790GX Gigabyte, Biostar, or ASRock

Hey guys,

I've cruised through the forums for a good hour or two to attempt to find an answer to my question but I have had no luck. Let me keep this very simple. I am going to buy a PII X3 720 BE processor and I am still undecided on which motherboard to go with. I have never built a pc before but I'm going to in a week or two. I have read many benchmark pages, oc pages, etc. and want to know if I should go with the:

GIGABYTE GA-MA790GP-UD4H $130
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813128384

BIOSTAR TFORCE TA790GX $110 ($100 w/MIR)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813138130

ASRock A790GXH $95
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813157156

AMD Phenom II X3 720 $140
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819103649

The Biostar currently has a combo offer on NewEgg that puts a 720 BE and the mobo at $209 not including the $10 MIR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Comb [...] mbo.190738

The ASRock is dirt cheap as is, and I've read its the same company as ASUS. The Gigabyte has exceptional reviews and has superior power regulating/stabilizing features. Please give me your honest and even biased opinions on what I should lean towards. I will OC the 720 to the most efficient performance per watt speed. Is the Gigabyte really worth the extra cash? I want to be able to remove my current 840D Smithfield with the 955x Dell mobo and plug in my AMD setup without reformatting hard drives and what not. I have a RAID 0 array as well and I'm looking for the least fuss possible with this upgrade. Already have my MSI 4830 overclocked and stable 25% over stock 8) With any luck maybe I can tap a stable 4th core while i'm at it....

$200 for 720+Biostar
$270 for 720+Gigabyte
$225 for 720+ASRock

I appreciate all your help!!!

I appreciate your input gkay. I was leaning towards a 790GX because I read on NewEgg that the GIGABYTE GA-MA790X-UD4P that you suggested has only a 5200/2000 MT/s FSB instead of the 790GX's 5200/2600 MT/s FSB. Im not near as familiar with AMD as I am with Intel, but wouldnt that cripple my CPU in some way? I initially planned on going with this exact 790X until I saw that. I then read that the Biostar TFORCE TA790GX could still unlock a potential 4th core which is an attractive option especially given the price comparison to this Gigabyte 790X. With that coming out $10 cheaper not including the rebate I would prefer to go that route unnless Gigabyte is just that much better.

As I stated before being able to overclock well is a must as I plan on pushing this 720 BE to its reasonable air cooled limits. Let me know if you think you can sort this out for me.

Thanks gkay, I'm simply looking for a solid board with strong OC potential. I would also like at least 2 way crossfire, support for DDR2 1066 memory speeds, and the ability to potentially unlock the 4th core, all within a reasonable cost. I considered going with a PII X4 940 but my Dell 460w psu probably would not be up to the task unless someone proved me otherwise. All in all it will be a huge step up from my 840D.

I think price wise with newegg's killer combo offer, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Comb [...] mbo.190738 , it's too solid a deal to turn down. 720 BE plus a solid motherboard that can potentially with extreme amounts of luck net you a 4th stable core. Was tempted to go with the 940 BE since I play ETW so much but the 720 is a huge step forward from my Pentium 840D, and I want to make sure my 460W power supply has no issues. By the time the 720 starts to choke out I'll have my 4 year degree and should be able to afford a better computer altogether 8)

Edit> the 720 X3 PII uses a lot of power check the test performed on this website.