Best $150-$200 Sandy Bridge Motherboard?

[evillemon325]

I have been able to free up some space in my budget, and my current selected motherboards (Asus P8H67 or Gigabyte GA-P67 D3-B3, $80 and $110 respectively) and decided to invest more in my motherboard as to have a longer lasting machine.
I intend to use this machine through college graduation, (6 years), with the ability to play games on highest settings right now, while being able to handle itself on lower settings when it comes to replacing. I also intend to use it for all college work, though that shouldn't have much rendering or editing of any sort.

I'm not sure if I will overclock, but I'm still going for the 2500k and might overclock it down the line to increase longevity.

My GPU is a Gigabyte HD 6870- I probably will leave some free space and see about getting another 6870 for cheap a few years down the line to increase its lifespan if it starts becoming weak. Also, I have a GPU question: Why are both these Gigabyte HD radeon 6870s yet one has 3 fans and one has only 1? The new egg product listing for the generic gigabyte HD 6870 shows the 3 fan picture, even though it also lists a seperate product as the Gigabyte HD 6870 with 3x windforce cooling. Is it a mistake on New Eggs part?

1 Fan:

Spoiler

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://p.gzhls.at/582176.jpg&imgrefurl=http://skinflint.co.uk/a582176.html&usg=__KxNuEDhftfSXBOjTJW7fg80Guyk=&h=205&w=300&sz=40&hl=en&start=0&sig2=kN_WfsrFA_Y5Q6Pa2hIE8w&zoom=1&tbnid=bRD9hFNMPof8XM:&tbnh=146&tbnw=213&ei=Hj7XTbDdIZG4tgeIwfToDg&prev=/search%3Fq%3DGigabyte%2BHD%2B6870%26hl%3Den%26biw%3D1609%26bih%3D822%26gbv%3D2%26tbm%3Disch&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=153&vpy=285&dur=156&hovh=164&hovw=240&tx=96&ty=129&sqi=2&page=1&ndsp=28&ved=1t:429,r:7,s:0&biw=1593&bih=822

3 Fan

Spoiler

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.centrale3d.com/IMG/jpg/Gigabyte_HD_6870_02.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.centrale3d.com/%3FUne-Gigabyte-HD-6870-OC-fait-de-l&usg=__8WE7QTawqt_3lvBGADg6palVVk0=&h=302&w=496&sz=39&hl=en&start=0&sig2=zEEjQnuzbzh8N_k1BjNdaQ&zoom=1&tbnid=mDNwfhUgEQvtZM:&tbnh=128&tbnw=211&ei=Hj7XTbDdIZG4tgeIwfToDg&prev=/search%3Fq%3DGigabyte%2BHD%2B6870%26hl%3Den%26biw%3D1609%26bih%3D822%26gbv%3D2%26tbm%3Disch&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=492&vpy=450&dur=998&hovh=175&hovw=288&tx=142&ty=127&sqi=2&page=1&ndsp=28&ved=1t:429,r:16,s:0&biw=1593&bih=822

Since I want a computer to last me that long, I think that spending so little might not be the best idea, and having more breathing room I want to get a medium range board.

Recommendations?

 

[chesteracorgi]

I can recommend the ASRock P67 Extreme4 because you have the discrete GPU. It has a lot of features for its price, and should last you the 6 years.

Now I will also caution that the other mainstream mobo manufacturers ASUS, Gigabyte, MSI & Biostar all have good product as well. So do other manufacturers, but they lack market share and hence support. But ASRock seems to have the best features for the price. And, a full disclaimer, I bought the ASRock P67 Extreme6 and am very happy with it.

Regarding the GPUs: Gigabyte probably has several versions of the same GPU. MSI, ASUS, Gigabyte and other OEMs routinely put out different versions: one fan, two fans, three fans. It could be Newegg, but is probably a different version of the reference GPU.