Gaming Computer Upgrade

[ayman]

I am almost set as to what parts i'm going to purchase. I'll be going with the AMD64 3500+ 90nm from monarch for $285, the MSI NEO2 Platinum for $145 also from monarch, and 1GB OCZ Gold Edition Rev.2 PC-4000


My main question is about the ram and wether you guys think it'll be compatable with that board. I am pretty set on the board, so i don't want all you MSI haters to tell me its a bad board lol. Also the reason why i'm going with this higher end ram is b/c i would like to overclock!

Thanks in advance,
Ayman


P.S. what do you guys think about this HD? I would like to purchase a new Sata HD for my games only and i was looking for something at about 80GB or so.

 

[Rike]

Compatibility on those parts will be just fine. They should give you a great machine with good headroom for OCing. Hard drive looks good, but you should be aware that NCQ only works if the drive and the mobo support it; the MSI NEO2 Platinum does not, nforce4 boards can. The drive will still work great, just not with NCQ, which is fine since it doesn't have any real advantages for the desktop user. The 5 year warranty is nice too.

Enjoy your new rig.

 

[JBT]

That set up should be fine other than the MSI mobo.

 

[ayman]

thanks rike, and thanks JBT. lol i can tell you clearly dont like msi

 

[Spike]

Originally posted by: ayman
thanks rike, and thanks JBT. lol i can tell you clearly dont like msi

He is not alone, MSI boards have taken a dive in quality and performance enthusiasts (most of the people here) tend to be more wary of them these days. Personally I stick with Abit, Asus, and DFI but thats just me

-spike

 

[ayman]

To be honest Spike, i was only going with the MSI for the nForce3 chipset, but if you can help prove to me the Asus is better with just as good performance then i'll deff go with the Asus. I would also like to know how overclocking handles on those boards as well. Obviously i'm going to want the Asus board with 939 pins and competes with the MSI Neo2 Platinum. Price wise, i would like something under $150


thanks,
ayman


EDIT: does nForce3 improve performance overall if supported by an nvidia based chipset VGA. in my example a BFG 6800GT

 

[Spike]

Originally posted by: ayman
To be honest Spike, i was only going with the MSI for the nForce3 chipset, but if you can help prove to me the Asus is better with just as good performance then i'll deff go with the Asus. I would also like to know how overclocking handles on those boards as well. Obviously i'm going to want the Asus board with 939 pins and competes with the MSI Neo2 Platinum. Price wise, i would like something under $150


thanks,
ayman

Review #1
Review #2
Review #3

The MSI wins one out of the three with the Asus winning another one (don't remember who won the first one). All these reviews paint the MSI in good light but my hesitation comes from other users expressing concern over the quality of the new MSI boards. These are not just getting a bad board, these are users who bought several boards and compared them and found the MSI lacking. I personally have never owned a MSI board so I can't tell you about them but I have never been disapointed by an Asus, Abit, or DFI.

-spike

EDIT *As far as I know there is NO improvement when using a nVidia chipset and gpu. The only time this could come into play is with SLI but as far as I know, NF4 SLI only supporst nVidia SLI GPU's, so the point is moot.

 

[Rike]

Asus' only 939-pin Nvidia chipset solution that is available right now is the A8N-SLI Deluxe using nForce4. I'm not sure why they passed on nForce3. Their Via 939 board is very good though. Check out the comparisions.

 

[Spike]

Originally posted by: Rike
Asus' only 939-pin Nvidia chipset solution that is available right now is the A8N-SLI Deluxe using nForce4. I'm not sure why they passed on nForce3. Their Via 939 board is very good though. Check out the comparisions.

mmmm, I think you are right about that. Is the DFI NF3 Lanparty board a socket 940 or 939? I have heard alot of good things about that board but I am not sure what socket it has

-spike

 

[ayman]

From what i've researched DFI only made up to 754 skt so far. I wish i could find a 939 DFI b/c they are great boards with great features

 

[Rike]

Originally posted by: ayman
From what i've researched DFI only made up to 754 skt so far. I wish i could find a 939 DFI b/c they are great boards with great features

If you're willing to hold on for a bit, the 939 DFI boards may be just a few weeks down the road. Check it out. Shows some promise.

