Recommend a motherboard please!

[N3il]

Am in the process of sorting out what i want for a new build. Not sure at the moment if i want to either get a 4870 and wait for 4870x2 or just get an nvidia 280 gtx..

If i was to go with the 280 gtx can someone please recommend a good board for it please? Thanks

[NovaSphere]

I'm getting the GTX 260 myself and I'll be buying the Asus P5Q Pro, it should do fine.

Why you want the GTX 280 though? That card is extremely overpriced.

[N3il]

looking for something thats going to last a while is all.. I was planning on getting two 4870's but may put some of the money elsewhere..

[Emirzan]

It might be helpful if you gave a little more information on what you intend to do with your pc. For example what brand of cpu will you be using, are you interested in overclocking, are you going for a multi gpu setup or not (guessing no with that card), what form factor do you need?

Those would be the criteria I'd use to make initial selections and then look at the features of the motherboards that are within that specification. Are you interested in support for raid, how many sata connectors do you need, do you want onboard sound etc.

And possibly most importantly, how much do you want to spend?

edit: just saw your second post, so you'll probably want native cross fire support and 2 pci-e (x 16) slots

[N3il]

Mainly for gaming but with some coding/office work.

Processor q9450

Form factor.. The usual whatever that might be. Fancy the antec 1200 case..

Budget.. I want to try overclocking so i want something rock solid and im willing to pay for that so whatever within reason.

[NovaSphere]

For motherboard, you might want to check out the Gigabyte GA-X48-DS4 or the Asus Maximus Formula II

Or if you want one of the best motherboards for SLI, go for the Asus Striker II Extreme or the Asus Striker II Formula

Those should be more than enough lol

[PeterStoba]

P5Q-E is good for single card solutions

[Nelsaidi]

Shoudlnt P5Q-E work for crossfire too?

[PiracyX]

I would recommend either the Gigabyte GA-X48-DS4 or the Gigabyte GA-X48-DS5.

[N3il]

Thanks folks, going to look into these tonight

[Zhaoman]

If you want the best then the Foxconn Blackops is the best board for the money.

It's based on X48 chipset, water and nitrogen ready and it reaches 560Mhz on air without breaking a sweat. Highest speed achieved was over 740Mhz on nitrogen. Stock performance, if you are inclined that way, are faster than any previous X48 board naturally, and by a good margin too. This board is not a gimmick.

If you are not prepared to pay £250 for a board then I would recommend an Asus P5Q-E since they perform to the same levels as much more expensive boards and provide all of the features that you need. At £100, this is the best board for your needs whatever GPU you decide to buy.

As for the GTX280, the HD4870 performs to within 20% of that card so really there is no point. An overclocked GTX260 performs to within 10%. People are reaching nearly 1Ghz on the HD4870 as well, nearly 33% increase from the stock 750Mhz so the GTX280 is quite limited and expensive compared to the competition imho. It's better to get a HD4870 and get it on water, or just get a 4850 and wait for the X2.