Opinions on GA-EP35C-DS3R

I'm looking to build an affordable game box and have come across the GA-EP35C-DS3R. What are your thoughts on it and is there something else you'd reccomend in its place around the $150 price range?

Thanks

oh and I'm working with the following hardware thus far since I already have it:
DDR2 PC2-5300 667mhz
GeForce 7300LE 256mb/64bit DDR2
Seagate 250gb SATA

 

I have the GA-P35C-DS3R, not sure what the E does, but suffice to say it'll be a great board. You'd make better use of it with slightly higher grade hardware though, it has to be said.

 

That's a good board. You're not going to be doing much gaming on that video card though.

 

What would you suggest I upgrade to if I were to purchase a better graphics card and whatnot? Keep in mind, I'm trying to keep this thing affordable and that I'm not looking to play a lot of cutting edge games.

 

Well it really depends which games you're going to want to play.

Also, which CPU are you planning to use?

 

I was leaning towards the Intel E4500 or Intel E6750 but haven't yet made that decision.

I'm looking to play:
Dawn of Magic
AOE(all editions)
Call of Duty 3 (maybe 4)
Battle for Middle Earth II
Maybe Loki

 

As others have said, That is a great board, I've had mine for almost a year now and have had no problems.

As for cards the ati 3870 and nivida 8800gt are pretty good for the money.

But it really comes down to on how much you want to spend.

 

yeah you'll want a much better card for those games, you could get an HD2600XT they're quite cheap.

 

The "E" is like for energy saving, a good board, too bad it can only support up to DDR3 1333.

@Sam
Are you online everyday?

 

Pretty much, why ask?

 

well you always reply to threads pretty quick, and you reply to many of them

by the way, i know i ask this question thousands of times, but is X38 good? and should i get a X38 mobo?

 

sorry double post

 

I seriously don't see that much to be gained in getting an X38 board unless you're going to be using dual graphics etc. - A P35 is fine for even high end gamers.

 

what about X48? is there any improve in performance

 

If there is, I'd be very surprised if it warrants the cost difference. I also heard a rumour that X48 will be DDR3 only, don't know if that's true or not.

 

it might be true if you think about it, there aren't many X38 that supports DDR3, so X48 might just support it, i was thinking if my uncle would buy me 2 x 1GB of DDR3 1600, it's bloody expensive!

 

Indeed it is. nearly £300 over here if you want 4GB of the stuff. Compare that to £60 for 4GB of XMS2 PC6400 CAS4...

 

i know, so i think i should get 8GB of RAM if possible, i was thinking of going back to P35, plus i only found out that HD3870 X2 does not support PCI-E 2.0...thats odd

 

Why do you need 8GB of RAM? I can't fill 3GB, no matter what I do, I just can't do it?

 

no for a Vista system, 8GB is needed, i'll be having dual boot by the end of this year. XP SP3 is way better than vista apparently