LGA775/DDR2 recommendation

[24seven]

Hey folks, having just tried to update the BIOS on my ASUS P5B using their Windows-based software, I've suffered the exact same problem as everyone else who has tried this... My motherboard is now an ugly ornament.

So, I'd like to replace it with something that I can swap all my existing hardware to (I'd love to buy newer and better everything, but I'm a student and can't afford to upgrade it all just yet). It's got a Core 2 Duo 1.8ghz (E6300 I believe?) I've just bought 4x2GB OCZ DDR2-800 RAM for it and an XFX Radeon 6700 (which coincidentally was faulty out of the box, but I'm awaiting a manufacturer replacement), so I'd like to

Other than that I've got one HDD plugged in to SATA, one DVD player in the same and a 400W PSU. I've been using it primarily for CAD/FEA/CFD work (Engineering student) at which time it had 2x1gb RAM and an old Sapphire Radeon HD 2600 Pro, but upgraded the RAM and GPU because, although it worked fairly well, it was a bit slow and the 2600 started failing and artifacting constantly.

So, my question to you is can you please advise me on a suitable replacement which fulfils these criteria please? Ideally something with Crossfire or SLI capability would be even better so I can do my design work with 2 displays.

Thanks in advance,
Guy

 

[24seven]

Forgot to mention I'm running Windows 7 Professional 64, should it make a difference.

 

[24seven]

Not to worry folks. Spent hours researching and it seems that about the best I could get is an ASUS P5Q#### variant. Happily enough a new in packaging unused P5QE was on eBay, so at £81.00 posted I think I got it for a half decent price. It fulfills (and in some respects surpasses) all my requirements at least.

\thread.

 

[Rogue77777]