Can you help point me to the right motherboard?

[moez]

I'm getting ready for a new build. It will be my first one and I'm a complete newbie.

I'm building the PC with my son and I have two main goals in mind. First, my son wants to be able to play crysis at high settings. Second, I want a PC that I can keep (without upgrading regularly) for at least 3 - 5 years.

That said. We have decided to go with the Q6600 and the HD 4850 graphics card. I was originally looking at the Gigabyte DS3R motherboard, but was told in another post that I should go in a different direction. One poster mentioned :

A P45 board is not a good recommendation for someone who wants the best future upgrade capability for the graphics. The P45 chipset does not do 2X PCI-E X16. Currently, this capability in Intel based boards is limited to the X38 and X48 chipsets

I was hoping to spend less that $150 for the board..... Do any of you have any good recomendations given my goals for the PC?

I'd really appreciate any input that you have.

Thanks!
Moez

 

[xringx]

Well, the 2x PCI-e 16x slots is for crossfire set ups (2 of the same video card on 1 mobo)

While its nifty to play with, you will enjoy just as much upgradability with a single slot mobo such as

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128344

If you need to upgrade in the future, game performance wise, then buying a new and update to date video card will do you just fine.

As far as I can tell, no need for Crossfire for gaming unless your a bit anal retentive and like to play with that kind of stuff and do benchmarks like me.....

That is my $.02 worth

 

[badge]

Over your budget, but a nice step up from P45. In five years it will equal a Socket A today. LOL.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131317&Tpk=Asus%2bP5E%2bDeluxe

 

[blackwidow_rsa]

A P45 will do fine, it has 2 x8 pci-e2 slots which provide enough bandwidth for CF, no need to waste your money on a board that gives you -maybe- a few extra fps in a game