Request: Motherboard reccomendations

[SpetsnazAntiVIP]

I am upgrading my PC's processor, mobo, and ram and was hoping for some reccomendations.

I do not plan on overclocking.

I am looking at the Intel E8400 or Q6600 processors and 2-4 gigs of PC2 6400 memory.

I am not to up on current motherboard chipsets and was hoping for some chipset/model reccomendations. One thing that I want in my new motherboard is PCI-Express 2.0 compliance as I plan on upgrading from my 8800 GTS to a 9800GX2 or 4870 setup in a few months.

With PCI-E 2.0 and reliability as my primary concerns and the desire to spend around $120 (will go up to about $200 if need be), what motherboards would you guys reccomend?

Also, for the time being, I plan on staying with XP Pro. Would having 4 gigs of ram cause issues with XP?

With gaming as my primary use, would you guys reccomend the E4800 or Q6600?

 

[Skaar]

I think the Intel E8400 would be better than the Q6600 for gaming, its clocked 600MHz faster.

That being said, are you planning on keeping this for years without upgrading? Because right I don't believe games utilize the Q6600's 4 cores, but eventually they might so it will be good later.

The E8400 has a larger cache (6MB vs 4MB) and faster FSB (1333 vs 1066) so it fares better in games.

I know you said you aren't overclocking, but one other thing about the E8400 (don't know about the Q6600) is that you can knock up the cpu speed to 3.6ghz with stock cooling easily which is a big plus...and if you get better cooling you can go upwards of 4GHz.

EDIT: Oh, as far as motherboards are concerned...I'm actually trying to figure that out myself. I've researched the chipsets and it really depends on what video cards you are planning to get.

Do you plan on upgrading to multiple video cards? I.E. 2 4870's in Crossfire or 2 9800GX2's in SLI?

Answer that question to narrow down the selection process..haha

 

[SpetsnazAntiVIP]

I ended up ordering:

Intel quad core Q6600 2.4 ghz Kentsfield
Asus P5Q LGA 775 Intel P45 chipset
4GB OCZ Reaper HPC Edition DDR2-800 4-4-4-15
Zalman CNPS-9700 HSF

I think I'm gonna use graysky's guide and OC to 3 ghz.