Upgrade- Budget Expanded Changes Things

[gunnygzuz]

--Long story short, for AMD Phenom II X2 555 (oc and unlock mobo), and DDR3 1600 RAM, what is the BEST motherboard I can get for $160? I don't care about SATA 6GB/s or SLI/Crossfire.. I just want something reliable, safe to OC, that can unlock my 555, and has at least 5+ SATA ports of whatever speed it is. Also, very very small, but a good amount of 3-pin mobo fan jacks would be nice, if not I'll just get a controller if needed (molex's are running fans loud as hell right now.)--


If you really want to read the whole long story, go for it. but that about sums it up. Also, 6GB/s or 3GB/s SATA, I'm open to either based on suggestions.. But if a 3GB/s mobo works I plan to upgrade in a year anyways so I don't need 6GB/s.
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I just sold my Logitech X540 to some gullable sap for $120.. Its OOS on newegg but still only $80. About $100-110 elsewhere.. I bought them with a Lifecam VX-3000 for $15 total.. I almost feel bad lol: Almost.

But now back on topic, I have been trying to do a total rehaul on my PC with limited funds, and I'm uncertain of what to upgrade still:

Current rig is this (i'm not counting products on the way.. Can ship back for restock fee if needed now that I have expanded budget):

AMD Phenom II X2 555 BE 3.2GHz.
Corsair XMS3 4GB DDR3 1600 RAM with Heatsinks (2x2GB)
Geforce GTS 250 1GB Superclocked
WD Caviar Blue 320GB Hard Drive @7,200 RPM (16MB cache)
Standard DVD Combo Drive.
Rosewill Challanger Mid-Tower ATX gaming case.



I also bought the monitor I had mentioned in previous thread I was planning on, as well a decent 2.1 speaker setup.

I can find a good HDD and a CPU cooler for $80, so that means I'm asking what can I find for that remaing $160? In all I have $240, but I plan to put $80 towards various peripherals so the $160 is the price benchmark I'm looking at, very little fluctuation in that as I'm getting a set of peripherals.

 

[gunnygzuz]

I think I figured it out.. Was stumbling over the ASUS M4A88T-V EVO/USB3 for a while: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131668

but then changed up my search patterns and found something I swear wasn't there last night:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131651

That is for me.. Overall better chipsets, they removed the second PCI-E x16 2.0, but in doing so it also has 6x6GB/s SATA.. And while i'm nuetral on that:

Comparing x16/x4 Crossfire (not even SLI) with 5 SATA 3GB/s..
To single PCI-e x16 2.0 with 6 SATA 6GB/s, less excess I'll never use (coax, digital audio, HDMI/VGA on-board.. Which caused a Southbridge swap from 710 to 850, so overall it's ALL ABOUT what I need and little of what I don't):

I realize the winner no contest "FOR MY NEEDS" is this baby:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131651

So I guess after enough hairpulling I found it.. And I might be able to call off ripping the stranger off (criagslist) and keep my speakers with $20 to spare as well. I can always send his money back. Dunno, I kinda like em so maybe I will.

Either way, I found it. Anyone know how to remove a topic? I shoulda searched more first.. but I have been second guessing myself for 5 days now.. I kinda needed a break lol.