Recommendations for motherboard

[classicride72]

I am upgrading my pc. I have an Intel Core Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz LGA 775 processor and am asking for recommendations for a good and easy to set up mobo, preferably with 6 usb 2.0 ports. I have looked at an ASUS P5K, Gigabyte ga-35-ds3l LGA775, and an MSI P35 ne02-fr LGA775, but user reviews are somewhat negative. I also wanted to look at a DFI Lanparty dk p35-t2rs but can't find reviews by users. Would appreciate recommendations for a good mobo for my processor.
I'm far from being a guru as far as computers are concerned. I'm not into gaming or overclocking but I will need a good video and sound card because I am heavily into music and video. Haven't decided whethere to use EIDE or SATA hard drives (I will probably run 2 hard drives). I hear sata is faster but I would like to keep my os (XP SP2) on a separate hard drive so if I foul up and have to reload windows I don't lose my other files.
Current system: P4 at 3.0 GHz, ASUS P4P800 Deluxe, Samsung cdroms/cd burners(2), floppy drive, Maxtor 120gig hds(2), and Seagate external usb drives (2) . Would appreciate assistance from anyone who cares to answer.
Bob

[darksideleader]

Well all those motherboards you mentioned should do the job. I'm using the ASUS p5k and i have no complaints, the Gigabtyte motherboard is a favourite and reliable overclocking motherboard, the MSI board has nice heat pipes and DFI board is quite reliable. Its mostly about the p35 chipset anyway. Just get w./e's cheapest.

When you say your into video, do you do design/editing or just watching movies in general? If your just into movies you can use something like this:
Newegg.com - EVGA 112-CK-NF77-A1 LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce e-7150/630i HDMI Micro ATX Intel Motherboard - Intel Motherboards
cheaper and has onboard DVI or HDMI and VGA to fit your needs.

[geehawk]

I'd personally go gigabyte if I were you.
If you aren't overclocking, this will do you just fine:
Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GA-P35-S3G LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard - Intel Motherboards

Oh and definitely go for SATA. There is really no reason to stick with IDE, the only semi reasonable argument I've heard for stickin with it is that it isn't as easy to break the connectors...

[surgeVel]

Originally Posted by geehawk

I'd personally go gigabyte if I were you.
If you aren't overclocking, this will do you just fine:
Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GA-P35-S3G LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard - Intel Motherboards

Even if you are overclocking, the Gigabyte is a great board. I used it on my last build and it has very easy overclocking. Using either the CMOS or their utility (Easy Tune?). I used CMOS and had no problem.

[classicride72]

Originally Posted by geehawk

I'd personally go gigabyte if I were you.
If you aren't overclocking, this will do you just fine:
Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GA-P35-S3G LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard - Intel Motherboards

Oh and definitely go for SATA. There is really no reason to stick with IDE, the only semi reasonable argument I've heard for stickin with it is that it isn't as easy to break the connectors...

Geehawk: Thank you for your reply and recommendations. I looked at the user reviews for this board at NewEgg; some were good and some had problems with this board. I'm not into overclocking. I need a board that is easy to set up and with which the Intel core duo E8400 processor is fully compatible. My video and audio needs will probably be addressed with good video and sound cards.
My main reason for upgrading is to be able to more easily deal with resource usage. My P4 maxes out regularly.
Maybe you can help with other questions associated with the gigabyte mobo. I have been using EIDE hard drives because I can put my os on one (C Drive) and move files to my second hard drive (D Drive) so that if a problem occurs and I have to reload windows I lose no files because they are on D Drive. I also use two external usb hard drives for storage and backup. I know SATA is faster but I'm concerned if I use 2 SATA drives and something gets fouled up and I have to reload windows, I lose my other files as well. My understanding is that data is shared by both SATA hard drives.
Is there a way to set up the SATA drives so that data can be separated as I do with my current EIDE drives? (OS on one and other files on the other).
OR, does it make any sense to run one SATA and one EIDE drive and try to keep things separate that way? You can tell that I'm rather confused about how I can get this thing working the way I'd prefer it to work.
With this mobo would I still be able to run my two Samsung cdroms/burners and my floppy drive?
Would I be able to add and run a dvd burner?
Thanks..........Bob

[classicride72]

Thanks to all of you for your information and assistance. You're great.