Choosing my motherboard

[Daeger]

I wasn't sure whether to post in the motherboard discussion or homebuilt discussion, but since I want advice on general components as well, I decided on here.

Basically, I'm a gamer whose found his current computer falling behind the times, so I'm building a new system. Computers cost more to make than they used to, the last one I built for $600, which was considere a mid-range at the time, and I'm finding myself having to spend twice as much this time around.

Anyway, the original plan was to base my selections off the sample mid-range PC Tom's Hardware put up here: http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/05/09/system_builder_marathon/page12.html

But I'm having some issues regarding the choice of components. Most of all, the motherboard. The motherboard they listed there is nice. I'm uncertain if I'm going to be overclocking or not, which makes me a little hesitant on getting it, because Newegg's reviews suggested it didn't handle overclocking very well. Not sure how credible that is however.

Another thing is the lack of SLI support with the 8800GTS, which I'm pretty sure I'm going to be getting. It seems a little wasteful to get a SLI board when I'm not planning on using it ever. I went with the Patriot memory they listed there, since I found it at $140 instead of the $160 they listed, with a $50 rebate, but newegg's reviews have listed woes of getting the memory to work right on certain motherboards, especially those made by Gigabyte.

I hope to hear some feedback and recommendations on what I should do. This is my first post in these forums, though I've browsed Tom's Hardware for a while now.

 

[gattsuru]

The MSI p965 plat is capable of some overclocking. It's not the best option, or even a particularly good one, but it'll push its FSB around 375-400.

If you're devoting yourself to overclocking, the Biostar TForce 965PT really wins the low end of the pack, with the ASUS p5b having the ability to blow things out of the water (and most computers with stock coolers out of it, too).

Don't worry about SLI capability. It's not really worth the money or effort, but it's also relatively 'cheap' to purchase, so unless you're actively planning for it, I wouldn't bother.

 

[Daeger]

The MSI p965 plat is capable of some overclocking. It's not the best option, or even a particularly good one, but it'll push its FSB around 375-400.

If you're devoting yourself to overclocking, the Biostar TForce 965PT really wins the low end of the pack, with the ASUS p5b having the ability to blow things out of the water (and most computers with stock coolers out of it, too).

Don't worry about SLI capability. It's not really worth the money or effort, but it's also relatively 'cheap' to purchase, so unless you're actively planning for it, I wouldn't bother.

I took a look at the Biostar, but it didn't have any FireWire connections, and I have a external harddrive that is rather dependent on it.