Need advice on a new MB/CPU

Snugglegutzs · 10-14-2005, 09:08 PM

I need to get a new motherboard and CPU for my gaming comp. I would appreciate any advice on what to get. Im looking to get an AMD for around 300 - 400 bucks.

The Dauntless One · 10-14-2005, 09:57 PM

if you like to overclock shit then i recommend u getting a 3000+ since its probably the best value
if u dont like to overclock, a 3500+ is pretty good...if u like a small overclock u can do so without buying expensive ram

Vorph · 10-14-2005, 09:58 PM

Motherboards:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131524
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813136157

The DFI Lanparty is an excellent board, but all the features I would need are on the plain A8N-SLI. Depends on what you need I guess.

CPU:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103533

You could spend $50 more and get the 1MB L2 cache model (3700+), but from the benchmarks I've seen it's not really worth the money.

Phoenix · 10-14-2005, 11:36 PM

^^^ Is correct. I would personally go with the DFI as its supposed to be one of the best overclocking motherboards. I use the DFI NF3 Ultra D myself.

Eomer · 10-15-2005, 09:15 AM

I have an NF4 SLI-DR Lanparty, and it's a great board for overclocking. FSB is stable above 300mhz if the memory can either handle it or is turned down. Although that doesn't mean a whole lot, since the FSB on AMD boards isn't really a FSB and isn't bandwidth limited. But if you buy a CPU with a low locked multiplier (like a 3200 or 3000) it's handy to be able to go really high on it. I have an 3500+ and it overclocks great on stock cooling, stable at 2500mhz from what I've seen, although I haven't really tried pushing it too hard.

That said, if you're only moderately into overclocking, you could save a few bucks and get an ASUS or something else. Or you could get the plain-jane DFI boards that don't come with all the extra fancy crap, but are more or less equivalent.

Kolle · 10-15-2005, 09:17 AM

i built my first computer over a year ago using AMD, i haven't tried overclocking or anything like but i'm perfectly happy with it

it's been running almost non-stop (except for when i move it obviously) since then so i guess it's a good product. haven't had any serious problems...yet.

i'm kinda shocked i managed to build something like that and it not explode.

The Dauntless One · 10-15-2005, 12:55 PM

if you want to buy a DFI SLI...wait for the Expert one

Snugglegutzs · 10-15-2005, 02:32 PM

Thanks for the input guys what little I know about comps is all self taught so I thought it best to ask some questions. I built this box 5 years ago and like Kolle I was amazed and happy when I pushed the power button for the first time and it came on. Well actully the second time the power supply switch was turned off still on the first try :P

Now I have a dumb question. I assume but want to make sure that you can use just a single vidio card in a SLI board? What I am thinking about doing atm is picking up the plain A8N-SLI with the 3500+ CPU. And then a few months down the road pick up a pair of 6800GT's to replace the single 6600GT I presently have.

Vorph · 10-15-2005, 04:10 PM

Yea, that's why you should always buy a SLI board, they don't cost more than a few bucks extra and while SLI really isn't all that impressive, at least you have the option later on to use it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Snugglegutzs

the single 6600GT I presently have

If you currently have a 6600GT in a 5 year old computer then it would have to be AGP... any board you buy now for a A64 system will be PCI-E only. You should look at 7800GTs rather than 6800GTs now, too. Personally I'd rather have 1 7800GT/GTX card in my computer than a pair of 6800GTs.

Check this review and note the performance difference between 2 6800GTs and 1 7800GT in games like FEAR and BF2. They're practically identical.

Dintorr · 10-15-2005, 06:35 PM

I hope you don't mind if I jack your thread here for just a bit.

What are the recommendations for pre-built gaming systems? I plan on buying a new PC here in the next few months and I don't want to go through the hassle of building my own. In spite of that, I want a blazing fast gaming machine.

Dell only seems to use Intel processors, yet everyone seems to say that AMD procs are better for gaming. I checked out Alienware, but their stuff seems excessively expensive.

Price isn't really much of an issue, but I'd rather not spend $4k if I don't have to.

