Looking for the best mid-range motherboard

Technofuzz · May 10, 2008

Ok, i am looking for the best mid-range ($100 at the most) motherboard that supports 1333MHz FSB, the Core2Duo e6550, has nice features and optical audio.

Any input would be nice, i prefer 4 DDR2 slots and do NOT want a mATX board..
THANX ALL!

kenkickr · May 10, 2008

We build alot of intel systems with this board: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813127049

Technofuzz · May 10, 2008

that is pretty good, but it doesn't have coaxial or optical outputs...i will consider that board though

trt740 · May 10, 2008

here is a very good one 9.00 over your budget

stupidbiznitch9 said:
Ok, i am looking for the best mid-range ($100 at the most) motherboard that supports 1333MHz FSB, the Core2Duo e6550, has nice features and optical audio.

Any input would be nice, i prefer 4 DDR2 slots and do NOT want a mATX board..
THANX ALL!

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130098

here is another good board http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128059

FR@NK · May 10, 2008

stupidbiznitch9 said:
that is pretty good, but it doesn't have coaxial or optical outputs...i will consider that board though

That board does have optical output, its hard to see in the pics...

Technofuzz · May 10, 2008

considering the MSI board, even though it doesn't have optical out onboard....but with that crazy heatsink there, i just might go for it...

niko084 · May 10, 2008

kenkickr said:
We build alot of intel systems with this board: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813127049

Would strongly urge against that... Look on Abit's forums, a lot of people are complaining about almost all of their P35 boards and the complete lack of any acknoledgment from Abit on support.

I would suggest this-
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128337
Great support, solid board

sneekypeet · May 10, 2008

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813136038

I touch over budget, but a great mobo none the less.

Technofuzz · May 10, 2008

Those both have virtually the same features, the DYI mobo has 2 more SATA ports, but i dont think i'd use them, and i personally prefer GIGABYTE anyways,

; thanks for your input

sneekypeet · May 10, 2008

stupidbiznitch9 said:
Those both have virtually the same features, the DYI mobo has 2 more SATA ports, but i dont think i'd use them, and i personally prefer GIGABYTE anyways, ; thanks for your input

Hope you enjoy the Gigabyte Vdroop when OC'ing....something that is rare on the DFI's.

But to each their own!

trt740 · May 10, 2008

sneekypeet said:
Hope you enjoy the Gigabyte Vdroop when OC'ing....something that ir rare on the DFI's.

But to each their own!

that Gigabyte is perfectly fine and overclocks very well.

niko084 · May 10, 2008

sneekypeet said:
Hope you enjoy the Gigabyte Vdroop when OC'ing....something that ir rare on the DFI's.

But to each their own!

It's not that bad I have nailed 4ghz with e6750's on the DS3s without modding them.
True that its not as bad with the DFI though.

Both boards non the less are very good solid boards.

sneekypeet · May 10, 2008

niko084 said:
It's not that bad I have nailed 4ghz with e6750's on the DS3s without modding them.
True that its not as bad with the DFI though.

Both boards non the less are very good solid boards.

Agreed, but the #1 complaint IMHO for Gigabytes is constantly the vdroop issue, just to clearify my intention!

niko084 · May 10, 2008

sneekypeet said:
Agreed, but the #1 complaint IMHO for Gigabytes is constantly the vdroop issue, just to clearify my intention!

I figured that was your intention... Ya, its true, same of Asus boards

Odin Eidolon · May 10, 2008

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130098

msi is the best!
i have it and i assure you it is great! An OC monster for that price...

Cold Storm · May 10, 2008

Sneeky, you just can't get enough out of the boards you have??? Oh, how i wish I had kept mine... wait.. you have it! lol.. I was amazed about how the blood iron did with my system. Had both a E6400 and a q6700 oc'ed quite well. And had no problems with the board one bit! I'm seconding the Blood Iron. But thats just me and my experence with DFI

Technofuzz · May 10, 2008

I have an e6550, which doesn't OC well anyways, and i'm not looking to OC to like 1000GHz, lol i just wanna bump it up by like .5GHz or so.........so VDrooping (IM GUESSING) won't have much effect on light OCing....

sneekypeet · May 10, 2008

Vdroop causes instability and extra heat due to the waste of energy having to go somewhere.

Maybe a bit of searching google on these matters will make for a more informed buyer?

Cold Storm · May 10, 2008

There are mods for vdroop so that you get less of a droop. But that depends on the board, and the fact if you want to do something like that.... Doing what Sneeky says is the best thing to do when your looking for the fact of how bad a vdroop is on the board.. Reviews from Here will show all that you need. Or just googling the board and the words REVIEW after it...

francis511 · May 10, 2008

I can vouch for the M.S.I. board. Wow , people really rave about those blood irons , I notice though!

trt740 · May 11, 2008

yes the blood iron is a great board.

spearman914 · May 11, 2008

kenkickr said:
We build alot of intel systems with this board: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813127049

Hmmm. So far thats like the best board. For $15 after Rebate, that MB is For The Win.

