So after weeks of searching on newegg for the right motherboard, ive settled on 2. Both are Asus boards, one with the p45 chipset and one with the x48.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131319

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131284

I play alot of my games on my 360, but still want a good motherboard capable of playing high end games. This is my first build and i have done alot of research on what i need/dont need and what everything is, but of course for a beginner when it comes to building a rig, i know there are alot of aspects im clueless on.

The only thing about these boards i dont like is it supports crossfire, not sli, but were also one of the few boards i found that seemed reliable according to reviews. After all the horrible reviews for nvidia nforce chipsets, i decided to go with intel.

i plan on running an E8400, 4 gigs ddr2 1066 ram, and nvidia geforce 8800 gtx.

Do these 2 motherboards come down to preference or is there one that you would recommend over another. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

Regardless of what you are told here, I recommend you go the the Asus site for each board and look at their forums.

Much can be learned, Grasshopper, from the misfortunes of others.

Thank you.

Ive been to Asus's page to look at specs, but forgot about the forums.

I'll give that a look.

Don't restrict yourself to that site tho' - Newegg and NCIX both have VERY active posters, especially if a product sucks!

yeah i read through most of the pages of reviews on both motherboards and was liking what i was seeing. small differences in both products. i'll check around different sites.

Over priced....

Both of the boards in my opion are a waiste of money unless you are going to be doing major overclocking and might proove to be a bit "confusing" for the first time builder. They really have no advantage over motherboards half the price other than a lot of extras that most people wont use.

They are great boards dont get me wrong but are designed more for people looking to get 30,000 in 3dMard 07 as opposed to every day use.

This board here has all of the same basic features (which is still more than a guy needs) and will still overclock like a champ and the best part is that its over $168.00 or more cheaper !!! And I can almost promise you that the performance will be right around the same as the other 2 boards you posted.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131299

Id slap the extra money you saved into a better cpu, raptor drive or go for the gold with a top of the line video card.

The choice is yours though if you think the other boards are worth it. Either one you choose out of the 3 is going to be a rockin system....Just one or the other is going to cost more

But to answer your main question, no there are not much differnce between to two boards.

Here's a deal
http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=INSPIRON-531-1B&cpc=HPM
it is a refurb but who cares it should work just fine.

Thank you jim for your well laid out response.
I think i needed someone to let me know that i dont need to go all out with a 300 board for my first build haha.
All i want to do is make sure i'm getting everything i need in the board and will be able to have the board for some time before its features get completely old and extinct.
I think you've probably convinced me to go with a cheaper board and investing more money in another component, although ive always been told not to skimp on the motherboard, but in this case, i feel its the appropriate action because its not lacking in quality, just features i dont need seeing as im not an overclocker and am building my first computer. I do believe i did see this board a few days ago, not sure why i skimmed over it.

also, what did you mean when you said this: "to get 30,000 in 3dMard 07 as opposed to every day use."
just curious

N/P Man

Also, dont think of the board I suggested as a cheap board, it sure isnt, it just dont have all the extra add ons that make the other boards $300. In all truth, if you compare options you will see that it is going to have the same full feature options as the $300 boards but just lacks some of the luxury of the $300 boards.

Longevity wise, it will last you quit a few years. As I suggested, to make it last even longer, take the money you saved and buy a quad core CPU for max system life.

Forgot to add this.

Well 3dMark is a graphics/system benchmark that gets you major bragging rights the higher your score is I guess. People buy those expensive motherboards with the sole purpose of over clocking the life out of them.

Look at this youtube video....this is not an exaggerated !!!!! This is actually what people do...

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exaMRJZGUmo[/ame]

By every day use I mean everyday gaming and applications.

haha nice video.
thats just ridiculous.
i only say that because im poor, if i had the money to spare i'd buy all the high end ****.
but ive decided to purchase P5Q Pro you suggested tomorrow.
looking forward to it

What other componants did you decide to go with ? Did you up anything else in the system with the saved money ?

I noticed that you said you where going to purchase a 8800GTX ? They dont make those anymore. Newest thing are the GTX 280/260.

Also, you should share with us what type of PSU you are thinking about getting to power this beast as we can help you steer clear of disaster.

well i was looking at quad cores, but after taking a gander at some of the prices, i decided to stay with dual core, mainly because i'll game some with this computer, but not all the time. If i ever decide to game more on it then i'll up the CPU.

They dont make 8800's anymore? wtf. ive been out of the loop. guess i'll have to do some looking around.

also, PSU wise, no idea. Im taking this one piece at a time. I got the case last week and assembled (its an acylic case), getting the mobo tomorrow, then processor in like 2 weeks when i get the money saved up, then gpu, then i guess ram, psu,HDs, cd drive, and OS (in no particular order for the last 5).

when it comes to the psu, im not too sure on what to look for.
like ive mentioned before, ill be runnin an E8400, 4GB of DDR2 1066 ram, higher end nvidia card, cd/dvd combo drive, 2 sata HD's (prob a 320 and a 500), and maybe a sound card,

A quality 600-650 watter should do just fine.

Just stick with brands such as Enermax, PC Power & Cooling, Antec, Thermaltake, Corsair and Silverstone.

If its under $100 its probably not the greatest...unless its a rebate deal which newegg has a lot of.

Also, I said they dont make the 8800GTX anymore, not 8800's in general...The 8800 GTX was the 8800 series flagship card. When another series, or somthing better in the series comes along, the flagship card is usally discontinued in nvidia land.

The newer sub high end GTX260 will run you about $250-300 and the high end GTX280 will run you about $400-$475

Then there are ATI's offerings which I will let somone else explain because im an nvidia fanboy.

ahh gotcha.
ill prob go with the 260, dont think i need to dish out over 400 for a card that wont be getting intensive game play on it.

thanks alot for all the help.
you've helped me out a whole lot, and kept extra money in my pocket.

Are you looking to run Crossfire? Since you're buying NVIDIA, I guess you're not, so you can go with a cheaper board like the GA-EP45-DS3L.

If you're looking to buy ATI for Crossfire, the HD 4870 is a better option compared to the old GTX 260 (Yes, there are two of them now!). IMO, what card you buy depends on what resolution you're gaming at. The HD 4850 is king at anything upto 1680x1050, and beyond that, the HD 4870 rules the roost. The HD 4870X2 and GTX 280 sit at the top of the ladder and are intended for resolutions of 1920x1200 and above.

As for a PSU, Corsair's 650TX is plenty for any single card out there. It can be had for pretty cheap with free shipping and a rebate on Buy.com and Newegg, although the former has it for $5 cheaper.

hey rage,

after looking at mobo's and looking for a reliable board with good reviews that supported sli and not having much luck, i went with this board:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...&cm_mmc=TEMC-RMA-Approvel-_-Content-_-text-_-

still dont know if im getting an nvidia card or an ATI, but if i ever choose to run two cards, i'll know that running crossfire is possible.

Confused

Sorry for jumping in, but need clarification.

I'm planning myself and this comment confuse me. I thought crossfire was ATI and SLI was for nVidia??
so if you were planning on crossfire down the road, wouldn't a person start with ATI?

Yes, you are correct. The OP just stated that he prefers having at least a Crossfire board since if he wanted to run two cards in the future, then he could at least have the option of doing so, rather than getting a board with no dual-card support at all.

Great,
Now what to chose crossfire or SLI or just a single GPU? sigh