Vorph · 10-15-2005, 07:03 PM

Edit: nm what I said about Falcon, I just compared them to Alienware and Alienware is about $600 cheaper for the same build. In fact, I was pretty impressed with their prices overall; they're nowhere near as bad as they used to be. I priced an Aurora 5500 at $1,622 (after $200 mail-in rebate) with a 3500+, 7800GT, 1GB RAM, etc. I'd put that only about $200-300 more than I could build the same thing using Newegg parts, which isn't too bad I guess. I did pick the purple case, which apparently saves you $100 off the total price... it might turn you gay though.

The RAM selection they have is fucking retarded, you can only choose 2x256, 2x512, 4x512, or 4x1024... no option for 2x1GB. Since they're still using gimpy ClawHammer chips, putting 4 dimms in the machine drops the FSB down to 333MHz suckage.

soulfly24 · 10-15-2005, 07:04 PM

Personally, I went with the Epox 9NPA+ SLI board (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813123246)

Performs just as well as the Asus and DFI boards, has lots of o/c'ing options like the DFI board and just as user friendly as the Asus board. It's priced in the middle of the two and so far i'm loving it. I used an Epox in my Athlon xp machine and it was stable with the overclocks and i haven't had any issues with either of them.

I would definate go with an SLI board. I bought a 7800GTX and while i'm not worried about upgrading it just yet, I have that option available if i need to in the future. Bottom line is you can't really go wrong with any of the SLI boards out there right now. Most are pretty similiar performance wise stock. DFI's are known for thier overclocking options and Asus for thier stability. Epox merges both. My board came with quite a few little extras like rounded cables, small heat sinks for chipset modules, a backplate fan to cool mosfets by the CPU and a thermal monitor to display chipset temps or whatever i wanna monitor.

Plaid · 10-18-2005, 09:11 AM

Yea right. Please, show me please, a board that has AGP AND SLI.

Vorph · 10-18-2005, 09:41 AM

Who said anything about AGP and SLI?

Bralkan · 10-18-2005, 01:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Plaid

Yea right. Please, show me please, a board that has AGP AND SLI.

the new ULi chipset (1695) has full functioning PCI express and AGP. You can even run them at the same time. It seems like I read with a bios update or addon card or something you could run the pci express in SLI mode.

Wether you can run SLI and AGP at the same time though I dunno. I don't care enough to look into it. You might be able to find out here - http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=2489

10-14-2005, 09:08 PM	#1 (permalink)
Snugglegutzs Fires of Heaven Member Join Date: Aug 2003 Posts: 21 +0 Internets	Need advice on a new MB/CPU I need to get a new motherboard and CPU for my gaming comp. I would appreciate any advice on what to get. Im looking to get an AMD for around 300 - 400 bucks.

10-15-2005, 06:35 PM	#10 (permalink)
Dintorr space accountant Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Atlanta, Chocolate City, USA Posts: 771 -2 Internets	I hope you don't mind if I jack your thread here for just a bit. What are the recommendations for pre-built gaming systems? I plan on buying a new PC here in the next few months and I don't want to go through the hassle of building my own. In spite of that, I want a blazing fast gaming machine. Dell only seems to use Intel processors, yet everyone seems to say that AMD procs are better for gaming. I checked out Alienware, but their stuff seems excessively expensive. Price isn't really much of an issue, but I'd rather not spend $4k if I don't have to. __________________ "This is the logical reductio of climate-change fever: throw the baby out in order to save the bathwater."

10-15-2005, 07:03 PM	#11 (permalink)
Vorph Never Go Full Retard Join Date: May 2002 Location: Hell Posts: 5,880	Edit: nm what I said about Falcon, I just compared them to Alienware and Alienware is about $600 cheaper for the same build. In fact, I was pretty impressed with their prices overall; they're nowhere near as bad as they used to be. I priced an Aurora 5500 at $1,622 (after $200 mail-in rebate) with a 3500+, 7800GT, 1GB RAM, etc. I'd put that only about $200-300 more than I could build the same thing using Newegg parts, which isn't too bad I guess. I did pick the purple case, which apparently saves you $100 off the total price... it might turn you gay though. The RAM selection they have is fucking retarded, you can only choose 2x256, 2x512, 4x512, or 4x1024... no option for 2x1GB. Since they're still using gimpy ClawHammer chips, putting 4 dimms in the machine drops the FSB down to 333MHz suckage. Last edited by Vorph : 10-15-2005 at 07:25 PM.

