[BIGEYE]

What motherboard (around £70) would be my best choice for my new Intel Core
2 Quad Q6600 G0 Stepping CPU. I will likely do a little bit of overclocking
to about 3.2 GHz (hopefully), and will be using the Thermalright 120 extreme
cooler with 120mm fan. I hope this is not too big so as to cause
obstructions to other components or the air flow.

The mobos I have been considering are:

Asus

Gigabyte

MSI

Of course, there will be others I should consider, therefore, I am open to
suggestions.

TIA

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For overclocking, the Gigabyte board has had good reviews.
However if you don't intend to go down the SLI route (basically two video cards in one computer), then the Gigabyte board will be fine as it only has one PCI-Express x16 slot.

However each board has its own positive and negative points:

The MSI board has two IDE channels, the others only have one.
The Gigabyte board can't do SLI/Crossfire, the others can.
The MSI board is slightly older technology, whereas the others use the current P35 chipset.
The Gigabyte board has six SATA ports, the Asus seven, the MSI four.
The Asus has front-panel Firewire takeoffs, the others don't.

Best thing to do is Google the model numbers and see what the overclocking potential is.

[Neil Jones]

For overclocking, the Gigabyte board has had good reviews.
However if you don't intend to go down the SLI route (basically two video cards in one computer), then the Gigabyte board will be fine as it only has one PCI-Express x16 slot.

However each board has its own positive and negative points:

The MSI board has two IDE channels, the others only have one.
The Gigabyte board can't do SLI/Crossfire, the others can.
The MSI board is slightly older technology, whereas the others use the current P35 chipset.
The Gigabyte board has six SATA ports, the Asus seven, the MSI four.
The Asus has front-panel Firewire takeoffs, the others don't.

Best thing to do is Google the model numbers and see what the overclocking potential is.

[fenzodahl512]

Hi, to overclock a Core2Quad, you need not only a good cooling but a good motherboard and power supply as well.

For motherboard, and in term of overclocking, I would highly recommend you either Gigabyte or Asus with P35 chipset and with at least 6-phase power. Nvidia 650i is highly NOT recommended for overclocking a Core2Quad.. Between all three motherboard of your choice, I would recommend you Gigabyte P35-DS3, although if you can afford P35-DS3R (should be slightly expensive), that would be a slightly better motherboard in terms of overclocking

If you're planned to do SLi I would recommend you Abit Fatal1ty FP-IN9 SLI for the similar range price with P35-DS3.

I'm in Malaysia, thus I don't have a clear idea about motherboard pricing at your country. And you might want to consider a good and reputable power supply for your overclocking needs. A 500watt ++ with at least 36A on combined +12v rails (or 18A for each +12v rail) is highly recommended.

Thermalright 120Ultra Extreme is excellent choice for overclocking. Or you might want to consider either Xigmatek S-1283, CoolerMaster GeminII (Does not come with fan) or Thermaltake Big Typhoon VX for great budget cooling

[BIGEYE]

I was considering the Arctic Cooling AC-FRZ-7P Freezer 7 Pro for the CPU.

Artic Fan

[fenzodahl512]

7Hi, Artic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro is a decent cooler. Good enough to cool a quad-core processor at stock speed but I wouldn't recommend it if you are planning to overclock your quad-core processor at over 1.40vcore.. still, Artic Freezer 7 is wayy better than Intel stock cooling