Motherboard Recommendation

[Hoax415]

Building a new system, yaddayadda, always have a hard time picking a mobo. I'm one of the new rig every 2-5yrs crowd depending on how good the pc games have been, job, etc.

The new system is shaping up as follows:
E8400
DDR2
ATI 4850 or 4870 depending on what the bottom line price is looking like.

So I've been doing research, doing homework, trying to get it figured out. I've seen several people say don't buy x48 if you can find x38, don't buy x48 if your not doing ddr3 go with p45 instead. All in all, the motherboard search has been confusing as hell.

I'm pretty much down to two main options, and no idea where to go from there.

A P45 from MSI or a x48 from Gigabyte.

The MSI boards range from $100-275 the Gigabytes from $110-280. I'm willing to spend $300 on a mobo if I should. Problem is I can't tell what I need. The PC will be used for gaming, 24" monitor has been purchased to run ps3 and pc off of. The more money I save the more likely I am to get the 4870, which I'm pretty sure is a good buy at its current price. I would like to OC a little bit, never have in the past. So having it be relatively easier/painless would be sweet.

TIA

 

[Dangman]

Some motherboard recommendations:
Gigabyte GA-EP43-DS3L Intel P43 Motherboard - $90
MSI P45 Neo3-FR Intel P45 Motherboard - $112
Gigabyte GA-EP45-DS3R Intel P45 Motherboard - $128
Asus P5Q Pro Intel P45 Motherboard - $140
Biostar TPower I45 Intel P45 Motherboard - $150
DFI Lanparty DK X38-T2R Intel X38 Motherboard - $180
Asus P5E Deluxe Intel X48 Motherboard - $220
DFI Lanparty DK X48-T2R Intel X48 Motherboard - $220
Gigabyte GA-X48-DS4 Intel X48 Motherboard - $225

Just to help you out: All of these motherboards have PCI-E 2.0 which may be useful for future GPU upgrades. If you don't need RAID, more than 6 SATA ports and only need semi-decent overclocking, check out the DS3L. If you need 8 SATA ports, RAID, 4 PCI slots, and legacy ports, then get the Neo3-Fr. If you don't need more than 6 SATA ports but want RAID, firewire, a second PCI-E x16 port, a second gigabit port, support for 16GB of RAM, optional eSATA, x8/x8 Crossfire, and great overclocks, then get the DS3R. If you like the DS3R but need 8 SATA ports, want an onboard pre-installed fast booting Linux setup, just support for 8GB of RAM, and don't need a second gigabit port, get the Asus P5Q Pro. If you want a motherboard with excellent overclocking capabilities above all else (feature wise), go with the I45. If you want Crossfire with full x16/x16 bandwidth, get the Lanparty DK X38. If you have cash to burn and don't give a damn about getting the most value for your money, get the Asus, DFI, or Gigabyte X48 motherboards. Do note that the Asus website can be slow sometimes.

 

[samsonJS]

I have 2 P45 boards and I'm happy with them. If you need 16x crossfire then get x48. From the sounds of it you'll do well to get that P45 MSI board.

 

[Hoax415]

After doing more homework (thanks for the links!), what about the EP45-DS4P? Its a $50 jump without going to x48 but it does have the heat pipes and I really doubt I'm going to consider xfire.

For dabbling in some OC'ing to a Q6600 or E8400 might the heatpipe help with stability. Or would that be just throwing money away for the sake of spending it?

I'm pretty sure usage-wise the DS3L is enough for me, I've never run over 3 internal HD's so I think 6 sata would be fine, I've got less interest in RAID then I do in SSD's once those become a bit cheaper. But I've always felt that the cheapest option usually requires the most skill on the part of the end user, so I like to go towards the middle or just under the price jump.