Help! Choosing Motherboard

Hi,

I'm looking for help choosing a reliable, performant and durable motherboard that will last me a while. I plan to use this motherboard for gaming and working.

I don't plan on upgrading or overclocking anything.

Comments on Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3R?


Preferable - Asus P35 chipset

Quad Core CPU Support
DDR2 800/1066 Support
PCI-E 2.0 (optional)
SATA 3

Not interested in - DDR3, WiFi, SLI

Budget - $150 - $200


Hardware that will go with it:

Intel Quad Core Q6600 G0
CORSAIR 800MHZ DDR2 800MHZ TWINX C4
EVGA GeForce 8800GT 512MB
SATA 150GB Raptor 10K

Welcome to the forums

If you're not overclocking, you don't have to get "high end" brands like Asus (read: you buy the name, nothing else). A gigabyte board or abit board will work just fine. Even a basic workstation board from intel will be great. I haven't done the research on which would be the best for a non-clocker, but here is a list narrowed down at newegg:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...08+1070625638+107172277+4017&name=$100+-+$200

Of those, the IP35 Pro has the best reviews:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813127030
But it is high on the price, and many of those reviews are just based on overclocking (again justifiable for the price, but not if you're not looking to overclock)

You want PWM cooling if you're pulling higher currents (quad does this of course) so scratch the gigabyte board.

I'd say go with the basic IP35 from abit:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813127029
Cheaper and a great board.

I'm not trying to be an abit fanboy, but in this case it seems to be the most popular, with good reviews, and it's a good price.

IP35-pro has features you may not need or use. ie firewire,raid,Esata... if you need those then get the pro. if you need just raid and one firewire then it would be the IP35. after that if you dont need those extras the imo the IP35-E is the best for the price right now. it is cheaper then some Gigabyte boards i would be suggesting now... Acid has covered some good stuff as well, asus is turning into a name like sony...