If I were to buy an open box mobo, I would be able to download everything on the disk right? and I would be able to find an I/O shield somewhere? I have 2 sata cables i could transfer out of current computer, which is all i will need for a bit (and their relatively cheap anyway). If it came down to it, is the I/O shield all that necessary or more of a cosmetic/airflow/this cord goes here sort of a thing?
With $64 off, it is in my price range, and it looks incredible. ASUS M4A79 Deluxe 790FX SB750 with dual x16 or quad x8, looks like good chipset cooling and seems to have more room around cpu socket which would make aftermarket heatsink installation a little easier. At $125 that seems like a steal.
I am stuck between getting a mobo with integrated, or getting a mid-range graphics card. Figure a 512mb gddr3 128/256bit would blow any integrated system out of the water, wouldn't break the bank, and would be all i will need for a while.