Hey guys, a friend asked me to build him a list of parts for a Sandy Bridge PC, but before I do I want to educate myself a little more to make the best choices possible, I am aware now that the Faulty Cougar Point connection is ok now and they are being sold again, my question(s) are, whats the consensus on motherboards. I heard earlier that you guys prefer certain chipsets, P67 was the one I believe, I know nothing about the importance of that, if anyone can shed light as to why it's better, or to avoid certain chipsets please let me know. I also heard when it comes to overclocking you will want lower voltage ram around 1.35v and most certainly not he standard 1.65v, is this correct, I was told at Microcenter by a sales associate that 1.65v would still work. He plans to overclock and I am aware that the process is completely different that with chips we were used to with the Multiplier and FSB. Sorry for the slew of questions but I feel like I waited a bit to long to research info about this, and now I'm way behind. Thanks for all the help guys, I appreciate all your input. Thanks Again,

Hey guys, a friend asked me to build him a list of parts for a Sandy Bridge PC, but before I do I want to educate myself a little more to make the best choices possible, I am aware now that the Faulty Cougar Point connection is ok now and they are being sold again, my question(s) are, whats the consensus on motherboards. I heard earlier that you guys prefer certain chipsets, P67 was the one I believe, I know nothing about the importance of that, if anyone can shed light as to why it's better, or to avoid certain chipsets please let me know. I also heard when it comes to overclocking you will want lower voltage ram around 1.35v and most certainly not he standard 1.65v, is this correct, I was told at Microcenter by a sales associate that 1.65v would still work. He plans to overclock and I am aware that the process is completely different that with chips we were used to with the Multiplier and FSB. Sorry for the slew of questions but I feel like I waited a bit to long to research info about this, and now I'm way behind. Thanks for all the help guys, I appreciate all your input. Thanks Again,

CPU voltage is 1.35v recommended maximum safe 24/7 with 1.38v being the very top. http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18227647 There is a lot of bad information on the net and forums stating higher voltages. Several of these refer to the VID specification from Intel which says 1.52v is maximum however VID and Vcore are not the same. RAM is 1.5v recommended lots run 1.6-1.65v however with 1.5v readly available at low timings not sure why everybody is so bent on using the wrong RAM (maybe they got a discount from the manufacturer for using in stock product?).P67 or H67 differences include number of Pcie slots, onboard graphics and overclocking options, P67 has the full meal deal and the one you want.