Please help me fill in the blank on this system!

[strenner]

My budget is around 1200$ and I can't decide on a motherboard! The components I've decided on are; AMD Manchester 4200+ Dual Core, Geforce 7800 gtx, 2 gb sticks of corsair xms memory, Seagate 250 GB Hard drive, Antec Sonata Piano Black case with Stock 450 watt PSU.. which leaves... yes the motherboard. This is an exhausting decision, I've scoured newegg for about 2 days. I will not be doing any overclocking on anything in my system, nor do I plan on going SLI for the time being... I Just need a solid mobo that will work with all my components, easy to setup and will run all my components to their utmost potential.. I'm leaning towards ASUS, DFI, or Biostar.. please help me pick a SPECIFIC mobo! Thanks.

 

[luminaris]

I recommend this one. Its the perfect board for what your looking for.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813136159

 

[dvdpiddy]

A8n-sli premium or a8n-32 sli

 

[strenner]

I've heard these DFI boards are both difficult to setup to get working with memory etc. (I'm a noob), and also power hungry... will the 450 watts cut it on the DFI board?? That is my huge concern. That was why I was kind of avoiding them a bit, because I worried I'd need a seperate power supply. Apparently you need a good one for the DFI board, and I read on newegg that some guy said the 450 Watt PSU with the Sonata doesn't cut it with 7 series Nvidia gfx cards, donno if this is true or not. Thanks!

 

[luminaris]

450 Watts is plenty provided the unit is a quality unit. If your even the least bit concerned about it, I would go ahead and go for the ASUS board then. DFI makes an awesome board. Of all the ones i've ever setup which has been many, they've always setup very easy and fire up on the first try every time. Very reliable for me. They are a good board for OC'ing and there are many tools in the BIOS to do so.

Like I said, the ASUS is a good board too and i'm pretty sure they might take your power supply a bit better.

 

[strenner]

It's the antec smartpower 2.0 450 watt (maybe pushing it with my components).. i really like the looks of this DFI board.. seems like it's top quality.. maybe I should just get a different case/PSU.. this is a huge dilemna though. I wanted the Antec Sonata because it was a QUIET tower.. I really want a quiet tower with a solid PSU (good ventilation with the quietness factor!)... since I have your attention Lunaris, and your the Guru-Shakazam of these messages boards.. I wanted to ask if this particular DFI board is noisy as well? Also, is there a point in getting the SLI board? Or do you think I'd be content just getting the newest graphics card every 6 months or so? I'm not a fanatic who needs to feel they have the BEST stuff just to say I have the best, and I just want smooth gaming performance! Thanks..