am getting a custom made computer from avadirect and need help in picking out a motherboard. I know pretty much nothing about them. I don't do much gaming at all but I do a lot of multi-tasking and need a fairly powerful computer that runs fast and smoothly.

What brand and model would you recommend?

It's going to depend on what features you need.

eSATA? Raid? Would you use ASUS Express Gate? (It's a very fast little Linux OS/websurfer/picture viewer thing that's built into ASUS boards, kinda. For when you don't want to wait to boot fully to get email or check a site.)

Those are some examples... how many hard drives? How many USB devices?

See, it's hard to recommend a specific board without knowing more

Since you aren't a big gamer I'll just suggest the ASUS P5QL -E. It's inexpensive and has all the features I listed. It's P43 not P45... the only difference is it costs less and does not support multiple graphics cards or DDR3, neither of which you need.

Well, by "not much" gaming, I meant I don't play any newer games. Once in awhile, I'll play some of my really old games like the Sims, etc. But I've never played any of these newer games and probably never will since that's not really my thing.

Here are the specs I am planning on getting:
http://www.avadirect.com/product_d [...] p?PRID=830
MOTHERBOARD: Asus P5Q Pro (still deciding though)
Power Supply: Corsair 550W (do I need something more powerful?)
Processor: Intel Quad-Core Q9550
Cooler: No upgrade
Memory: Kingston (or GSkill) 8GB
Video Card: Evga 9800 GTX+
Hard Drive: Western Digital 1TB
Storage Subsytem Config: RAID, No RAID, Independent
HDD Drives

   The P5Q Pro is a good board. It's got Crossfire, which you have no use for, so you are paying a bit extra for that.

The Corsair 550W will technically run that setup. If you are not into building your own and will be just doing the same thing next time around, I would say it's fine.

If you think you might want to do major upgrades to this comp in the future, then I would recommend a bit more PSU... maybe the Corsair 650TX.