HI everybody,For the past two days I've been looking at getting on board the SB waggon and so far I've found out that I only need a new CPU and Motherboard. The CPU part is easy because FSX doesn't support HT and I use no applications that supports this. So with that established I will go for the Intel i5 2500kNow here comes the bit I've been strugling with. The right choice of motherboard. Right now it's just a sea of PCB, transistors, endless acronyms all coated in bright/vivid colours. (doesn't this remind you of Lego?) Of course some manufactures paint theirs in a military colour. Maybe so you can hide it in the bush; I don't know.I have been looking at what people in here got and what I need. My current specs are below. I've been looking at the following motherboards: (all about 200-250usd)Asus Maximus IV Gene-2Asus P8P67 DeluxeASRock Fatal1ty P67 ProfessionalMSI P67A-GD80As my needs are very limited they are here:Good overclocking ability (a little arbitrary as it is largely deping on the CPU)I only need one PCIe 16x. I have only one graficscard and no other expansion cards.6gbps SATA IIPS2 connecter. Old school keyboard.Debug LED, on board power on. Maybe a Clear CMOSI hope some of you will point my ship in the right direction as I am drifing more about than the ancient mariner.Kind regards,

ASROCK Z68 PRO3. They're about £99.Im sure somebody will come along and put me in my place, but that is my suggestion

Hi MartinHow are you?I have been using the P8P67 Deluxe since original release in January without problems. Note that the memory volts for the 920 is 1,65 whereas the volts for Sandy Bridge is 1.5. Intel recommend 1,58V max I seem to recall. However I suspect a lot of users still use the old memory.Must get back on Skype sometime...

ASROCK Z68 PRO3. They're about £99.Im sure somebody will come along and put me in my place, but that is my suggestion

The ASRock boards are certainly the best value around, especially the Extreme Gen3 series. I don't think anybody is going to put you in your place on that one!My P8Z68 Deluxe has been completely and utterly hassle free. It's a brilliant board! With that said, I would recommend getting the P8Z68 Deluxe Gen3 instead of the P8P67 as it comes with full PCI-E 3.0 compatibility. Note that PCI-E 3.0 cards don't even exist yet, but they will in a few months.You might even consider the P8Z68-V Pro Gen3 instead of the deluxe as the only differences are a few less USB 3.0 ports, Sata III ports, and power phases. Sandy Bridge overclocking is almost entirely dependent on the CPU itself, so as long as the board has good LLC options, you will not be sacrificing stability by getting a lesser board.To avoid any potential confusion, there are three Deluxe boards currently available:P8P67 Deluxe P8Z68 Deluxe (adds SSD caching, use of internal GPU, and quicksync)P8Z68 Deluxe Gen3 (adds PCI-E 3.0 compatibility) <-- this one is a little more, but it's good insurance for future upgrades. Can't afford it? Get the P8Z68-V Pro Gen3.

Would have to recommend as Asrock too. Been completely stable since I replaced my MSI P67A-C45 when it died after 4 months

Hi guys,Thanks for the great respons.The ASROCK Z68 PRO3 was a great suggestion untill I noticed it lacks USB connections on the back side.Corey: I did look at the ASUS P8Z68-V Pro Gen3, but it lacks the PS2 connection. I am still using an ancient keyboard. So at the moment I am looking at the Asus p8z68 deluxe or p67 deluxe.Howard, How's life treating you? As mentioned I am looking at the same Asus board that you got. Can I use the same memory as I have in my current rig?Dez: That EVGA FTW is sleek, but overkill for what I need. Thanks again guys!Best Regards,

Corey: I did look at the ASUS P8Z68-V Pro Gen3, but it lacks the PS2 connection. I am still using an ancient keyboard. So at the moment I am looking at the Asus p8z68 deluxe or p67 deluxe.Mine has a PS2 connector of which I still use?

Torkermax,As far as I can see the Asus p8z68 Pro doesn't have Ps2 connectors: http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/Intel_Socket_1155/P8Z68V_PRO/Kind regards,

$1.27

Or...http://www.Newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=23-107-128

Hi guys,Howard, How's life treating you? As mentioned I am looking at the same Asus board that you got. Can I use the same memory as I have in my current rig?

Hi MartinI would bow to Corey and Dario's advice but I did use my 1.65 volt memory for while before buyimg new 1.6V on my current installation. 1.5 volt memory seems to be quite cheap (in the UK anyway) at the moment.

Umm. Must be a diference between 67 and 68.

Asus' latest Z68 Gen3 boards as well as the ASRock Z68 Extreme Gen3 boards have PCI-E 3.0 compatibility.