No idea what motherboard to get.

[AiponGkooja]

Going from this:

ASUS A8N SLI-Deluxe
AMD Athlon 64 3500+
7800gtx (overheats badly now, no idea why)
2x1gb OCZ PC3200
Enermax 535W
Thermaltake cheapo 7-fan monstrosity

To this:
Mobo - ?
CPU - q6600/e7xxx/e8xxx/e2xxx
8800gt
2x2gb PC2 6400
Corsair 620HX PSU
Case - *shrug*


I am not sure what kind of mobo I should be looking for. I do not overclock (although if I get that e2xxx that would be exactly what I'd be doing for cheap performance). I do not need cutting-edge. I do not need SLI. I do not want to spend a lot of money (under $100 would be fantastic). All I want is something that is solid and well tested, and will last as long as the rest of my stuff until my next big upgrade.

Thank you for any help,
Aip

 

[o1die]

For solid and well tested, flip a coin. I haven't found much difference in durability from one brand to another. For non sli, take a look at the p35 and p45 boards by asus, gigabyte, or msi. Read some customer reviews at newegg. You can pick a board for your needs as well as anyone else. Honestly, cause you'll get all kinds of opinions for each model. I always download the board manual before ordering, and see how well it's written.

 

[Cogman]

You might want to set your price up a bit higher, good intel boards usually cost a little more then good amd boards (~120 compaired to ~90 for a good AMD board)

 

[AiponGkooja]

I can go a bit higher, just don't want to get to the 200 range... I'd go for AMD again, as I said my CPU now seems perfectly fine and I don't notice any problems coming specifically from it. Still runs cool no matter what I do with the stock HS/fan from when I got it 3-4 years ago, so *shrug* I just hear Intel is the way to go this time around, so I'd rather go with what the majority is satisfied with.

 

[Sylvanas]

For longevity, you are going t want to be looking at the new P45's. They are new so that might not fill the requirement of 'well tested' however they come from a solid P35 foundation with good new additions that make them worthwhile. For a cheap solid board I'd have a look at the MSI P45 Neo-F and slightly more expensive is the Biostar Tpower I45. I have had only good experiences with MSI over the years and Biostar always seem to produce a stellar board that does not break the bank. Also note the P45's will support the 45nm CPU's out of the box but P35's will require a BIOS update.

 

[AiponGkooja]

Only thing I don't like about the P45's is that they haven't been out long. I like the MSI P45, but only 2 reviews on newegg, so I'll have to look around more to fish out any potential problems that I should be aware of.

Other than that though it looks great, and right at $100, so thank you for the suggestions.

 

[killster1]

if you can wait a bit more a dfi p45 board will be out that is very nice.. ive had tons and tons of problems with asus mobo's having to be rma'd biostar has been fine to me and dfi has been sooo goood (15 dfi mobos in use 0 dead so far all overclocked and running for years)

can anyone tell me the benchmark numbers that say a p45 would have against a 965 from years ago? winrar games and encoding are the only things i care about

 

[SolMiester]

Not sure if you are still looking for a Intel board.....I have had no issues with my Abit IP35, only has 1 PCIe, which leaves 3 PCI slots...yay!.
Sata RAID and 6 ports.....AND its not multi coloured everywhere....LOL

 

[AiponGkooja]

What about micro boards? Cheaper, most seem to have enough slots for everything I want, could get a smaller case that way. Any thoughts?

 

[o1die]

I use a g31 msi board in my compaq. No problems so far, using the pin mod for overclocking. For basic internet stuff, micro atx works fine. But If I were building my own, I'd still go for an atx case, unless space limitations are a concern. I like using the 120mm fans whenever possible. With my micro atx case, I depend more on the 140mm fan on the power supply to remove warm air, and have the option of atx boards.

 

[AiponGkooja]

Yeah I'd be using it a lot for gaming, so would probably want good airflow to cool off a decent CPU and beastly GPU.