Help with picking a motherboard

[bmxp]

Well, I am new to the boards and I am now in full swing to get back into computers. I used to be all in it back in the nforce 2 days... and then moved to working on cars and such. But Now that I have found what I really like doing which is networking and other computer stuff. I am back in school for my A+ and Network + and Security + and CCNA certification and such (maybe not all but going to get my basics).

Anyway I"m building a budget system for myself. I currently have this on the chopping block:

-E6550 Retail version (Got it off craigslist brand new still sealed for 100 bucks)
-PALiT NE/960TSX0202 GeForce 9600GT 1GB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16
-G.Skill 2GB 2x1gb DDR800

and then all the other stuff from my old computer... HD, DVD, case ETC

So as I want to keep this stuff in budget. My question is:

Should I go for the MSI 750i or the XFX 780i. As I do want to run dual SLI and overclock a little. Am I saving that much by going to the 750 over the 780?

Also I just remembered that I have a 300w enermax power supply... Do you think that will be enough to run all that stuff not overclocked? I am not looking to over clock right away seeing how anything will be faster than my AthlonXP 3200+ on my Nforce 2.. yikes.... So I basically will be building up over time and not at one lumpsome...

Thanks, for any help!

 

[Sylvanas]

Well given the prerequisites of SLI and solid functionality I would definitely go with the MSI. It is given Editors choice awards here and here. It appears this is a very functional, solid board with great Overclocking with a better price than a 780i. I also have been impressed by MSI support in the form of BIOS updates and customer service- they have tailored numerous BIOS's for my board based on customers requests.

Your other option is the Asus 750i board but that appears to have a flaky BIOS with regard to CPU support (as per the 750i thread here) with the new 45nm's so I would again go with the MSI.

 

[b1lk1]

No problems here with the ASUS P5N-D with both a X3110 and a QX9650 right out of the box.