OK, so it turns out I got hit with the HPA error.  Sadly this was discovered when a drive went bad.  Options are surely endless, but the board I am currently eyeing is this one, http://www.amazon.com/Biostar-AM3-DDR3-Motherboard-A770E3/dp/B0035JL2UU/ref=sr_1_3?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1300764311&sr=1-3

 

It is a Biostar AM3/AM2+ DDR3 AMD 770 ATX AMD Motherboard A770E3

 

I also want to ensure compatibility with the supermicro 8 port sata, AOC-SAT2-MV8

 

Any thoughts?  I know some other Biostar boards are popular, but this one is on amazon and prime eligible and I have a gift card so it seems like a great price point.

 

Thanks

The only issue I see with that board is that it has no onboard video, so you would need a video card installed for it to work.  That's just a waste of power and money in my opinion.

 

I recommend the Biostar A760G M2+ instead.  It happens to be cheaper as well, though it does call for DDR2 RAM, not DDR3.  It should be compatible with the SAT2 card (via PCI port, not PCIe).  To get the optimal speed out of that card you'll need a board with PCI-X, which is relatively rare these days (and you'll probably pay way too much for it).

You could use this board: http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=SE7501BR2-KIT-R&cat=MBB

 

It has PCI-X.