I'm building a new PC this week and I'm wondering which mobo will be the cheapest and most likely to be used again in 6 months (right before its outdated by the new Q4 processor socket).

Next month will see the introduction of the P45 mobo, new videocards from ATI and nVidia, and all the dramatic pricecuts to their respective predecessors. Knowing this, I'd like help from TWW picking the best mobo for my current, and future, needs.

That being said, I will probably be purchasing the new GTX260 after the first pricedrop, so my first and main question is:
Does PCI-Express 2.0 matter now and will it matter when the newer cards (like the GTX260) become available?

Also, I will be upgrading my socket 775 CPU after the Q4 pricedrops with the introduction of the new Intel chipset. I figure this is the most economical way to spare my asshole for atleast 12 months. That leads me to my second question:
What would prevent me from upgrading to the new Q3 processors that still use the socket 775 and are 45nm?

[Edited on May 27, 2008 at 10:19 PM. Reason : p]

5/27/2008 10:18:33 PM

I'd say go with Express 2.0, it really opens up more bandwidth and really couldn't hurt.

5/27/2008 11:05:02 PM

but an ok p35 costs around 100 and an ok x38 is around 190

5/28/2008 12:25:29 AM

pci-x 2.0 is not worth it at the moment, imo. Current graphics cards don't even really max out current pci-x's available bandwidth.

5/28/2008 12:14:16 PM

pci-xe 2.0 is not worth it at the moment, imo. Current graphics cards don't even really max out current pci-xe's available bandwidth.

5/28/2008 2:03:05 PM