Searching for a motherboard

[mennethitus]

Okay, so I am creating my computer from scratch and am undecided as to what motherboard I should get and as a result the ram as well.
The following is what I will be getting, if you have any suggestions as to a better option please let me know.

EVGA 512-P3-N841-AR GeForce 8800GTS (G92) 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail

CORSAIR CMPSU-620HX 620W ATX12V v2.2 and EPS12V 2.91 Power Supply - Retail

Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80570E8400 - Retail

CORSAIR XMS2 DHX 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TWIN2X4096-6400C4DHX - Retail (RAM subject to change)
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F1 HD753LJ 750GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM

SAMSUNG T220 Rose-Black 22" 2ms Widescreen LCD Monitor - Retail

Pioneer 20X DVD±R DVD Burner Black SATA Model DVR-215DBK - OEM

Logitech X-540 70 watts 5.1 Speaker - Retail


Some of the questions that im wondering about is should I get a motherboard with pci express 2.0? Should I get ddr2 ram 1066?
ANotehr thing to keep in mind is that the computer is mostly for gaming and I will not be overclocking the system with the exception perhaps of taking the e8400 from 3.0 to 3.6ghz.

For the ram I im still researching but I honestly am confused about what ram you buy for what motherboard and cpu (concerning fsb and such).

SO pretty much if you can reccomend a motherboard and ram to me it would be much appreciated because I really dont want to shell out 250$ (for example) for a motherboard just because it has 2.0 support that may not help my graphics at all.

Thanks again.

 

[evongugg]

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-EP35-DS3

Choose from the memory supported for that motherboard (QVL) on their site.

PCI Express 1.1 has not been saturated yet. Go with DDR2-800. There are compatiblity problems with DDR2-1066.

 

[jsc]

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-EP35-DS3

Specifically, the DS3L - $90 at newegg if you do not need more than 4 SATA ports; the DS3R - $120 if you do (8 SATA ports).

 

[mennethitus]

Excellent! Thank you both for the quick response.

 

[siarraangel]

I have also been trying to figure out the best for buck for mobo's for a while now. Trying to find reviews for everything and getting good answers seems to be fairly tough (that or im just getting wore out trying to read review after review). So i have been looking at a couple Asus P5N-D and the Asus P5N-E and also the EVGA FTW 6xx i don't think i need the 750i. One of my friends just directed me to a bundle package that had the Intel DX38BT. So if anybody has had any experience or has any recomendations that would be great thanks.

 

[jsc]

So i have been looking at a couple Asus P5N-D and the Asus P5N-E and also the EVGA FTW 6xx i don't think i need the 750i.

I have an eVGA 680i motherboard that I really liked - until I replaced the E6600 CPU with a Q6600. System wasn't stable past about 3.0 GHz. 600 series nVidia chipsets do not seem to like quad core CPU's. Judging from what I have seen online, my experiences are not unique.