MrW · May 11, 2008

I'd get the blood iron.

AKA_Dawg · May 11, 2008

Over your budget but man, I love this board.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813127030
I paid close to $200. $150 is a deal. Think of it this way, If you only use this board for a year, that works out to be 13 cents a day extra. I easily O/C to 3.2 Ghz with the same processor you specified. I have had zero problems with this board.

Processor	AMD Ryzen 9 5900X
Motherboard	MSI X570S Carbon Max Wifi
Cooling	Arctic Liquid Freezer II 280
Memory	2x16GB G.Skill Trident Z Neo 3600mhz
Video Card(s)	Gigabyte RTX 3080 10GB Gaming OC
Storage	2 x 2TB m.2 nvme
Display(s)	LG 45" OLED 3440x1440 Ultra Wide + 2 x 27" 1440p
Case	darkFlash DK431
Power Supply	EVGA 850W Gold
Mouse	Logitech G502
Keyboard	Logitech G815
Software	Windows 10

System Name	Addison Clark
Processor	Ryzen 9 7950x3D delid
Motherboard	Asus X670E Hero
Cooling	Custom Bykski loop CPU, GPU, 2x 360 rads, and 1x 280 rad with Arctic P12 and P14 ARGB fans
Memory	G.Skill DDR5-6000 64GB CL30
Video Card(s)	Gigabyte 4090 Aorus Master
Storage	Kingston Fury 2TB and 4TB NVME
Display(s)	Samsung 57"
Case	Lian Li O11 mini
Audio Device(s)	Onboard
Power Supply	Thermaltake 1000w SFX-L
Mouse	Corsair Dark Core RGB SE
Keyboard	Corsair K95 Platnium
Software	Win 11 Pro

Processor	AMD Ryzen 9 5900X
Motherboard	MSI X570S Carbon Max Wifi
Cooling	Arctic Liquid Freezer II 280
Memory	2x16GB G.Skill Trident Z Neo 3600mhz
Video Card(s)	Gigabyte RTX 3080 10GB Gaming OC
Storage	2 x 2TB m.2 nvme
Display(s)	LG 45" OLED 3440x1440 Ultra Wide + 2 x 27" 1440p
Case	darkFlash DK431
Power Supply	EVGA 850W Gold
Mouse	Logitech G502
Keyboard	Logitech G815
Software	Windows 10

System Name	Apple Bite
Processor	Intel I5
Motherboard	Apple
Memory	40gb of DDR 4 2700
Video Card(s)	ATI Radeon 500
Storage	Fusion Drive 1 TB
Display(s)	27 Inch IMac late 2017

Processor	7900
Motherboard	Rampage Apex
Cooling	H115i
Memory	64GB TridentZ 3200 14-14-14-34-1T
Video Card(s)	Fury X
Case	Corsair 740
Audio Device(s)	8ch LPCM via HDMI to Yamaha Z7 Receiver
Power Supply	Corsair AX860
Mouse	G903
Keyboard	G810
Software	8.1 x64

Looking for the best mid-range motherboard

Technofuzz

kenkickr

Technofuzz

trt740

FR@NK

Technofuzz

niko084

sneekypeet

Retired Super Moderator

Technofuzz

sneekypeet

Retired Super Moderator

trt740

niko084

sneekypeet

Retired Super Moderator

niko084

Odin Eidolon

New Member

Cold Storm

Battosai

Technofuzz

sneekypeet

Retired Super Moderator

Cold Storm

Battosai

francis511

trt740

spearman914

New Member

MrW

New Member

AKA_Dawg

New Member

System Name	Back to Blue
Processor	i9 14900k
Motherboard	Asrock Z790 Nova
Cooling	Corsair H150i Elite
Memory	64GB Corsair Dominator DDR5-6400 @ 6600
Video Card(s)	EVGA RTX 3090 Ultra FTW3
Storage	4TB WD 850x NVME, 4TB WD Black, 10TB Seagate Barracuda Pro
Display(s)	1x Samsung Odyssey G7 Neo and 1x Dell u2518d
Case	Lian Li o11 DXL w/custom vented front panel
Audio Device(s)	Focusrite Saffire PRO 14 -> DBX DriveRack PA+ -> Mackie MR8 and MR10 / Senn PX38X -> SB AE-5 Plus
Power Supply	Corsair RM1000i
Mouse	Logitech G502x
Keyboard	Corsair K95 Platinum
Software	Windows 11 x64 Pro
Benchmark Scores	31k multicore Cinebench - CPU limited 125w

