Better Motherboard or CPU?

[imported_cubby]

I am in the process of building a new rig and am looking at getting the ASUS A8N32-SLI DELUXE MB with an AMD 3700+ San Diego CPU. I then starting looking at the dual core CPU's and was thinking maybe I could get the AMD 3800 x2 and drop my MB price some by gettng the ASUS A8N-SLI PREMIUM. Basically th esame price give or take a few dollars. I guess I could upgrade the CPU at a later date, and get the motherboard I want now. Any thoughts on this? Thanks!

 

[LOUISSSSS]

i'd go with the 3800x2 and sli premium. 32x lanes are a marketing scheme with no increase in performance, maybe 1% with SLI

 

[Yoshi911]

hey, I dono if you've looked much into it but try to go for an Opteron.. They have 1mb L2 Cach which makes a pritty big difference in Proformance

Right now my Opteron I have Overclocked to 3.0ghz, which would be Tons faster than that 3700+ San Diego (only at 2.2ghz)

As far as CPU vs MB, only go with the A8N32-SLI if you wan't a TOP OF THE LINE SLI system, the proformance increese from 16x PCI-E vs 8x PCI-E is only like %5 and if you're worried about pricing go for something else.

I am so happy I decided to OC my system, for $600 cheaper I have a system thats about 15% faster than a AMD 64 4000+

If you want to overclock, go for DFI Lanparty SLI-DR Expert (around $175 at newegg right now)

IF you want dual core go for the Opteron 165, each core has 1mb L2 Cach, compared to the 3800+ which has only 2x512kb L2 Cach

 

[gobucks]

i do recommend an dual core opteron, but FYI, not all of them are speed demons - mine cant seem to get past 2.52GHz. Of course, its still 720MHz over stock, but i'm just saying you might not get 2.9-3GHz on them. Also, another option for the motherboard is the AN8 32X - its like the asus board but you can often find them for under $150 if you look hard enough. Also, after the 1.1 bios update, it OC's very well - i've got mine at 314FSB, and i've seen reviewers get it up to 345! DFI boards are good for OCing too.

 

[fire400]

get the cheapest amd dual core with a hunderd dollar mobo, you're set

 

[imported_cubby]

Guys,
Thanks for the replies. I am not gonna lie, I have never tried to overclock or anything like that. Maybe that can become my new hobby . I have never looked into these opteron's. I will give them a look. Thanks again guys!