Mobo + Cpu

Mc-DubsMc-Dubs
edited January 2005 in Hardware
Hey guys, so in the very near future i was looking to purchase a motherboard and a CPU...could you guys give me some input on what you all think would be the best choice for my money...i'd like something pretty darn fast but not so fast that it's gonna cost me like a thousand dollars type of thing; thanks in advance :)

Comments

  • MedlockMedlock Miramar, Florida Member
    edited December 2004
    You forgot the most important factor... What's your budget? :)

    Also, are you upgrading a current system or starting from scratch?
  • Mc-DubsMc-Dubs
    edited December 2004
    TheGr81 wrote:
    You forgot the most important factor... What's your budget? :)

    Also, are you upgrading a current system or starting from scratch?

    I'm starting from scratch and my budget is like 400 bucks
  • Geeky1Geeky1 University of the Pacific (Stockton, CA, USA)
    edited December 2004
    $400 for the ENTIRE system or just the mobo and CPU?
  • Mc-DubsMc-Dubs
    edited December 2004
    Geeky1 wrote:
    $400 for the ENTIRE system or just the mobo and CPU?

    I'm planning on spending around 300 for the cpu and 300 for the mobo...any suggestions?
  • Omega65Omega65 Philadelphia, Pa
    edited December 2004
    Mobos:
    MSI K8N Neo 2 Platinum S939 (NF3-250gb) $145
    Epox 9NDA3+ S939 (NF3-250gb) $126
    Epox 9NDA3J S939 (NF3-250gb) $99
    Abit AV8 S939 (VIA K8T800 Pro) $111

    CPU:
    Athlon 64 3500+ 90nm S939 ~$325
    Athlon 64 3200+ 90nm S939 ~$240
    Athlon 64 3000+ 90nm S939 ~$155 (Overclocking Champion)

    Memory: (Samsung TCCD Memory info)
    Patriot Dual Channel Kit 184-Pin 1GB(512MB x 2) DDR PC3200 w/ XBL Technology $220
    DDR400 (200mhz) Cas 2-2-2-5
    DDR500 (250mhz+) Cas 3-3-3-8

    My Patriot memory does 260mhz which is my motherboard's (Abit KV8 Pro S754 (K8T800 Pro)) limit

    G.skill (Samsung TCCD) Dual Channel Kit 184-Pin 1GB(512MB x 2) DDR PC4400, Model F1-3200DSU2-1GBLE $275
    DDR400 (200mhz) Cas 2-2-2-5
    DDR550 (275mhz+) Cas 2.5-3-3-8
  • Geeky1Geeky1 University of the Pacific (Stockton, CA, USA)
    edited December 2004
    You realize right that right now is an EXTREMELY bad time to be buying a motherboard & CPU, right?
  • entropyentropy Yah-Der-Hey (Wisconsin)
    edited December 2004
    Why's that?

    Mc.Dubs: didn't think you ever came here anymore ;D Howday.
  • Geeky1Geeky1 University of the Pacific (Stockton, CA, USA)
    edited December 2004
    Primarily because of the PCI-E transition
  • MedlockMedlock Miramar, Florida Member
    edited December 2004
    Everyone's waiting for the nForce 4 boards now.
  • Omega65Omega65 Philadelphia, Pa
    edited December 2004
    TheGr81 wrote:
    Everyone's waiting for the nForce 4 boards now.
    Not me!

