Need help choosing AMD motherboard

[anticlutch]

I need help choosing an AMD motherboard for my dad, who recently had his mobo die on him. He was using a Pentium D and Core 2 Duos have better performance but seem to cost more to upgrade later on so I suggested AMD

I want to find a mobo that is about $150 or less, with a good layout and preferably Crossfire support as I gave him my x1950pro to use. The only one that I could find was this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16813131095 but I was wondering if you guys knew of any other good motherboards

Also, AMD said that their Phenoms were going to be backwards compatible with existing AM2 platforms, right? I suggested to my dad to get a good motherboard with a cheap 3800+ x2 or a 4200+ cpu, wait until the Phenom's debuted, then swap out the Athlon for a Phenom. This was my primary reason for suggesting AMD... Intel loves to change socket designs so much I don't want my dad to shell out hundreds of dollars just to upgrade a CPU.

Thanks for the help!

 

[mitsirfishi]

very good board i have one best am2 cf board out there for its money great for overclocking but with the phenom's hopefully they will be backwards supportive probilly be a bios update and wala success *fingers crossed*

 

[Wile E]

If Crossfire support is tops on the list, the one you picked is the current champ.

But may I suggest forgoing Crossfire support, buying a cheaper board, and spending the extra money on the cpu.

There are quite a few budget screamers for AM2. My board is one of them. Biostar TForce 550 also pops to mind, but you'll have to get some good ram for the Biostar, as it goes from 2.15 vDimm straight to 2.4v (set via jumper).


EDIT: Or even better yet, how about a true AM2+ board?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138081

And a review here:

http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=3051&p=1