Striker Extreme is bricked, need advice on new mobo(what chipset to get?)

Hello. I bought a semi-high end gaming rig about a year ago from quite possibly the worst company ever.(wont call me back, wont respond to email) So my 3-year warranty is all but useless. My fan on my CPU cooler crapped out so I brought it in to a local repair shop to have it replaced.

Well, the computer was powered off for about 3 weeks before I got the parts in and the PC techs started working on it. Long story even longer, The board will not POST and I need a new one. I could possible RMA it through ASUS and get a new one but from what I have read online this is a common problem with the striker.

I have decided to buy a different(less expensive) mobo to replace it. Then RMA the striker and sell it as refurbished when I get the new one(2 months from now probably)

I do not need SLI but will need at least one PCI 16x 2.0 slot(do i need 2.0?) for my 8800GTX. Looking for an optical S/PDIf.

I would like to do a mild OC on the CPU and be able to set all the memory timings and most importantly the memory voltage. And maybe a mild OC on the memory as well. I would also like to keep my upgrade options open as far as the processor, memory, and GFX card go.

I am considering several 680i mobos but from what I have been reading, that might not be a good choice for several reasons.(including price)

While specific mobo suggestions are preferred any advice on what chipset(780/790?P35?X38/x48?) to get or what features are important to look for are much appreciated.


I realize I am asking for advice on a good value but I can splurge if I really want/need to. What I mean to say is; It may not be necessary but are there any major benefits to more expensive chips other than OC potential that I should be aware of?

My primary concern is good stable performance with the best possible graphics performance on my 8800.

System Specs:

Dual boot Wix XP pro(32bit) and Vista Prem(64bit)
ASUS Striker Extreme
XFX 8800GTX Extreme
Intel E6850 Core 2 Duo 3.0Ghz
WD Rapter 150GB 10k RPM
Several Data HDD's(not in raid but for sure want to in the future)
Muskin Extreme PC6400 800MHZ DDR2 2x1GB
Thermaltake Toughpower 750W
Thermaltake V1 Heatsink(fan broke, still works but bangs against the copper fins) Replacing with OCZ Vendetta 2.
In a crappy mid-tower right now but is being rebuilt into a Cosmos-S(as soon as i get a working mobo)

I use the PC for heavy gaming, HD video playback, and mild video/photo editing and encoding/transcoding.