Current best CPU/Motherboard combo?

FormFactorFormFactor At the core of forgotten
edited April 2005 in Hardware
A co-worker of mine underwent a recent PC crash, and he asked me what he should buy as a replacement.

I figured I would pass this questions on to the REAL experts.

What is the best CPU/Motherboard combination available now?

I doubt he will be doing any overclocking with it, and he is interested in moving to a 64bit set up.


So what would the hardcore hardware techs here buy?

He is only going to buy cpu, mobo, and ram. I am not sure what video card he is running. So please include an AGP and a PCI-e board.

He is not a gamer, he will most likeley not be using it for gaming.

This is to replace a dual AXP1800 setup, he is looking to at least match if not increase performance.


Thanks in advance for any suggestions you can give.

Comments

  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited April 2005
    The absolute best for a non-overclocker...

    Venice 3800+ or San Diego 4000+ Athlon 64, the DFI LANPARTY UT nF4 SLi-D and 1GB OCZ 3200 Platinum.
  • MadballMadball Fort Benton, MT
    edited April 2005
    He is not a gamer, he will most likeley be using it for gaming :scratch:
  • FormFactorFormFactor At the core of forgotten
    edited April 2005
    Madball wrote:
    He is not a gamer, he will most likeley be using it for gaming :scratch:

    Edited.
  • MediaManMediaMan Powered by loose parts.
    edited April 2005
    The full top of the line NF4 based boards will definitely give room for hard drive expansion...lots of it (8 x SATA drive support). The NF4 boards will most likely mean an SLI video card though.

    For AGP based boards I like the MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum

    But that is an NF3 based board. The full versions of NF3 do have nVidia's built in Firewall and RAID functions which are quite handy...especially the firewall settings.

    If he's not going to consider upgrading a video card then you may not be able to take advantage of the latest technology. So it depends on what he wants to do. Is there an advantage to PCI-Express based boards...well...it is current technology but the cost is the video card...all "new" top of the line gaming cards cost big $
  • lemonlimelemonlime Canada Member
    edited April 2005
    What is his budget like? There are many options currently avaliable, and more than likely, many solutions that will fit his needs.

    You could recommend a sempron 754 solution that could cost $200, or a full blown A64/FX solution that could cost ten times that.
  • FormFactorFormFactor At the core of forgotten
    edited April 2005
    Thrax wrote:
    The absolute best for a non-overclocker...

    Venice 3800+ or San Diego 4000+ Athlon 64, the DFI LANPARTY UT nF4 SLi-D and 1GB OCZ 3200 Platinum.


    Thanx Thrax for the chip suggestions, but I cant seem to find the Venice or San Diego chips on newegg...

    Can you post links to those?

    I have heard a lot of good things about the DFI LANPARTY UT board.

    Newegg even has one for 133$ http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=13-136-152&depa=00
    Wow that seems like a descent price. It may not be there long though, Im tempted to grab it. ;D


    LemonLime: I would guess he's probably willing to spend around what he spent on his last setup, which I would guess dual axp1800s and a board to have run lets say 200-300$

    Thanks fellaz for the advice so far :thumbsup:
  • GooDGooD Quebec (CAN) Member
    edited April 2005
    The DFI LANPARTY UT board don't seem to be for someone that don't want to overclock... If he don't want to do so, i think he will find there's a LOT more options in the bios settings than what he realy need.

    If he don't know nothing about thoses settings he might find it hard to configure all thoses settings ;) But maybe you'll be there to help him... Anyway, why buy a board designed clearly for overclocker and harcore gamer for someone that don't want to overclock and don't want to do "too much" gaming ?

    Well, it's surely a good board but there's some other choice that can suit "more" to his needs and he could save some $.
  • JustinJustin Atlanta
    edited April 2005
    Another question, generally speaking, which is better, NF3 or NF4?
  • lemonlimelemonlime Canada Member
    edited April 2005
    Justin wrote:
    Another question, generally speaking, which is better, NF3 or NF4?

    Nforce3 250GB and the NF4 platforms are just about identical, except for a few key features: PCI-Express, SLI capability, SATAII and NCQ support in the NF4.

    The NF3 150 chipset was not in the same class. Older, and poor performing for the most part. I believe the VIA chipset's of that generation had the edge.
  • lemonlimelemonlime Canada Member
    edited April 2005
    Did he actually use his dual processing capabilities for anything specific? or is a single processor platform okay?

    If a single chip solution is okay, I would probably recommend the following:

    AMD Athlon 64 3500+ Winchester or Clawhammer SH7-CG (ADA3500BIBOX or ADA3500ASBOX)
    2x512MB name brand PC3200 (OCZ, Corsair, Kingston etc. 2-2-2 timings optional, but recommended)
    NF3 250GB/NF4 based mainboard (depending on graphics card preference, PCI-E vs. AGP) Recommended manufacturers: Epox, MSI, Asus. (DFI great for overclocking, but not for mainstream 'non-enthusiast' users)

    Might be a little over the $300 budget, but should make for a great 'modern' system.

    If you want to keep it on the cheap:

    AMD Athlon 64 2800/3000+ Newcastle (or Sempron 3100+ if 64bit not important) Socket 754
    NF3 250GB based mainboard (Epox, MSI etc)
    2x512MB PC3200 name brand memory.

    If gaming is not a priority, the later would still be a fantastic business machine.
  • muddocktormuddocktor
    edited April 2005
    Also, if he would want to go with a socket 754 system, the DFI NF3-250Gb board is a good choice too, even if he's not much of an overclocker. Good performance even at stock speeds, plus the added bonus of if he does later want to try his hand at overclocking, it's a very capable board. Plus, it comes with plenty of features such as 4 sata ports, gigabit Lan and even onboard 1394 ports, all for around $100.
  • edcentricedcentric near Milwaukee, Wisconsin Icrontian
    edited April 2005
    The trick on the CPU is to go with the newer, 90nm parts. They run cooler and have SSE3.
    The only catch with using a socket 754 mobo is that you will have no cpu upgrade path in the future.
    The problem with an NF4 mobo is that you will need a new pcie video card.

    I have helped build a few systems on DFI mobos. They are solid and fast. They have filled the market slot that Abit occupied a few years back.
  • FormFactorFormFactor At the core of forgotten
    edited April 2005
    He probably doesn't need a duallie anymore. A single chip should suffice.


    And if its a PCIe board, he could still just use a PCI vidcard right?

    Im sure those can be found for just a few dollars. I think I have a couple around the house.

    Thanks again for the advice guys. Great stuff!
  • muddocktormuddocktor
    edited April 2005
    Hey Ed, those mobile socket 754 Clawhammer's run plenty cool too. Mine is presently folding at 38-39 C at 2700 MHz. :D

    Plus, it looks like there is very much an unofficial 90 nm upgrade path with the new Turion 90 nm procs that will be coming out soon. I read at the DFI Street forums that while there won't be an official bios upgrade supporting them, it was broadly hinted that there will be some "unofficial" bioses with Turion microcode updates, probably by Oscar WU on the sly. ;) It all has to do with complying with AMD's rules or something, from what I read. ;D
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