Advice for a new motherboard...

[Miller]

I'm looking to build a new computer here soon and I'm trying to decide on motherboard. I don't really have too much of a preference for AMD vs. Intel. I would like at least 3 pci and 3 pci-express 1x slots in the system. I've been hoping for 4 pci and 3 pci-express, but haven't been able to find that. I also want as many SATA plugs as possible. I only need one pci-express 16x slot and with all this in mind these are the motherboards I've come up with. (I went with Gigabyte, but it doesn't have to be them either.)

GA-P35-DS3R (rev 2.1)
http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Products/Motherboard/Products_Accessories.aspx?ProductID=2746
GA-EP35-DS3R (rev 2.1)
http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Products/Motherboard/Products_Accessories.aspx?ProductID=2743

GA-P35C-DS3R (rev 2.1)
http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Products/Motherboard/Products_Accessories.aspx?ProductID=2749
GA-EP35C-DS3R (rev 2.1)
http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Products/Motherboard/Products_Overview.aspx?ClassValue=Motherboard&ProductID=2740&ProductName=GA-EP35C-DS3R

The only difference I can find in the four motherboards is that the first two don't support DDR3 and the second 2 do. Can anyone tell me any other differences? Also, does anyone have any other recommendations that might be better?

[Miller]

Ok, so I've found one other difference:

GA-P35-DS3R (rev 2.1) - $127
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128050
GA-EP35-DS3R (rev 2.1) - $127
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128086
(doesn't have their ultra-durable parts)

GA-P35C-DS3R (rev 2.1) - $160
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128048
GA-EP35C-DS3R (rev 2.1) - $160
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128082

So to get the DDR3 support I have to spend an extra $33. Of course if I go with DDR3 I don't think I can have as much RAM and I think it's also pricier for not a noticable difference. So right now my leading candidate would be the GA-P35-DS3R (rev 2.1) as far as Gigabyte is concerned...

[ca n vt]

Of course are you planning on going much more then 4gig of RAM anyway. I know when I got my mobo I was all pumped because it maxed out at like 8gb or something like that but I don't know that I have much intention or putting much more into it then the 2 that I have in there right now so that really doesn't do me much good. I've seen some that go up to like 16. How would you ever need that much RAM?

What about a PCI-X16 2.0 slot? As long as you're upgrading your mobo I'd make sure I had atleast one of these. I've already seen a few video cards that use it.

This is my mobo. I've been really happy with it. Of course it doesn't have DDR3 or PCIE-x16 2.0 either.

http://www.msicomputer.com/product/p_spec.asp?model=K9N_Platinum

Now you've got me looking at my mobo I was thinking of upgrading my processor and the one I wanted to go with isn't listed there as supported. It's the same socket. I wonder if it should still work.

[Miller]

I'll keep that in mind if I go AMD, but right now I'm leaning the other way. Yours has 3 of each like the Gigabyte one I mentioned, but it only has 6 SATA. You're right as to right now I don't think I would buy 8GB of RAM - probably 2 maybe 4 depending on price. So that's probably not a big issue.

[ca n vt]

So, did you settle on anything?

[Miller]

Not yet, my birthday's in March and I think I'll "get permission"  to buy some stuff then. I just like doing my research ahead of time. (Of course, the hardware might completely change by then so we'll see.)

[Miller]

Ok, so newegg has some open box versions of the board I'm looking at. Here's the links:

Regular - $127
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128050

Open box - $100
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128050R

I did some research and found that the open box wouldn't include the manual, 4 SATA cables, a 2-port SATA expansion bracket, an IDE cable, and possibly the I/O shield (supposed to be just the motherboard). The manual I can get online. I have SATA cables. The bracket with the 2 external SATA ports would be nice, but I'm not sure it's worth the $28. So I think the I/O shield is the deal breaker. I need this for my computer. I couldn't find a way to order it separately and I don't really want the hole in the back of my case. Anyone else have any ideas or should I just stick with the boxed version and pay the extra $28.

[Miller]

I think I'm going to go with the GA-P35-DS3L. It's the same as the DS3R but it only has 4 SATA ports. I decided I don't need 8 ports if this is just going to be a computer on the network. I figure my server will handle most of the storage duties.