Features

Anonymous · #1

My current mobo only has 4x AGP and my current processor is 1.5ghz. I just came into a sizeable bit of BIRTHDAY MONEY, so I'm looking at mobo combos and being flustered since I haven't done this crap in a while - most of this stuff doesn't even have ghz ratings on it. So, I was hoping some of you could tell me what of my selections is best and maybe make some recommendations of your own. I'd rather not go over $200. And I'd like it to be an Athlon 64. Is this actually gonna be that much better than a 4x AGP 1.5 ghz system?

Chaintech SK8T800 Socket 754 DDR MB with Athlon64 2800+ CPU & Fan

It's a 2800 with 800mhz FSB, but last I checked you need to get 3200 to breach the 2 ghz mark and get a boost in speed or something

ECS 755-A2 Socket 754 AthlonTM 64 DDR MB With Athlon64 3200+ CPU & Fan

Okay here's their 3200 but it's $42 over but I guess that isn't too big a travesty but um help

FIC K8-800T Socket 754 DDR MB with AthlonTM 64 3200+ CPU & Fan (CT)

Okay this has firewire and other stuff and it's a little cheaper but it doesn't say anything about FSB or why I should even care about that um ;<

ECS 755-A2 Socket 754 DDR MB with AthlonTM 64 3200+ CPU & Fan (CT)

Then you've got this which seems to have less neat junk on the back but it talks about how amazingly fast it is

I may be the #1 Computer Builder and #1 Rapist, but I don't understand any of this crap anymore. It used to be so simple.

opel · #2

Quote:

I may be the #1 Computer Builder and #1 Rapist, but I don't understand any of this crap anymore. It used to be so simple.

Maybe less drinking and songs about boys giving blowjobs :/ you might figure it out

Anonymous · #3

That's all hilariously witty and off-topically-hilarious and valuable and all, but would someone that I'm not going to ban in a week have some input on this?

Anonymous · #4

And I know it's you, fartin.

opel · #5

http://usa.asus.com/powerup/main.htm

Anonymous · #6

Why it's asus' site, thank you i never would have thought to look at products that don't have prices or that I wouldn't want to buy

opel · #7

$239 I would go for something with the AMD :/

ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe nForce4 Chipset Motherboard AMD Socket 939
[34167] $269.00 $239.00

Click to enlarge
Model# A8N-SLI Deluxe

Product Details:
Supported CPU: AMD Athlon 64FX /Athlon 64 Processor
Chipset: NVIDIA nForce4 SLI
FSB: 2000 MT/s, 1600MT/s
RAM: 4x DIMM Supports DDR266/333/400 Max 4GB
Slots: 2x PCI-E x16, 2x PCI-E x1, 3x PCI
IDE: 2x ATA 133: NVRAID, SATA and PATA
Onboard SATA/RAID: 4x SATA RAID NVRAID
Onboard Audio: Realtek ALC850(8-Ch)
Onboard LAN: nForce4 Gbit MAC with Marvell PHY+MARVELL PCI Gbit LAN
Form Factor: ATX
Packaging: Retail Box

Dulled by Excess · #8

If you don't have an aversion to doing a little bit of research on the motherboards offered, a decent starting point to (at the very least) obtain baseline pricing information would be www.pricewatch.com. At/around the $200 price range they have some of the following:

ECS 755A-2 Retail Box MBoard w/ Cbls Man CD Audio LAN DDR400 ATA133 AGP 8x 5PCI ATX with CPU AMD Athlon 64 3000 DDR PC 3200 Soc 754 and heatsink fan - RETAIL BOX W/ CABLES MANUAL & CD - $193

Chaintech K8T800 MBoard with cpu - Socket 754 - 8xAGP - Serial ATA - DDR400 - 6 Chan Audio Lan with CPU AMD Athlon 64 3000 DDR Soc 754 and heatsink fan - $193

ECS 755A-2 Retail Box mboard - AGP 8X - DDR - 6 Chan Aud - Serial ATA - USB 2.0 - 5 PCI - 10/100 Lan with cpu - AMD Athlon 64 3000 - Includes Fan / Heatsink - Complete Combo Kit - $193

AGP is being phased out in favor of PCI Xpress, but if you're not a die-hard PC gamer you don't really need to shell out the ~$500 to acquire a "high end" PCI Xpress video card. Regardless, you should still be fine with a decent 8x AGP card (unless you're planning on investing a significant amount of time into Doom 3). Pricewatch.com has all kinds of motherboard/CPU combos, depending wholly on what parts you're wanting and the price range you're working with. It's really rather difficult to recommend which parts to purchase without knowing what you're planning to use the machine for (gaming, etc.).

As far as what difference the upgraded hardware would make, I have a 2.8 GHz system, a 1.6 GHz system, and a handful of lower-end systems (P3 systems ranging from 533MHz to 866MHz), and the only time (aside from playing "high end" games, of course) that I really recognize a noticeable performance increase is in startup/shutdown times. Other than that, the difference I've been able to notice was negligible (at best). Of course, your mileage may vary.

Hope this helps.

Alive · #9

I deal with these guys on occasion. for you serious budgeters out there heres a system to consider:

http://www.netdeals4u.com/ProductDet...ode=40%2D65500

Included: 128mb pc2700 ddr ram (to start -you can allways add)

Amd semptron 2200+ cpu

350 watt biege/black atx tower case, just add your goodies...

other stuff like onboard/video sound if you dont have a sound/video card and modem ect. (witch can be disabled in bios if you do)

$179.00. you can also look into local, in your area computer shows/expos. there "buy/ sell/ trade" type of shows. a whole carnival of everything computers. very good deals to be had.

MetalMilitia · #10

Any reason why your looking at KT800 based boards?

The Nforce2 boards which have just been (paper) released are about the best Athlon64 motherboards (un)available.
They have are the bells and whistles you could want and dont cost *too* much.

whoreable · #11

nforce2 is only athlon xp.

k8t800 is pretty good. I have one wiht my athlon 64 and its pretty good, it is much faster than my old 2.1 athlon xp.

Although socket 754 is good(what I have) socket 939 boards are the future. So if you ever want to be able to upgrade the proc even somewhat significatly then you might want to consider a socket 939 cpu and mb.

also pci express boards are just coming out for amd, if you are looking at a videocard upgrade as well consider a board with this slot. The only ones I currently know of are a gigabyte, a chaintech, and that asus board(this is made for dual videocards and is way out of your price range)

I usually buy form www.newegg.com as they seem to be almost the lowest price(they also have refurbished motherboards for alot less) and better service than most.

Also the pricewatch thing is a good idea to avoid getting ripped off. Also remeber you probaly need new memory.