Best mobo/cpu for around $500?

TheUnk

Golden Member
Jun 24, 2005
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Looking to spend no more than $500 on a new mobo and cpu.

Must have PCI-E and 4x 184pin DDR slots.

It will mainly be for gaming.. Been an Intel user for years so don't know much about all the AMD options.

Currently have a P4 2.8 system so I'd like it to be faster than that obviously =p

Recommendations anyone?
 

BOLt

Diamond Member
Dec 11, 2004
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I highly suggest one of the DFI SLI motherboards. They can be had for $170-200 at Newegg. I will elaborate on the differences between the three versions if you're interested but you really should research them yourself (this is always preferrable, since you really ought to be a fan of the brand/product that you are buying). In short, they are great for OC'ing and gaming performance. I suggest -- who else -- Anandtech for furthur details. Note that with this kind of motherboard, it's a real waste not to get high-quality RAM. I'd suggest (512MB x 2) OCZ Platinum Revision 2 or a dual-channel kit of DDR500 from the same company or a like brand (see the Anandtech article on unofficial support for DDR500 for Revision E AMD64 CPUs for more details).

For the CPU, you could wait for the $350 AMD64 x2 if you feel that you need that extra CPU performance for multitasking, encoding, or rendering. Otherwise, you could probably go for the 3000+ or the 3200+ and buy a custom heatsink from Zalman, Thermaltake, Swiftech, or another like brand to OC your CPU to higher performance.

EDIT: The 3700+ is a good choice if you want that blazing fast speed without OC'ing, but I really think buying a higher clock speed for AMD64 CPUs is silly if you get the DFI since it and the CPU overclocks so easily. That's just my opinion, however, and it's slightly slanted because I'm willing to OC. Not everyone is, and building a computer is highly personalized.

Remember, a gaming computer should be built around the GPU, so make sure you're getting a GeForce 6800 GT or higher (or the ATI equivalent) with that kind of processor and motherboard.
 

Cares

Senior member
Mar 8, 2005
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I don't think SLI is worth the money yet. Just stick with a DFI LanParty UT nF4 Ultra-D. You can always pencil mod it and make it SLI either way.
 

BOLt

Diamond Member
Dec 11, 2004
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Originally posted by: AlphaQ
I don't think SLI is worth the money yet. Just stick with a DFI LanParty UT nF4 Ultra-D. You can always pencil mod it and make it SLI either way.

They fixed it so you can't anymore.
 

KoolDrew

Lifer
Jun 30, 2004
10,226
7
81
Originally posted by: AlphaQ
I don't think SLI is worth the money yet.

I agree. The only time it makes any sense to go SLI is if you have the money to blow on 2x7800GTX's.
 

rise

Diamond Member
Dec 13, 2004
9,116
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Originally posted by: BOLt
Originally posted by: AlphaQ
I don't think SLI is worth the money yet. Just stick with a DFI LanParty UT nF4 Ultra-D. You can always pencil mod it and make it SLI either way.

They fixed it so you can't anymore.

you still can, their trying to make it harder though. my ultra-d came with an epoxy patch over the pins but i guess it can be scraped away with an exacto.

either way, i got the sli-dr and the 3700 and i'd recommend anytime.
 

BOLt

Diamond Member
Dec 11, 2004
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Originally posted by: rise4310
Originally posted by: BOLt
Originally posted by: AlphaQ
I don't think SLI is worth the money yet. Just stick with a DFI LanParty UT nF4 Ultra-D. You can always pencil mod it and make it SLI either way.

They fixed it so you can't anymore.

you still can, their trying to make it harder though. my ultra-d came with an epoxy patch over the pins but i guess it can be scraped away with an exacto.

either way, i got the sli-dr and the 3700 and i'd recommend anytime.

Very interesting. Do you know of a site that describes the changes? I know it was pretty damn easy before, but I thought they made it completely impossible to modify the board.

If it's still possible/easy, I will be a happy man because I recently bought the DFI LANParty UT nF4 Ultra-D motherboard and was having slight second thoughts about the fact that I wouldn't be able to do SLI (though I probably never will).
 

Hacp

Lifer
Jun 8, 2005
13,923
2
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DFI-street has instuctions. Basically, you use an exactoknife to slowly chip the epoxy away until you see the two connections. Then use the Pencil Mod.
 

BOLt

Diamond Member
Dec 11, 2004
7,380
0
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Originally posted by: Hacp
DFI-street has instuctions. Basically, you use an exactoknife to slowly chip the epoxy away until you see the two connections. Then use the Pencil Mod.

Thanks.