Need help picking intel based motherboard.

[ebeattie]

Hi. Looking to make a switch from AMD to Intel and Im a bit rusty when it comes to intel and brands.

By the end of this year, I would like to have upgraded my CPU to the new 45nm Quad core when it gets released and want to get a the new 9800 series Nvidia card. I have heard the new Nvidias will need PCIe 2.0 I will also be upgrading to the 64 bit version of Vista Home premium so I can 8 GB of RAM.

So that being said, what brands of mobos in the intel world are good? DFI makes some monster boards for AMD, but how are their boards for intel? Are intel brand motherboards good deals?

thanks for the input

 

[o1die]

Depends on whether you want to overclock. Newegg had the abit ip35-e for $66 shipped after rebate, but they may be sold out. I avoid Intel; only thing good about them is their warranty. Asus and gigabyte will also work well, and provide some overclocking settings in the bios.

 

[ebeattie]

Well, I must admit Im not so much of an overclocker. I do think though that the reliability and quality built into boards built for overclockers is a big plus.

As far as SLI is concerned, I dont believe that Ill be going that route. I had a poor experience with SLI; really dont think its worth all the extra money. So SLI wont be a concern/necessary.

List of things I am looking for:

Reliability and rock solid performance (quality parts etc)
not SLI, but available with PCIe 2.0
Easily accept 8GB of RAM
quality onboard audio.

found the Asus P5E at newegg. Looks like it has everything Im looking for. Id love to just say "F" it and go for a P35 based board, but I plan on getting the top of the line GeForce 9 series card when it comes out.