Recommend me a mobo, si vous plait

[dmmorgan]

Hi all, I'm planning a gaming build (already posted in homebuilt), but need your advice on a motherboard. I'm buying in Australia so sadly newegg prices are null and void .

I am planning on using whatever mobo I choose till late next year, when I will probably get a Nehalem w/ suitable mobo and perhaps a new video card. However, I may run a second 4850 in Crossfire later on - so basically it doesn't need to be upgrade-proof, just cheap, fast, and crossfire-compatible. I was recommended a P45-DS3L, but I was wondering how the 1x PCIExpress 2.0 x16 affects performance, compared to the X48's 2x PCIExpress 2.0 x16. I'm looking at a little over $200 as an absolute max, hopefully something more in the line of $150 (or under, as the P45-DS3L is ).

Here's my planned build, sans mobo:

E8400
Radeon 4850 (may CF two later on)
WD SATAII 640Gb
4Gb OCZ DDR2 800
650W Antec Earthwatts
22" 2ms WS Viewsonic VX2235VM
Thermaltake Xaser III Case

Thanks for your help!

Dylan

 

[akhilles]

http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Products/Motherboard/Products_Spec.aspx?ClassValue=Motherboard&ProductID=2844&ProductName=GA-EP45-DS3L

That it? It's got only 1 PCI-E. Can't crossfire. You want to look into mid-range boards like ASUS P5Q PRO. Still, P45 does only CF X8. If I were you, I'd spend some money on a GA-EX38-DS4.