Hi everyone, I am upping my SYSTEM but I can't make up my mined on a motherboard. I am going to get the i5 and start out with 4Gb DDR3-1333MHz. I have narrowed the selection down to two.
MSI
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5083742&sku=M452-6071
and Gigabyte
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5019779&sku=G452-0100

They are very similar in specs and price so there is not much to it.
My criteria: these boards are on the edge of my budget, so ya. I am getting 5.1 surround sound so I want to put a nice sound card in their later, but for now, can you tell if one has better on-board sound then the other? I will eventually be putting in 2x gtx260 core216 in sli but will not GO any further so two x16 dims are fine.

I looked up as much as i could and could not find any major difference. Please let me know if you know anything about these boards and if you think one is better then the other.

Thanks.Can't comment on the sound part of it but by personal experience i would go with the Gigabyte...Have you just had good experiences with gigabyte? If so then can you tell me why you like them.I am not sure about the sound either, but I did notice they were each $10 cheaper on newegg. Free shipping also.And tax. I live in California so i don't get tax. It ends up cheaper.The last 3 builds i did for Customers i used the Gigabyte brand MBoards...
Good results all around.

I can't say the same about MSI boards so i'll leave it at that.

You pretty much can't go wrong with the ASUS brand as well...I have an ASUS right now and it is grate but the 1156 ones don't FIT my criteria. The builds you did turned out well but were there any particular features of the boards or the COMPANY that make it good? I just want to make sure that I get the better of the two.Trust me...I want to, but I cant just go on blind faith. PEASE give some examples. Since hejlik brought up newegg I decided to look and see if i can get any extra info off of their. I know that the the 1156 socket is new but the msi mobo has 2x5 star ratings and the gig. has 1x4star rating. But if you can give me a good REASONS then i will go with the gig.Well I went with the MSI board so I'll let you know how it works out.I don't know Gigabyte and MSI. Choose the best motherboard with the best features.