So in your opinion which board out of the above would work best with the q6600?

I'm personally looking to get the q6600 with the P35 because of it overclocking abilities.

It is interesting to Google aspects of these questions. I found this re: P35 Q6600

http://forums.pcper.com/showthread.php?t=448577

That board is far inferior to the other two we are looking at.

There are still many questions regarding the relationship of Kentsfield processors and the 680i chipset. That is the only reason I would think twice about the XTX board.

The Intel board is a 975 chipset but again it is probably far beyond anything you would ever use it for unless you plan on further upgrading.

That is another issue to consider. The P35 is not very upgradeable. The XTX is reasonably upgradeable. The Intel is very upgradeable.

I believe you will find both the Intel and the XTX to be much more overclockable than the P35.

Thanks for your input, don't you mean XFX :-d

Yes.

Also to add the Q6600 is quite warm.

I run all my systems on liquid cooling.

The stock cooling will be your largest drawback to overclocking.

I don't think I will need to OC my rig but we'll see :-d

Cool. Let us know how it goes or if we can help further.

Pakistan sounds like an interesting adventure!

Thanks for your help, I will seek future advise here again.
Yea moving to Pakistan will definitely be a big change!

Based upon my own decision and the decision made by other people as well, this is best+cheapest build of the submitted entries. Here's what I came up from the winning entry:

www.directcanada.com

MOTHERBOARD: Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3R Atx LGA775 Conroe P35 DDR2 1PCI-E16 3PCI-E1 Sata Raid Sound Gblan = $131.54

PROCESSOR: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Quad Core Processor LGA775 Kentsfield 2.40GHZ 1066FSB 8MB = $267.99

VIDEO CARD: Galaxy Geforce 8800GT Overclocked 600MHZ 512MB 2.0GHZ DDR3 PCI-E DVI-I Hdcp Hdtv Out Oem = $249.99

RAM: Corsair XMS2 TWIN2X2048-6400 2GB 2X1GB PC2-6400 DDR2-800 CL 5-5-5-18 240PIN DIMM Dual Channel = $75.60

HARD DISK: Western Digital SE16 320GB SATA2 7200RPM 16MB 8.9MS Hard Drive Oem = $75.99

TOTAL COST BEFORE TAXES/SHIPPING = $802
TOTAL COST AFTER TAXES/SHIPPING = $850

Although I will not order the exact setup but it will be 85% similar to this entry.

The winner is "Kilauea" who posted this build in the following thread:



I would like to thank everyone who has submitted an entry or has tried to help me with my build. You guys were a MAJOR help.

MOTHERBOARD

http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=11830BD0443 = $131.54

PROCESSOR

http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=12200BD3212 = $267.99

GRAPHIC CARD

http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=24630BD6770 = $249.99

RAM

http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=15380BD0292 = $94.99

PSU

http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=11130AC9786 = $51.84

FAN+HEATSINK

http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=15210AC4527 = $51.79

HARD DRIVE

http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=15080DR0838 = $75.99

DVD BURNER

http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=12600DR1695 = $34.54

TOTAL BEFORE TAXES = $958.67
TOTAL AFTER TAXES+SHIPPING = $1,016.19


Do you think I am good to go?
Am I missing something or should I change something?
Should I add a shipping insurance for additional $15 or is it not necessary?

Thanks in advance!

I would investigate a few things by going to the manufacturer's web sites.

First off (from a glance)(which is all direct Canada gives) that motherboard and CPU are not compatible. Conroe is Core 2 Duo. Core 2 Extreme (quad) is Kentsfield.

If you stick with the Kentsfield you also need to verify the PSU is quad core ready. It requires an 8 pin ATX rather than 4. Just one reason a Conroe board cannot handle a Kentsfield.

Also the Intel heatsink and fan is just as good as any third party unit and it is included with the CPU.

Also verify the motherboard will run DDR2 800 RAM. Most low end boards are at DDR2 400.

Finally verify the PSU has the proper connection (PCI_E dedicated 6 pin) to support that graphics card.



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