cpu vs. mobo and how selection will affect my gpu

[narcotic]

ok, so I'm gonna get a new rig, now I'm on a sort of a budget, but I'm getting (what I think is) a nice rig. Here's what I have in mind:

A64 3200+
Gigabyte GA-K8NF-9 nForce4 4X Socket 939 (yes, cheap...)
gf 6600GT pcie (not sure of what make yet, I'll have to start a new thread later
2 * 256mb ddr400
case + peripherials (not relevant)

I've got a couple of questions,
1. As you probably noticed I'm going for a fairly cheap mobo, it is possible for me to get instead, A64 3000+ and then upgrade the mobo to ASUS A8N-SLI nVIDIA nForce4 SLI Socket 939 for example. So, what would be a better bang for my buck?

2. This is a continuation of the first q, I want to play on the new rig (not hardcore gamer, but I do some gaming, and want to enjoy it - this is important to me), so, which of the options from q. 1 will do better with 6600GT?

***I'd appriciate your advice, but please be aware that I'm out of the states, so giving me newegg prices etc. won't help, but technical info, as in straight forward answer to what will be better, will be nice. Also I'm on a budget, and although I know 6800GT would be nicer, or maybe 1gb of ram etc. but those are not an option for now, maybe for future upgrade.

Thanks guys.

 

[Matthias99]

1) unless you are very sure you will use SLI, or want/need the other features of the board, I'd stick with the cheaper MB and faster CPU. Right now, you're paying a noticeable premium for SLI, which you may or may not ever use.

2) Should be about the same. If you're running at a low resolution like 1024x768, you'd see a difference, but at higher resolutions with AA/AF, you'll be GPU-bound almost all the time in newer games.

 

[narcotic]

what I'm worried about is less the SLI feature, and more the issue of the Gigabyte GA-K8NF-9 board being "4X", I read somewhere, this makes the board a little slower, is that true? or for my settings I won't notice it?

 

[richardrds]

I would stay away from SLI for now (still too new with too many reported pblms).

If you are looking at a High Performing, good budget priced system you can not beat what i bought:

3000+ Winchester S939 (around $155 for retail version w/hsf)
ABIT AV8 mobo S939 (around $100)
BFG 6800/AGP (around $250-270), or you can go with a 6600GT/AGP for around $215)

Personally i do not think SLI is worth the dollar increase and it still has too many pblms.

PS - By the way i am able to OC my 1.8Ghz 3000+ up to 2.5Ghz on the AV8 which is the equivalant of having a $600+ CPU (3800+/4000+/FX53).

 

[narcotic]

richardrds, thanks for that, looks like you built a nice rig, for aprox. the same price range I'm looking at. There was the issue I was considering, since going nf3 mobo (rather than nf4) you can get even better prices, but then you get no pci-e... I guess I want the pci-e, so its possible to upgrade in the future. But I do agree that for now SLI doesn't look all that usefull.
btw, I didn't want the asus board for the SLI, its just that I heard somthing about faster bus or somthing like that, and I was hopping someone can help shade some light on that.

 

[Solutions]

Originally posted by: richardrds
I would stay away from SLI for now (still too new with too many reported pblms).
Personally i do not think SLI is worth the dollar increase and it still has too many pblms.

I havent had a problem yet with my SLI rig. It was 100% plug-n-play and overclockable. However, I DO agree that the current prices are a little steep for the increase in performance you get in today's games. Hopefully the increase will be more pronounced in next year's titles.

Personally, I would recommend you go with the Asus board. It seems to have TONS of BIOS options for overclocking the smaller CPU and being able to upgrade to SLI in the future would be a big plus. I've always liked getting the best mobo and upgrading from there. Its much easier to upgrade the CPU than upgrade the mobo, especially when liquid cooling.