Motherboards - confusion

[hydrazine]

Hi everybody!

I'm considering building my own computers -- I've upgraded RAM and video cards and such on stuff before but never built one totally before. So I've been reading a lot and what's confusing me most are motherboards.

I understand what they do and such, I just would like some recommendations.

For processor I'm thinking of going with a Q6600 -- it seems to be a solid choice. I do gaming and such -- mainly TF2, Bioshock, L4D, etc. But I also do photoshop and multitasking and some stuff.

I want nVidia too.

I want this computer to be upgradeable in general - not super high end now.... my upward limit is about $1000.

Is it worth getting a Q6600 and a Socket 775 motherboard this year? Is that likely to remain decent for upgradeability and usefulness for a few years? Or is the new Intel microarchitecture going to seriously change things?

I'm interested in the new Intel chip -- but only if it's going to be affordable within a year, which I kind of doubt.

In short -- what's a good choice for a motherboard? Any recommendations?

THANKS! very much.

 

[FiRESAUCE]

Get a Socket 775 Board that is capable of handling ddr3 and you will be fine..

The q6600 is an awesome processor.

even at stock speeds it easily blows the C2D's out the water.

 

[trykael]

just remember that after this the cpu will only be upgradeable to a certain extent on that motherboard. the new core i7 requires a completely different socket.

 

[yellowbadger52]

For a motherboard yes socket 775 is what you want for now but DDR3 is up to you if its in your budget go for it but it shouldnt matter because when the i7 cpus come out they will be a differant socket. Also if your getting a pci-e 2.0 video card try to get a motherboard with a pci-e 2.0 slot. They dont make that big of a difference but if you can afford it you might as well.
Asus motherboards are really good IMO. I have the Asus P5E.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131219

 

[xenophek]

I like Asus and Gigabyte motherboards. Good companies

 

[-Jv-]

DDR3 hasn't got much profit in gaming yet. And it's too expensive for what you get...

 

[trykael]

DDR3 hasn't got much profit in gaming yet. And it's too expensive for what you get...

While that may be true to a certain extent right now, it's not going to be true for very long. DDR3 is going to be the standard as core i7 takes over. Again, my suggestion (for the most future-proofed computer) would be to wait until Spring of this year when prices for core i7 processors and the proper motherboards begin to drop, and then build your system. Sure, it'll be overkill for most things right now, but when your computer is still playing the latest games in 3 years you're going to be a very happy person. Sure, you can spend $600 - $800 right now and build a decent rig, but you're going to want to replace it again in just a year or two because of the technology that's right around the corner. While I don't think you can always plan ahead when it comes to technology, this is one time when I believe waiting a little while longer will pay off big in the long run.