Best MoBo for futureproofing "this system"...

[Caveman]

A fantastic person here at AT (iGas) gave up an Athlon II X2 245 to refresh a Rig for my kids (will be made from my sig rig).

Looking to get a new mobo, memory, and vid card for this new CPU for as cheap as possible, BUT... I'd still like to maintain upgradeability of the system via mobo that will take a faster CPU in a few years (even if that CPU is a few years old).

So... The question is:

WHAT MOBO DO YOU RECOMMEND THAT CAN SUPPORT AN Athlon II X3 245 AND HAS THE LONGEST "STRETCH" TO "SOMETHING" FASTER?

ALSO, WHAT WILL THE BEST CPU BE THAT CAN WORK IN THE SAME MOBO AS DESCRIBED ABOVE THAT CAN FIT AN Athlon II X2 245?

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

Sorry Caveman, I CAN"T HEAR YOU! But, if I could, I'd recommend an ASUS M4A79XTD EVO AM3 AMD 790X ATX AMD Motherboard for $108 or $94 after rebate at the Egg.

 

[Skiprudder]

The nice thing about AMD is that they don't have different sockets based on market position/performance like Intel does, so pretty much any board you buy that supports an Athlon II X3 245 also supports a Phenom II X6.

I would stick with an AMD chipset, but beyond that feel free to shop for features (ie what connectors does it have) because it should support any CPU you want to put in it. You'll also likely want to use a DDR3 board (unless you're reusing current ram) as it's lower power and you could put it into a future Bulldozer motherboard-grab a board with 4 ram slots too.

Cheap:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813157176

Cheap with USB 3 and Sata 6:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813157195

These were just two I picked out, but if you have a preferred brand or anything, go for it!

 

[Caveman]

Thanks much folks... I'd been reading around and had assumed an AM3 board was the way to go to match any AMD CPU up to now (Phenom included)...

BUT... I thought I saw somewhere that the Bulldozers take a different socket..??? This slants my view as I'm willing to dump a bit more into a mobo that I know has future Bulldozer potential.

I was thinking of replacing the RAM to DDR3 just because I'll leave a DDR2 for my dad who doesn't mind being 10 generations behind (he's about 20 now.

In a very general sense, is DDR2 vs DDR3 double channel vs triple? I can see myself doing a 3 x 1GB since this will be an XP machine... Anything over 4 isn't useable anyway, right... And, for the applications I plan on running they did well on 1 GB of DDr2 so I'm thinking another 2 will speed it up that much more...

 

[Skiprudder]

Yes, Bulldozer will be using a different socket, AM3+. This means that you can put a current AM3 chip in a bulldozer board, but you can't put a Bulldozer CPU in a current board. So you won't want to spend a ton on the mobo if you're planning on putting a Bulldozer in. (DDR3 will be on both AM3 and AM3+ boards.)

As for DDR2 vs DDR3, channel plays no role here. Double vs tripple channel is a motherboard thing. You really don't see triple channel on AMD boards, you would almost certainly be buying in pairs. Speed isn't a major factor in most cases either, we're talking single digit percentage differences between DDR2 and DDR3. It's much more an issue of power consumption (DDR3 is more frugal) cost (high capacity 4GB+ DDR3 is MUCH cheaper than DDR2) and compatibility.

 

[Caveman]

So... these are my conclusions; hopefully accurate:

1) AM3 is the latest MoBo socket that will work with a Athlon II X2 245 and anyhting up to a Bulldozer.

2) AM3+ is not out yet and will work with Bulldozers (and will also be able to use an old chip).

3) DDR3 best way to go.

 

[Skiprudder]

You got it!

And remember, you'll be able to put that DD3 in a bulldozer board.

 

[WaitingForNehalem]

So... these are my conclusions; hopefully accurate:

1) AM3 is the latest MoBo socket that will work with a Athlon II X2 245 and anyhting up to a Bulldozer.

2) AM3+ is not out yet and will work with Bulldozers (and will also be able to use an old chip).

3) DDR3 best way to go.

No, AM3 will not be compatible with Bulldozer. http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2101113&highlight=am3

 

[Skiprudder]

Right, which is what Caveman said. "Up to" doesn't mean including.

http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/cpu/di...rocessors_Will_Require_New_Platforms_AMD.html

"The existing G34 and C32 server infrastructure will support the new Bulldozer-based server products. In order for AMD’s desktop offering to fully leverage the capabilities of Bulldozer, an enhanced AM3+ socket will be introduced that supports Bulldozer and is backward-compatible with our existing AM3 CPU offerings," an official from AMD said in an interview with Planet3DNow web-site." 8-26-2010

 

[WaitingForNehalem]

It sounded inclusive.