DateTime format with Entity Framework

Who can describe how it operates? In SQL Server, I must compare a DateTime with user input.

Here is an illustration of what I'm after:

DateTime[] dates = { DateTime.Now, DateTime.UtcNow };
Console.WriteLine(dates.Where(x => x < DateTime.Now));    // I need to know if they are the same without converting them to strings. 
Console.Read();

Entity Framework is what I'm using, and in the entity classDates the properties are DateTime, and I need to compare those with user input. The CreateDate function was the only thing that worked.

As you are aware, I am unable to directly compare the POST value to a Date attribute. Example:

db.dates.Where(x => x.StartDate < "2012-02-13 00:00:00.000")    // error, cannot compare DateTime with string

I therefore attempted to convert the value to DateTime:

DateTime start_date = Convert.ToDateTime("2012-02-13 00:00:00.000");
db.dates.Where(x => x.StartDate < start_date )    // PROBLEM!!

Why? So, the result ofstart_date is:

2012-02-13 12:00:00 am

However, the end and start dates in the database are as follows:

2012-02-13 00:00:00.000    // all have zeros at the end

When the input date is in, how can I compare the date?2012-02-13 00:00:00.000 format?

I just need the same format and data type, regardless of what you choose to employ.