Motherboard suggestions

[Buffalolake]

I've built many systems over the years, but I have never messed with a RAID setup. I do a little gaming, a little photoshop, office, and movie watching with my system.
I've been running XP Pro x64 with my last system, but will probably go with Vista 64 Ultimate for my next build. I am currently gathering the pieces for my next system.
So far I have picked up;
1. Q9300 intel quad core processor
2. 4 Seagate 750 GB SATA hard drives
3. A+ El Diablo case
4. Zalman CNPS8700 NT CPU cooler
I will most likely add a Blue Ray DVD burner and a decent graphics card later for watching movies.

Since I will be using 4 SATA hard drives for the RAID 5 setup, plus 1 later for the Blue Ray, would I be better off with a RAID supported motherboard, or a cheaper
motherboard with a separate RAID board? Any recommendations for a board will be appreciated. Cost isn't really a factor.

 

[akhilles]

Pros & cons for both kinds of mobos. If the RAID is buggy or limited in the way it works, you're stuck with the RAID mobo. If you get a separate card, you can swap the card out for another if it doesn't work the way you want.

The only bad thing I heard about onboard RAID is the one with 790i & JMicron. I'm using the latter with X38. No issues so far. Granted, I don't raid, but it's on in bios.

 

[Buffalolake]

Thanks man, I appreciate the answer.