Is a Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD3 my best choice as a replacement?

[celloshane]

I made the mistake of trusting the Asus EZ-Flash software to update my bios, and ruined Asus M4A78LT-M LE. I've learned my lesson (there are no shortcuts in a bios update), but I need a replacement. The Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD3 seems to be compatible with all my existing components (listed below), but I haven't done any pc building for years so I'd appreciate confirmation from someone who's a little more up to date than myself.

This pc is used as the general family pc, so I only need to update it enough to handle some light gaming. Ideally I'd like to spend less than $200 on it now, but I'm hoping the motherboard replacement will allow me to do some staggered upgrades later on so that I won't have to retire it for a while.

On hand components:

AMD Athlon II X2 245 2.9GHz Dual-Core Processor
2 Corsair XMS3 2GB DDR3-1333 Memory
Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive
ECS GeForce GTS 450 1GB Video Card
Cooler Master Elite 310 ATX Mid Tower Case
Thermaltake Smart 430W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply
MSI DH-24AAS-17 R DVD/CD Writer

Running Windows 7

I could also use a recommendation on a heatsink/fan for the CPU, I'm not sure if the stock one will be compatible with the new board. So is the Gigabyte the best board to get me back up and running along with doing a little future-proofing down the road?

 

[ZENprime]

That motherboard is a highend 990FXA chipset , means it has a lot of features that you may not use
for example multi-GPU sli / crossfire

If you will never go for multi-GPU , Go for GA-970A-UD3P Gigabyte motherboard , it is cheaper and gives same performance as the GA-990FXA-UD3

Only go for 990FXA-UD3 if you will buy multi GPU in the future .

Both motherboards has dual bios which is great in your requirements because if 1 bios failed , motherboard will switch to the other working one and let you updated the failed one .

 

[cin19]

You don't need the 990fxa MB, if you want use the AMD system, like FX 6300 or FX8320, get the GA-970A-UD3P, that will be more than enough. If you just want to upgrade fx6300 later and use Athlon II X2 245 now, may just buy the GA-78LMT-USB3 (rev. 6.0) AM3+ http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128565

And if you want to use the intel i3, that buy the i3 + MB PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/kpJtkL
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/kpJtkL/by_merchant/
CPU: Intel Core i3-4160 3.6GHz Dual-Core Processor ($102.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock H97M Anniversary Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($67.89 @ OutletPC)
Total: $170.88
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-09-28 15:56 EDT-0400

You can get the H81 MB too, PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/96bQcf
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/96bQcf/by_merchant/
CPU: Intel Core i3-4160 3.6GHz Dual-Core Processor ($102.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: MSI H81M-P33 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($42.89 @ OutletPC)
Total: $145.88
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-09-28 15:58 EDT-0400

For the cpu cooler, you can buy the hyper 212plus for $15 after MIR, I check your case spec and the cooler can fit into it. If you use the intel i3 and you don't need the nyper 212 plus cooler.
Cooler http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065
Case http://www.coolermaster.com/case/mid-tower/elite-310/

 

[celloshane]

That motherboard is a highend 990FXA chipset , means it has a lot of features that you may not use
for example multi-GPU sli / crossfire

If you will never go for multi-GPU , Go for GA-970A-UD3P Gigabyte motherboard , it is cheaper and gives same performance as the GA-990FXA-UD3

Only go for 990FXA-UD3 if you will buy multi GPU in the future .

Both motherboards has dual bios which is great in your requirements because if 1 bios failed , motherboard will switch to the other working one and let you updated the failed one .

Thanks, I don't plan to turn this into a gaming rig so that should definitely save me some money.