10-18-2005, 09:11 AM	#13 (permalink)
Plaid Registered User Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: St. Louis Posts: 257 +0 Internets	Yea right. Please, show me please, a board that has AGP AND SLI. __________________ Post Count

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10-14-2005, 09:57 PM	#2 (permalink)
The Dauntless One Flaccid Steel Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Vancouver Posts: 1,471 -11 Internets	if you like to overclock shit then i recommend u getting a 3000+ since its probably the best value if u dont like to overclock, a 3500+ is pretty good...if u like a small overclock u can do so without buying expensive ram

10-14-2005, 09:58 PM	#3 (permalink)
Vorph Never Go Full Retard Join Date: May 2002 Location: Hell Posts: 5,880	Motherboards: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131524 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813136157 The DFI Lanparty is an excellent board, but all the features I would need are on the plain A8N-SLI. Depends on what you need I guess. CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103533 You could spend $50 more and get the 1MB L2 cache model (3700+), but from the benchmarks I've seen it's not really worth the money.

10-15-2005, 09:15 AM	#5 (permalink)
Eomer You mean I can change this? Neat! Join Date: Feb 2002 Posts: 10,202 +39 Internets	I have an NF4 SLI-DR Lanparty, and it's a great board for overclocking. FSB is stable above 300mhz if the memory can either handle it or is turned down. Although that doesn't mean a whole lot, since the FSB on AMD boards isn't really a FSB and isn't bandwidth limited. But if you buy a CPU with a low locked multiplier (like a 3200 or 3000) it's handy to be able to go really high on it. I have an 3500+ and it overclocks great on stock cooling, stable at 2500mhz from what I've seen, although I haven't really tried pushing it too hard. That said, if you're only moderately into overclocking, you could save a few bucks and get an ASUS or something else. Or you could get the plain-jane DFI boards that don't come with all the extra fancy crap, but are more or less equivalent.

10-15-2005, 09:17 AM	#6 (permalink)
Kolle Registered User Join Date: Sep 2002 Posts: 4,879 -25 Internets	i built my first computer over a year ago using AMD, i haven't tried overclocking or anything like but i'm perfectly happy with it it's been running almost non-stop (except for when i move it obviously) since then so i guess it's a good product. haven't had any serious problems...yet. i'm kinda shocked i managed to build something like that and it not explode.

10-15-2005, 12:55 PM	#7 (permalink)
The Dauntless One Flaccid Steel Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Vancouver Posts: 1,471 -11 Internets	if you want to buy a DFI SLI...wait for the Expert one

10-15-2005, 02:32 PM	#8 (permalink)
Snugglegutzs Fires of Heaven Member Join Date: Aug 2003 Posts: 21 +0 Internets	Thanks for the input guys what little I know about comps is all self taught so I thought it best to ask some questions. I built this box 5 years ago and like Kolle I was amazed and happy when I pushed the power button for the first time and it came on. Well actully the second time the power supply switch was turned off still on the first try :P Now I have a dumb question. I assume but want to make sure that you can use just a single vidio card in a SLI board? What I am thinking about doing atm is picking up the plain A8N-SLI with the 3500+ CPU. And then a few months down the road pick up a pair of 6800GT's to replace the single 6600GT I presently have.

10-15-2005, 07:04 PM	#12 (permalink)
soulfly24 Registered User Join Date: Jan 2003 Posts: 250 -2 Internets	Personally, I went with the Epox 9NPA+ SLI board (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813123246) Performs just as well as the Asus and DFI boards, has lots of o/c'ing options like the DFI board and just as user friendly as the Asus board. It's priced in the middle of the two and so far i'm loving it. I used an Epox in my Athlon xp machine and it was stable with the overclocks and i haven't had any issues with either of them. I would definate go with an SLI board. I bought a 7800GTX and while i'm not worried about upgrading it just yet, I have that option available if i need to in the future. Bottom line is you can't really go wrong with any of the SLI boards out there right now. Most are pretty similiar performance wise stock. DFI's are known for thier overclocking options and Asus for thier stability. Epox merges both. My board came with quite a few little extras like rounded cables, small heat sinks for chipset modules, a backplate fan to cool mosfets by the CPU and a thermal monitor to display chipset temps or whatever i wanna monitor.

10-18-2005, 09:41 AM	#14 (permalink)
Vorph Never Go Full Retard Join Date: May 2002 Location: Hell Posts: 5,880	Who said anything about AGP and SLI?