Currently I am still using socket A stuff, but Santa promised a Opty 165, but said I would
have to supply the rest of the upgrades myself. My problem is that I need to upgrade in steps, the first step would be a 939 system using my current 6600gt agp card, the next stepping up to a high end PCI-e card. The first step should be done by the holidays. The second step within 6 months. That means I need to start with a 939 agp or a 939 agp/pci-e board. The agp only solution would mean I would have to buy another board at the same time as the big $$$ video card-that I would like to avoid. With the agp/sli-e board solution, I could just swap in the new card. Later steps may include a sli board, then another step of a second card (these last steps only if future games get that demanding).
Asrock:
Initially I was not going to look any further than Asrock's 939 Dual-Sata2, giving me the chance to use my current 6600gt AGP card, SATA 2, and the PCI-E slot for something like a 7800gtx 512mb upgrade sometime in the not to distant future. This was based off of AT's review, but seems there are numerous complaints about the bios & stability now. The AT review noted that the Vcore was adjustable upto 1.55 volts, but seems now to be 1.45v max without a mod. Vdimm seems to be a complaint too, athough the high setting should be ok for most rams, but 1T command rate now seems to be an issue. Even with all of this, it seems like a viable board for the price, and one could hope that all of this could be resolved with a future bios upadate. Being I won't need a board for about a month, maybe Asrock will correct all of this and I can again have a easy decision.
MSI Neo2 nforce3:
This seems to be a popular board, but with no PCI-E or Sata 2 (not a big loss there, I guess) the board would only serve its purpose for a short while and require me to buy another when the PCI-E card upgrade comes along(4-6 months). The board "new" seems to have all but vanished from the e-tailers. but "used" seems to be in the $70 price range making it about the same cost as a the Asrock new. The $70 is not much of a hit, being I could resell it for a when the time came, cutting my losses some-but I would like to avoid the hassle.
Looking for suggestions:
If I am not getting the Asrock, and must settle for a plain AGP board for now, then I would prefer one with good features and great OC ability.
New or used, must be under $75 being I will not be keeping it long term.
Please list your models suggested, even if they are discontinued as I might be able to find it used.
Thanks
Al
have to supply the rest of the upgrades myself. My problem is that I need to upgrade in steps, the first step would be a 939 system using my current 6600gt agp card, the next stepping up to a high end PCI-e card. The first step should be done by the holidays. The second step within 6 months. That means I need to start with a 939 agp or a 939 agp/pci-e board. The agp only solution would mean I would have to buy another board at the same time as the big $$$ video card-that I would like to avoid. With the agp/sli-e board solution, I could just swap in the new card. Later steps may include a sli board, then another step of a second card (these last steps only if future games get that demanding).
Asrock:
Initially I was not going to look any further than Asrock's 939 Dual-Sata2, giving me the chance to use my current 6600gt AGP card, SATA 2, and the PCI-E slot for something like a 7800gtx 512mb upgrade sometime in the not to distant future. This was based off of AT's review, but seems there are numerous complaints about the bios & stability now. The AT review noted that the Vcore was adjustable upto 1.55 volts, but seems now to be 1.45v max without a mod. Vdimm seems to be a complaint too, athough the high setting should be ok for most rams, but 1T command rate now seems to be an issue. Even with all of this, it seems like a viable board for the price, and one could hope that all of this could be resolved with a future bios upadate. Being I won't need a board for about a month, maybe Asrock will correct all of this and I can again have a easy decision.
MSI Neo2 nforce3:
This seems to be a popular board, but with no PCI-E or Sata 2 (not a big loss there, I guess) the board would only serve its purpose for a short while and require me to buy another when the PCI-E card upgrade comes along(4-6 months). The board "new" seems to have all but vanished from the e-tailers. but "used" seems to be in the $70 price range making it about the same cost as a the Asrock new. The $70 is not much of a hit, being I could resell it for a when the time came, cutting my losses some-but I would like to avoid the hassle.
Looking for suggestions:
If I am not getting the Asrock, and must settle for a plain AGP board for now, then I would prefer one with good features and great OC ability.
New or used, must be under $75 being I will not be keeping it long term.
Please list your models suggested, even if they are discontinued as I might be able to find it used.
Thanks
Al
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