Best amd mobo/cpu for a non-overclocker budget $250.00-$350.00

[RAYDOGG]

I want to tweak my setup a little to get good performance in games today and the future but dont want to overclock. As i have heard go things about amds and overclocking. what cpu/mobo will give me the best performance for my price range without having to overclock? and should i consider also a memory upgrade or keep my present memory (see sig) thanks in advance

 

[rgreen83]

The 2500+ is the way to go for gamers on a budget. It will set you back about 90 bucks, and you could get a good NF2 ultra board for less than 70 bucks shipped, here

 

[ScrewFace]

I'd grab the Athlon XP 2500+ which has 512KB of L2 cache and runs on a 333MHz bus. Also, it's a darn good overclocker with some people getting to 2.7GHz on air. For a mobo this is a no-brainer: the Abit-NF7-S v1.2 or v2.0. This mobo automatically unlocks your Athlon, keeps the PCI bus at 33MHz and the AGP bus at 66MHz, uses the nForce2 400-Ultra chipset, has excellent on board sound and LAN and supports SATA 150, and supports dual-channel DDR400 for a theoretical peak memory bandwidth of 6.4GB/second (though it won't get anywhere near this).:beer:

 

[high]

2500+ AQXEA and MSI K7N2 Delta-L (unless you want/need Sata and onboard Raid) all for under $140 @ newegg. Saves you some headroom for some nice 3200 ram too.

 

[Soulkeeper]

I noticed you have pc2100 in your current sig (not a bad system)
i would just keep that memory in that system and not take it apart

then you could pick up the following at a good price:

athlon xp 2500+ (barton) 90 bucks maybe
Abit NF7-s (Nforce2 ultra400) 110 bucks or 77 for non sata version
and memory that leaves like 100 towards memory but you didn't mention that in your topic and you could still use your old memory


the nforce2 motherboards can be run in single channel and dual channel memory mode depending on whether you install 1 or 2 memory sticks respectively
so you could always just get one stick and upgrade later

also if you used old memory you would still get great performance (assuming you have two identical sticks installed in a pair) because of the dual channel design of the chipset


but on any note the 2500+ and the nforce2 chipset make for a good setup



good luck

 

[high]

Aslong as you don't mutilate the board in any way, right Soulkeeper


Just wondering how your trials and tribulations of late are working out for you..?

 

[Soulkeeper]

Originally posted by: high
Aslong as you don't mutilate the board in any way, right Soulkeeper


Just wondering how your trials and tribulations of late are working out for you..?

ahh i got my P4 system back and running again (in sig)
this time i made a few backup bios chips

also i got an athlon system going for my Girlfriend as soon as I get her another hard drive (quantum fireball went out during the windows install)

 

[high]

Wow you've got that 1.8m up nice and high, I like it

 

[Shimmishim]

well if you do go with the barton 2500+, you won't need pc3200 cuz you won't be overclocking

get some pc2700, that's all you need...

and i agree, go with the abit nf7-s or the 8rda+ rev 2.0 assuming you don't need all the bells and whistles of the abit board

 

[Jeff7181]

Originally posted by: ScrewFace
I'd grab the Athlon XP 2500+ which has 512KB of L2 cache and runs on a 333MHz bus. Also, it's a darn good overclocker with some people getting to 2.7GHz on air. For a mobo this is a no-brainer: the Abit-NF7-S v1.2 or v2.0. This mobo automatically unlocks your Athlon, keeps the PCI bus at 33MHz and the AGP bus at 66MHz, uses the nForce2 400-Ultra chipset, has excellent on board sound and LAN and supports SATA 150, and supports dual-channel DDR400 for a theoretical peak memory bandwidth of 6.4GB/second (though it won't get anywhere near this).:beer:

That's a bit of misinformation... 2.7 Ghz on air... sure there may be a few who were able to get there... but I'd say 80% won't go past 2.2... another 15% won't go past 2.3... another 4% won't go past 2.4. Are you going to count on being in that 1% (which is most likely on the high side) that can get over 2.4 Ghz without extraordinary cooling devices?

 

[ScrewFace]

Good point, Jeff. Obviously most 2500+ Bartons aren't going to get anywhere near 2.7GHz but a few do with watercooling, Peltiers and air-conditioners. I should have stressed that. I apologize.:beer:

 

[osage]

the 2500+ is the cpu, but you you can save some bucks by getting the Shuttle AN35N400, or AN35-Ultra for $57. or $60.

check NE

 

[MDE]

A 2500+ and just about any nForce2 motherboard should work perfectly. Asus, Abit, Epox, and Shuttle are good brands to name a few, and they're all pretty good quality boards.

 

[hovenas]

Guys, I have the Abit NF7-S v2.0 and barton 2500+
what settings are people getting good luck with?
Naturally I want to use my pc3200 to full extent, meaning running at 400MHz. Will the barton do 200MHz?

 

[lordtyranus2]

Good point, Jeff. Obviously most 2500+ Bartons aren't going to get anywhere near 2.7GHz but a few do with watercooling, Peltiers and air-conditioners. I should have stressed that. I apologize

What exactly are you doing at 2.05 V?:Q I can't see 2.2 ghz to 2.7 ghz making a critical impact on gaming.

 

[MDE]

Originally posted by: hovenas
Guys, I have the Abit NF7-S v2.0 and barton 2500+
what settings are people getting good luck with?
Naturally I want to use my pc3200 to full extent, meaning running at 400MHz. Will the barton do 200MHz?

2500s will almost always hit 200MHz(400 DDR) without much trouble.

 

[hovenas]

Monkey, taht was indeed the answer I wanted!!!