System Name	EVA-01
Processor	Intel i7 13700K
Motherboard	Asus ROG Maximus Z690 HERO EVA Edition
Cooling	ASUS ROG Ryujin III 360 with Noctua Industrial Fans
Memory	PAtriot Viper Elite RGB 96GB @ 6000MHz.
Video Card(s)	Asus ROG Strix GeForce RTX 3090 24GB OC EVA Edition
Storage	Addlink S95 M.2 PCIe GEN 4x4 2TB
Display(s)	Asus ROG SWIFT OLED PG42UQ
Case	Thermaltake Core P3 TG
Audio Device(s)	Realtek on board > Sony Receiver > Cerwin Vegas
Power Supply	be quiet DARK POWER PRO 12 1500W
Mouse	ROG STRIX Impact Electro Punk
Keyboard	ROG STRIX Scope TKL Electro Punk
Software	Windows 11

Processor	e6300 @ 3000, stock Volts
Motherboard	msi p35 neo2-FIR
Cooling	HDT-1283
Memory	2gb tracers 1066 micron d9GMH, cooled by a modded CoolIt Memory Cooler
Video Card(s)	HIS 4850 ICEQ4
Storage	WD Caviar 16 320gb WDAAKS + 640gb WDAAKS
Case	CM RC-690 sligthly modded
Power Supply	Bequiet darkpower PRO 850W (say overkill? :D)
Software	kubuntu 8.10 + Windows XP, soon Windows 7 too

System Name	Haro
Processor	AMD 1700x
Motherboard	AsRork x370 Taichi
Cooling	EK Custom Loop - CPU only
Memory	32gb G-Skill Trident Z
Video Card(s)	EVGA 1080 Superclock 2
Storage	Too Many
Display(s)	Viewsonic VX2450WM-LED 24" & LG 32 IPS
Case	Cooler Master Cosmos II
Power Supply	Cooler Master V1000
Mouse	SteelSeries Rival 500
Software	Win10 Pro
Benchmark Scores	i5 750 4.62ghz pi runs // Evga FTW p55

Processor	Core I5 4440 / 4430
Motherboard	Asus z87-k / Gigabyte ga h97- d3h
Cooling	Arctic freezer / Generic
Memory	8 gb Mushkin / Various
Video Card(s)	Radeon 7850 cf / Gtx 690
Storage	Samsung 850 EVO 250 gb / 2x1 terabyte hdds Wd 256 gb nvme
Display(s)	Technika 32" / Asus 24` ips
Case	Corsair
Audio Device(s)	X-fi Titanium
Power Supply	Corsair 850 w
Software	Windows 10

System Name	Mine \| Dad + Mom
Processor	E8500 E0 Wolfdale @ 4.6GHz 1.5V \| E2180 M0 Allendale @ 3.0GHz 1.3V
Motherboard	Asus Maximus Formula (X48) w/ Rampage BIOS \| Asus P5Q Pro (P45)
Cooling	Xigmatek Rifle HDT-S1283 w/ SFF21F Fan \| Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro
Memory	G.Skill Pi Black 2x2GB 1.02GHz CL5 \| OCZ Reaper 2x2GB 1.05GHz CL5
Video Card(s)	Sapphire 4870X2 2GB 820/1020MHz \| Sapphire 4850 1GB 700/1100MHz
Storage	WD VR 150GB 10K RPM + WD 500GB 7.2K RPM \| WD 200GB 7.2K RPM
Display(s)	Acer P243WAID 24" 1920x1200 LCD \| Acer V193W 19" 1440x900 LCD
Case	Cooler Master HAF 932 Full-Tower \| Antec Twelve Hundred Mid-Tower
Audio Device(s)	Fatal1ty Xtreme Gamer w/ Z-5500 5.1 \| On-Board Audio w/ S-220 2.1
Power Supply	PC Power and Cooling 750W Non-Modular \| Corsair HX-520W Modular
Software	Windows Vista Home Premium X64 \| Windows Vista Home Premium X64
Benchmark Scores	Not Wasting Time!

Processor	Opteron 1212 @ 3.2Ghz
Motherboard	DFI Infinity N-Force Ultra M2
Cooling	Custom
Memory	4GB Ballistix DDR2-1000
Video Card(s)	Ati Radeon X1900-AIW
Storage	WD Caviar 640GB
Display(s)	21" Trinitron
Case	Lian-Li PC-65
Power Supply	Seasonic S12-500W
Software	Vista & openSUSE

Processor	Core 2 Duo E6550 @3.5
Motherboard	ABIT IP35 Pro Intel P35
Cooling	ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro 92mm
Memory	OCZ FLEX 2 PC 9200 4GB (2 x 2GB)
Video Card(s)	2 DIAMOND Viper Radeon HD 3870 512MB 256-bit GDDR4
Storage	WD Raptor 740 WD raptor 360(page file)
Display(s)	Acer 19" 2ms on a DELL adj stand
Case	Top Secret
Power Supply	PC Power & Cooling 750w
Software	XP PRO