    NForce4 is PCIe only. If your're sticking with AGP video cards then the NF3-250gb & K8T800 Pro mobos are your only choices.
  • Geeky1Geeky1 University of the Pacific (Stockton, CA, USA)
    edited December 2004
    And if you're sticking with AGP then the next time you want to upgrade, you'll be looking at not only a new video card, but a new mobo as well. AND, if you go intel (for anyone reading the thread), you could be looking at a new CPU and RAM as well. Now is a really, really bad time to buy a new system when you consider the fact that 12 months from now, you won't be able to upgrade much.
  • MedlockMedlock Miramar, Florida Member
    edited December 2004
    Geeky1 wrote:
    And if you're sticking with AGP then the next time you want to upgrade, you'll be looking at not only a new video card, but a new mobo as well. AND, if you go intel (for anyone reading the thread), you could be looking at a new CPU and RAM as well. Now is a really, really bad time to buy a new system when you consider the fact that 12 months from now, you won't be able to upgrade much.
    Meh. Doesn't matter for me. Either way I go I might as well start from scratch.
  • Omega65Omega65 Philadelphia, Pa
    edited December 2004
    New AGP cards will intro'd for another 12months in any event. There are FAR More mobos with AGP than there are with PCIe. It will take more than a year for PCIe mobos to equal AGP's installed base..

    You can safely ignore PCIe for another 6 months minimum
  • Geeky1Geeky1 University of the Pacific (Stockton, CA, USA)
    edited December 2004
    I'm not sure about that Omega. Look at what they're doing with the transition- there are no boards out there with AGP AND PCI-E, save for ONE P4 board, and the AGP performance on that board is AWFUL. What I've heard is that either the next generation of cards, or the one after that, will be PCI-E only. Which doesn't leave you much room for upgrades...
  • LincLinc Owner Detroit Icrontian
    edited December 2004
    I'm actually thinking about upgrading soon too... but I have a Radeon 9700. Since I'm really not a serious gamer, that video card should last me plenty long... so that would seem to make the upgrade irrelevant, right?

    Hey Omega, what if the budget was $1000-$1500 for a mobo/CPU/memory combo? I'd kinda like firewire on it with plenty of USB2 ports. I think it's almost time for my 8KHA+ to retire after years of meritorious service :) I went browsing around NewEgg for a while but all I know about the boards is what I read in the descriptions. :-/
  • Omega65Omega65 Philadelphia, Pa
    edited December 2004
    One Caveat to consider - There's a new Athlon 64 90nm core due in 3-6 months. The single & Dual core San Diego 90nm SOI Core will have SSE3 and other enhancements

    If had $1-1.5K to spend I would get the

    $275 - G.skill 1GB PC4400 Memory (Will do 275-310 mhz)
    $145 - MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum or Epox 9NDA3+ (will do HTT:Mem 1:1 250-325mhz)
    $240 - Athlon 64 90nm 3200+ (2.0ghz 10x Multi) (will do 2.3-2.8 ghz Highend air/water)
    or
    $900 FX-55 (2.6ghz 1MB 13x & Unlocked multis) (Will do 2.7-3.0ghz Highend air/water)
    ===========
    $660 or $1320

    Socket 939 Motherboard info

    AMD CPU & Chipset Roadmap

    And Geeky1 is right as far as you have to consider when your going to switch to PCIe. The feature set of some of the new Nforce4 PCIe mobos is compelling.

    Newegg: Asus A8N-SLI $270

    Specifications:
    Supported CPU: Socket 939 AMD Athlon 64FX/64
    Chipset: NVIDIA nForce4 SLI
    Slots: 2x PCI-E X16(SLI mode: x8,x8), 2x PCI-E X1, 3x PCI
    Ports: 2x PS/2, 1x LPT, 10x USB2.0(Rear 4), 2x RJ45, 2x SPDIF out, 1x IEEE1394, Audio Ports

    IDE: 2x ATA 133 with NV Raid 0/1/0+1
    SATA: 4x SATA2 3.0Gb/s with NV Raid 0/1/0+1, 4x SATA with Raid 0/1/0+1/5 by SI3114R
    Onboard Audio: Realtek ALC850 8-Ch
    Onboard LAN: nForce4 built-in Gbit MAC, MARVELL GbitLAN
    Onboard 1394: 2x 1394 ports
    Form Factor: ATX
  • LincLinc Owner Detroit Icrontian
    edited December 2004
    Thank you sir :)
  • Mc-DubsMc-Dubs
    edited January 2005
    thanks for you help guys :)
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