Hello everyone, I am going to build my 2nd computer(1st was back in the socket 478 era). Right now I am looking into different motherboards but unsure what to get. I was like to build a computer that is gaming first and media editing 2nd.

What do you guys think is the best mobo I can get right now for use with a Q9450 and running 2 HD4870 with good OC abilities and being able to expand into the future?

Any advice will be much appreciated.

"Expand into the future" is not the best plan right now if you are buying high end stuff. Nehelem comes out in 4 or 5 months. and that will require new motherboards.

So, future expansion will mean new CPU and MB.

However, it that's the route you want to go, get a board that will support some high end DDR3 RAM, so that you will at least be able to hang onto the RAM.

The X48 chipset will support the CF 4870s the best.

Thanks for the reply...

Interesting....I didn't realize a new platform was coming out within a few months... I would like to wait it out but I am going to need a computer by the end of August . So scratch what I said about expanding into the future, does anyone else have inputs for a motherboard?

Prox is right....if you cannot wait for the new Intel Nehalem processors, then get a board featuring the x48 chipset. Asus or Gigabyte would be my choice.
I'm not 100% convinced DDR3 is necessary (performance wise), however if I was doing a build, and my budget would allow it, DDR3 is the route I would go. I'm a firm believer in getting the best and latest technology you can for the money you have budgeted. Even if you have to go a little lighter on a couple of the less key components. Depending on the board manufacturer the DDR3 boards can be substantially more than the same board in DDR2 form. Then you have the added increased costs of DDR3 RAM over DDR2 RAM...:-)
The new Intel P45 chipsets are also good, but in reality although they are running 16 and 8 on the PCI-E slots they are PCI-E2 so they have double the bandwidth of the P35 boards. It may be some time before we see video cards saturating this much bandwidth.
The x38 boards with PCI-E2 are also another option, although they are similar in price to the X48 for similar features.

Here's a few examples of decent boards, in both DDR2 and DDR3 configurations.

http://www.ncix.com/products/index [...] cture=ASUS

http://www.ncix.com/products/index [...] cture=ASUS

http://www.ncix.com/products/index [...] cture=ASUS

http://www.ncix.com/products/index [...] cture=ASUS

http://www.ncix.com/products/index [...] e=Gigabyte

http://www.ncix.com/products/index [...] e=Gigabyte

http://www.ncix.com/products/index [...] e=Gigabyte

http://www.ncix.com/products/index [...] e=Gigabyte

I'd certainly have no qualms about sticking with the Q9450 and even one 4870 for now. This rig should fly.

Good luck with the build.

The Canuck

thanks for the help guys, after researching long and hard i decided to go with the GIGABYTE GA-X48-DS4