Core 2 motherboard chipset help

[Link]

Its been a long while since I upgraded my motherboard (Think AMD 939 era) and I am a little out of touch.

Browsing e-tailers shows that there are various chipsets out there:
Intel 775 (X48 Chipset)
Intel 775 (X38 Chipset)
Intel 775 (P45/P43 Chipset)
Intel 775 (P35 Chipset)
Intel 775 (P31 Chipset)
Intel 775 (nForce 7 Chipset)
Intel 775 (nForce 6 Chipset)

The question is, which is the right one for me? I assume they all run core 2 cpus, but beyond that, I'm aware there is a certain point where the bang per buck starts to slip with the really high end stuff, and I want to avoid that. I'm building a mid range system, so I guess I'm looking for a mid range chipset. Focus is on games over all other apps (Suprise suprise )

If people want to recommend a specific motherboard, all the better

tl;dr - Which core 2 capable motherboard is fast without being overly expensive

 

[-Psy-]

The quality of each board will vary wildly between brands and you also have to take into consideration the differences in specifications between each board. You could have two motherboards with an nForce 7 chipset but they're not necessarily going to have the same specs.

I've never bought a motherboard over ?70 and haven't had any problems within that price range.

 

[Link]

Thanks for the reply.

Don't worry, I realise theres more to it than the chipset. It is however, a good starting point, or at least I thought it was.

 

[Sedako]

What kind of budget are you looking at? Around $100-$150?

 

[Link]

Yeah somthing around that mark

 

[Sanada]

It all depends on what you want to do with it. It you want Crossfire, go for either X48 or X38 if you don't want to spend as much. If you want to use a single card, go for P45 (or P35 if you really on a budget). nForce chipsets are mainly for SLi but I've heard bad things about there stability/overclock ability and high price making them not worth while other than for SLi. Unless you're a overclock nut then they're probably OK. P45 is the newest of the bunch and is basically a improved version of the P35. X58 is due in a few months and is going to introduce the new 'Nehalem' processor which is supposidly vastly supperior to the Core2 though I wouldn't hold up to the hype.

 

[Link]

Yes, should have said. Planning single card only, and possibly overclock the CPU, but not looking for extreme levels. Looks like the P45 is the one to go for then? I assume the X58 is going to be much more expensive for not much more gain, and I don't plan on waiting a couple of months anyway

Unless anyone has anything else they want to add, I think I'm set. Thanks for the help folks.

 

[Asus]

P45 is a good one. I have a P35 which works well. Although the P45 just is faster and has PCI-Express 2.0.