If you have to get new RAM, pick an AM3 motherboard. The benefits of an AM3 motherboard compared to an AM2+ is DDR3. Since sideport uses DDR3, there will not be a penalty in bandwidth because both the physical memory and sideport is DDR3. Though even the use of sideport, physical memory is taken up, but only half as much with sideport compared to with out sideport.
Another motherboard that could include in your selection is the following.
MSI 785GM-E65
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product...82E16813130233
The heatsink for the chipset is oversized, so the components should last longer than the motherboards you selected
If the games that your mom plays are Flash based, I can understand that you picked a fast processor like the AMD Athlon II 250. You probably see a better gains by using a Phenom II X2 555 BE. Some motherboards includes an switch in Windows to overclock the processor and/or memory. Your mom could switch to overclock the processor to like to where higher end processors are clocked and then switch it back to stock speeds.
In fact, Nvidia is far and away the WORST out of the three chipset makers. Their last chipset that actually works perfectly was Nforce 2 and that was like how long ago? After that it went downhill that it couldn't fix the longstanding SATA data corruption even on the 790i and this is used on $300 mobos. Jeebus.
This is half true. Any third-party chipset used for Intel processors, will have problems. Using any third-party chipset for AMD processors, will not have problems. It has been like this for years.
It is best to stick with Intel genuine parts for Intel processors. For AMD processors, any chipset manufacture can be used.
Sorry couldn't resist but with all the AMD/ATI driver issues, I would stay away from AMD/ATI chipsets and graphics.
I partially agree, but I see no problems with AMD chipsets before the ATI merge and after. Though ATI graphics drivers are pathetic in any operating system and nVidia is the best writing software and drivers for any operating system.
I am not a fan of nVidia, but I am a fan of reliability and stability. I pick nVidia because they write reliable and stable software.
care to back up these claims? i havent heard anything about this myself, but if you give me reason i can go check my friends system. currently 785G/5770 and its definitely more responsive with its 60gb SSD + win7 fresh install (quicker boot and application load times across the board) vs my system with a 256gb of the same indilinx drive. this is the first i have heard of any issues related to AMD AHCI performance
ed: i should note, my friends system and mine are both win7 fresh installs with AHCI enabled in bios
I can be guinea pig to back up the claims. Any of the systems have a reduction of performance using AHCI. This is on any chipset that supports AHCI. Also any operating that I tested has reduced performance when using AHCI. I tested on AMD 780G and Intel 965GM. They both have poor performance using AHCI. When they are switch to SATA, RAID, or PATA, the performance is back to normal.
You need to understand that AHCI is designed to simplify the use of a storage controller. Usually during installing any operating system, the driver for the storage controller may not be included, but the AHCI driver is most likely to be included these days. You can then switch to AHCI mode and install the operating system using that option until you can find the real driver. AHCI is basically a wrapper or a layer to provide some sort of compatibility. It is not the next specification to replace SATA. AHCI should be used as a last resort option. Also the AHCI should never be a replacement of the real storage controller driver. The best performance is use to the storage controller's driver even though it is proprietary.
