember reading somewhere that phase power should not be a deciding factor.
Some even say that 16 phase power is a marketing hype and just a dual 8 phase power.
what exactly does it do?

Also what justifies the reason for spending $60 more on p5q-deluxe over p5q pro?

I actually had the same question when building a pc for a friend. Here is a really good explanation I found on another forum:

the number of phases is directly releated to the amount of current that can be supplied to the cpu. when the PWM or voltage reg's get hot voltage will drop to keep up with the current demand. with 16phase pwm you have up to 2 times the current that 8phase has. this doesnt mean you will be able to use that extra current but its there like a car that has a high HP engine. 16 phase does seem to offer on its own zero vdroop which means no needing to use the asus voltage dampener. As by using that feature limits the current to keep voltage high. the voltage supplied isnt the issue but the current, there were some people stating there ocs got better with this feature disabled. Ocing with zero vdroop wont be a issue now with a 16phase board. strictly speaking to the 2 boards in question, the 16phase will have twice the current because they both use the same number of voltage regulators per phase,ie 3 regs per choke making one phase. which is good for ocing with extreme cooling. A 8phase Pwm board will be overkill for a 65nm or 45nm cpu. 16phase would just be even more overkill, i would choose the 16phase board now if you have plans soon to go quad.

So all in all, from what a lot of people have said from other forums, that 16 phase power is overkill for a dual core, but maybe useful for a quad (If ocing heavily). Personally, I would stick with the P5Q Pro, or P5Q-E for the extra cooling, to save some cash. The real difference between the P5Q-E and the P5Q Deluxe is just the 16 phase power, and an extra heatpipe. (If I am wrong anyone, please correct me. )

But, the P5Q Pro is a great board (and the P5Q-E as well for the better cooling). A Q9550 on that will be kickin'.