I am in need of a new mobo. I currently am running a stock P4 (yes, I know, very old, will upgrade in the future) and a single slot 7900 gt. I have been looking at Intel p35 and x38 chipsets, but cannot decide between the two.

My future plans are probably to upgrade to a 45nm core (C2Extreme, C2D 8400) and in the future pick up a new video card (9800 series, or the latest at the time). I am stuck between overclocking features and PCI-E 2.0 slots.

The Asus P5K Pro is around $100 and can support C2E and 45nm cores. The only thing missing is PCI-E 2.0. There are only 22 reviews on Newegg, so it does not give me a good picture about the quality of a p35 board.

I can also get a Gigabyte EX38 DS4 board, which is the x38 chipset, and also has dual PCI-E 2.0 slots, but runs at $199.

I probably will not get around to ever running SLI cards (too expensive), so is PCI-E 2.0 actually worth the price tag on the X38 board?

Is the $100 extra for the x38 DS4 really worth it? Or should I stick to a p35 board. Thanks.

Get this right here

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813136045

best mobo ever im using it right now i couldnt be happier with it!
supports 45nm out of box (im using e7200)

P45@newegg

Get a P35. That should be able to handle E8x00/Q9x00 CPUs pretty easily. There are good P35 boards for $90 or so. Remember, Nehalm is just around the corner and you will need a new Motherboard,RAM,CPU for Nehalm.

Thanks. I actually won't be hopping on the Nehalem bandwagon right away, maybe not until 2010 when the mid range chips are scheduled to hit.

I also am considering an EVGA 750i board, but I probably would not go SLI, but the PCI E 2.0 would be there.

I'm using the Asus P5K EPU and so far I like it.

The BIOS is a little confusing at first but its not so bad that it makes you crazy

My mobo temps seem slightly high (120F) but not too bad

I still am deciding to use either a 2 or 4 core chip, I have a PD925 in it right now and it OCed to just shy of 4Ghz on the stock volts, so its pretty good in that respect. (also CPU temps running an amazing 94F idle and 120F with both cores maxed out)

I wouldn't worry too much about PCIE 2.0 right now, next build I would make sure my mobo supported it, I just dont think the extra bandwidth will be used for a while ? (Is there extra bandwidth ? I know it uses less electricity but I am having a brain fart lol)

I decided on the Asus P5K-E, it was that or the P5K Pro.

Get the best and latest mobo that you can afford
If you can afford Asus Rampage Formula at 300$ go for it
X48 chipset+DDR2 support+FSB 1600+Easy OC bios
This is the only thing you'll not upgrade in the comming 3-4 years

I am about to get a new comp too, starting with the mobo, and am waiting for the just released p45 motherboards to get onto newegg. So far there is only 1, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 97&Tpk=p45 , which looks sweet, but im gonna go with the p5q-e , which should be about $170 or so. http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/Prod [...] t=celebros
look like great boards with lots of cool features like expressgate

P35 DFI BloodIron, 2 years when you go for nehalm you will have had a get board that served you well.