thanks for the suggestions fellas...now i'm busy comparing mobo architecture between asus and gigabyte...reading technical reviews, mfg technical docs, etc...
...mind boggling. there are some big differences in the choices the companies make with the northbridge and southbridge chipsets that can either enhance or degrade overall performance...then there are the choices in sound chips and network chips...
my eyes are bleeding...i'm just going to use a dual core althlonII x2 255 regor 3.1Ghz to start since ah is the only game i play at this time and the speed is fast enough to handle what i do...i will eventually upgrade to a phenomII black edition quad core once the prices have dropped considerably on the faster ones.
i'm seriously considering the 890fx chipset with the sb850 southbridge for future potential but what i've been reading in customer reviews at several retail sites...the 870/sb850 chipset is the "safer choice"...and where the reviews are concerned, gigabyte is kicking asus around mostly from documentation and bios complexity.