 

[ayman]

hmm, looks awesome. I deffinitely like the DFI, has been one of my favorites. I guess i can wait for a couple more weeks ;o


Also after checking out some of the reviews that Spike was very kind to provide for me, i noticed there really isn't much significant difference between the Asus AV8 and the MSI Platinum. As far as gaming, the Asus won those benchmarks and that's what my pc is mostly being built for. I have heard and read about many computer builders having problems with the MSI but on the other hand, the rest of the folks who have had no problems with it say it is the best. I'm on the same boat you are Spike and i've never owned my own MSI board either. I'm deff thinking about waiting for the DFI board now. Thanks Rike! I was originally going with the 3400+ 754 and the DFI board but when I decided to go with the 3500+ instead, I noticed that DFI wasnt there!! Now i shall wait!

Thanks very much for your help and insight :beer:

 

[Rike]

While your waiting for the DFI boards, just remember that "weeks" in the computer hardware industry can quickly turn into "months." And when you really want to buy and enjoy, it feels more like "years." That's what I'm doing right now and it's driving me nuts.

 

[ayman]

You know Rike, i was just honestly thinking the same. Waiting sucks, it just delays everything, you end up not enjoying your pc the way you want in time and by the end of even say 2 weeks, prices of everything can change and new products may come out that would change my mind so quickly lol. So best thing to do i think... go ahead and buy a motherboard now but i just need to decide which one i'll be going with. I still have the MSI in mind lol, but now i've added the Asus AV8, and possibly a Gigabyte board, but then i end up in the same problem. I dont have any experience with Gigabyte and I don't know which one competes with these 2 other boards. =/

EDIT: requirements in mind... 5.1 or 7.1 sound, RAID, AGP8x, 4GB expandable ram. Good Chipset!

 

[Rike]

I just did a build for my father-in-law with the Asus AV8. It was very smooth. Bought it though Monarch pre-tested with a 3500+ (very nice). If you want to buy now and go AGP, it would be a good buy. I've almost gone that way a couple of times myself. I still might. If I can't hold out. :frown:

 

[ayman]

yeah lol deffinitely. Best of luck with your father-in-law's pc. I am most likely going with the combo deal too, great deal cant beat it! One thing that did upset me was literaly last night, the price of the 3500 90nm was $250 and today it is at $285, i wish i went ahead and ordered. Anyways you still can't beat their prices... Its tested and set at optimal settings so you dont have to sweat about bad parts or compatibitly. Only issue with me was selecting good ram from their site, i really wanted that ocz from newegg but if something at monarch is just as good i would deffinitely include that in my combo. Preferrably OCZ.

When you purchase a combo you get Farcry and HL2 free! wow!

 

[Rike]

All you need for their combo deal is the mobo and processor. You can add the RAM if you want, but you can do better on price for most of Monarch's RAM offerings. Half-Life 2 is download and Far-Cry is DVD. Good deal.

Oh, and my father-in-law's machine is running for about 2 weeks now. Smooth, like butter on a bald monkey. He was so pleased with it, he tossed me $250 for some of my own upgrading fun! Family is good.

Have fun with your build! :thumbsup:

 

[Ike0069]

I just purchased that MSI MB and a 3000+ (should have gotten 3200+) combo from Monarch. It took a few days to ship, so I called to ask why? Turns out that they had problems when testing the combo and found the MSI board to be bad. Anyways they got another one, tested it and shipped it out. That definitely saved me a large headache. I went with the MSI over the ASUS soley due to the fact that it is supposed to be a better OC'er. I believe with Monarch pre-testing and updating the BIOS before you get it, alot of the MSI reliability issues are avoided.
Also, I would consider going with the 3200+. It is $100 cheaper and the performance gain is easily attainable by OC'ing. It's likey the 3500+ will not OC higher than the 3200+ on air cooling anyways due to heat issues.

 

[jterrell]

you might check mwave.
they have the gigabyte nf4 boards in stock for 133 w/ a64 combo.

 

[ayman]

Thanks a lot for the advice guys, especially Spike and Rike (hehe that rhymes ). jterrell, nf4 only supports PCIe right? I already purchased my BFG 6800GT AGP so... lol ... i bought the agp b/c i got it for $310!!! amazing deal i got there, it was through my friends mom. she works at Beumont hospital and got some kind if weird discount on everything at bestbuy ;o

 

[drifter106]

Last month i went through the same process you are going thru. I purchased the .09 3500 with a MSI board from monarch. I have a bfg 6800 o/c with some OCZ plat r 2 memory. All is working well with no complaints. If you are concerned about the board being bad I am quite sure that if it is bad you will notice the problems real quick. With my experience with monarch they will make right it with you. I must be careful in what I say for I might get banned for expressing my thoughts on a particular company but I am just expressing to you my dealings with the equipment and the vendor for we both have similar proc's.

good luck

 

[ayman]

Thanks drifter