I'm working on getting a list together for my 1st PC build and was wondering if anyone has suggestions on upgrading the motherboard. (and a few general questions)

I was thinking that this
ASUS P5K3 DELUXE/WIFI-AP LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
or this
ASUS P5K DELUXE/WIFI-AP LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

Might be a better choice,

Than this...
ASUS P5K SE LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard

But I don't really know enough to make an intelligent decisions.

So if you need complete info here you go....




Also, I was wondering if makes sense to go for DDR3?
Do I need 4GB of ram (even if I go with DDR2)?


I'm not looking to overclock, mostly just want a better system that will allow me to run two monitors and play 8 tables of poker at a time, edit movies and pictures and do some work database stuff. Mostly I want to build something that will allow me to upgrade over time so that's why I'm wondering if a better motherboard makes sense now.
A few other question at the bottom of the build list that are not directly MOB releated.



Antec P182 Gun Metal Black 0.8mm cold rolled steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
ASUS P5K SE LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard
MSI NX8800GTS 512M OC GeForce 8800GTS (G92) 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card
SeaSonic S12 Energy Plus SS-550HT ATX12V / EPS12V 550W Power Supply
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz LGA 775 Quad-Core Processor Model BX80562Q6600
Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD7500AAKS 750GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
Logitech 967738-0403 Black USB Standard Deluxe 250 Keyboard
(2 mointors) HP LP2065 Silver-Carbonite 20" 8ms LCD Monitor with Height & Pivot Adjustments
RAZER RZ01-00050200-R2M1 Anarchy Red 7 Buttons 1 x Wheel USB Wired Laser Copperhead Mouse
ASUS 20X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe Black SATA Model DRW-2014L1T
Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio VARPAK 7.1 Channels PCI Express Interface Sound Card
Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate SP1 64-bit English 1pk DSP OEI DVD
CORSAIR Dominator 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail
Possibly also two HD's one for data, one for programs?
What's the correct ratio program/data size? 750/300?



Regarding my monitor choice and I assume this does not tax the motherboard at all.

I had selected getting two of these.

HP LP2065 Silver-Carbonite 20" 8ms LCD Monitor with Height & Pivot Adjustments 300 cd/m2 800:1 - Retail (2 at $299 each after discounts)

But started to think that a 24” might sort of work and could always add to it.

HP w2408h Black 24" 5ms Widescreen LCD Monitor w/ Height & Pivot Adjustments 400 cd/m2 1000:1 Built in Speakers - Retail $459

At least to start with as I could add a 2nd later, but than I realized that the larger HP does not include appear to have a DVI input? But this one does have DVI

HP LP2465 Carbonite-Silver 24" 6 ms (GTG) Widescreen LCD Monitor with Height & Pivot Adjustments 500 cd/m2 1000:1 - Retail at $539

What's up with that? And is DVI critical with my build to run two monitors?

Monitor:
The HP w2408h has HDMI. Hooking up it up to DVI can be done via an adapter (comes with some graphics cards) but you need a HDMI cable. DVI is a plus for your build as your 8800GTS has 2 DVI ports.

Motherboards:
Out of the three boards you picked I would say neither gets my vote. Reasons below.
The P5K-E/WIFI would be cheaper and have all the features of the deluxe except some overclocking/voltage features or the P5K Premium instead of the deluxe as it's a revision of the deluxe.
P5K SE is cheap but I avoid cheap motherboards in general.
P5K3 uses DDR3 and that's poor value. So aviod that.

RAM:
You could save some money and get Corsair TWIN2X or DHX RAM instead of the Dominators.

Hard drives:
I recommend 2x WD6400AAKS (no RAID).

Soundcard:
Skip the X-Fi. Test the onboard sound first. If it's not good enough you can add the soundcard later.

Thanks Andrius,

Regarding the hard drive is this basically the same thing?

Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD7500AAKS
As I found pretty good reviews on it here
http://www.storagereview.com/php/b [...] h_sort.php

So this board for a $149 is a better fit
ASUS P5K-E/WIFI-AP LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
Thanks! Don't even need wifi so if they had a more featured version without it, that would be cool but it's fine...

Thanks for adding some insight to the DVI thing too, I can't see where the HP w2408h is a good fit unless I change the graphics card, I don't want to mess with adapters that seems like starting on the wrong foot.

I'll have to do more research on the mem recommendations I'm not finding it on newegg and I'm trying to source all the stuff with one store. Thanks again!

Corsair RAM on newegg: (mind the second link on the first page for $29 after rebate)
(2GB kits) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] (PC2+6400)

(4GB kits) (my pick http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820145194 )
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] +(2+x+2GB)

The WD6400AAKS is much like the WD7500AAKS you picked however it is newer, a bit faster and a bit cheaper.
I own both in pairs and I'm really happy with both. You can't go wrong with either of them.

If you want a cheaper board you can also look at these:
Asus P5K Pro : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813131275
Gigabyte GA-EP35-DS3R : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813128086
Gigabyte GA-EP35-DS3L : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813128337

Since you plan on going for a 2 two monitor desktop you should know that NVIDIA is a bit rough on the edges with such setups. I didn't really put much time into it but I prefer the ATI sollution over NVIDIA's stretching windows over multiple screens. ATI cards have better options IE fitting a window to one screen only.