MOTHERBOARD DECISION HELP!

[mellor x]

Hi Guys,

im new to building PC's but i thought it would be a good project.

i do know a bit but i am very stuck on WHAT MOTHERBOARD TO BUY?

here is the spec of my case/what i want:

CASE


Model

Brand XClio
Model A380PLUS

Motherboard Compatibility: Micro ATX, Standard ATX

Expansion: (Would like them to be SATA) need lots of SATA connectors

5.25" optical Drive Bays 3 - 5
3.5" optical Drive Bays 1
Internal 3.5" Hard Drive Bays 4 - 6

Top Ports on case: (need to connect to motherboard)
2 USB2.0 + IEEE 1394 Firewire

Connection For The Case LED's


WHAT IM LOOKING FOR


Intel LGA775 processor socket
reasonable chipset


im quite limited because of budget but will save if there is a really nice 1 i want, but keep it reasonable

Thanks for the help!

 

[o1die]

I would read some reviews at newegg.com. The g41 and g43 chipset boards are reasonably priced, and most have 4 sata ports. But check carefully for an ide port for older hardrives, if you need it. Some boards have no ide ports at all. My hp came with an msi board, but I switched to an ecs board for 4 memory slots. I have used all the major brands; many are outsourced to another vender for manufacturing. So, I've noticed not much difference in quality. It's the bios adjustments that differ from brand to brand. Take a few minutes to download the board manual off the manufacturer's website, and see if it's easy to use. It could save you alot of headaches.

 

[mellor x]

What do you guys think about the

DFI LanParty LT X48-T2R

only down side i can see is:

Memory Speed (Mhz):

DDR2 - 667
DDR2 - 800

other than that, its:
crossfire compatible
lots of PCI's
8 SATA ports
Monitors CPU/system/Northbridge temperature and overheat alarm (but with my case that would be almost impossible)

it seems about what i need but has any 1 heard any bad feed back on this?