Help selecting new motherboard & processor combo (AMD64)

[imported_markj]

Hello,

I'd appreciate your help. I am building a new system for myself... value is key, it doesn't need to be top-of-the-line, but I want good quality. I've only used Intel prior to this... but after checking out NewEgg and skimming the forums here, I think the way to go is AMD... the 64 looks like a great value. The system will be multi-purpose... personal, home business, and since I'm a musician, I record and mix using the likes of Cakewalk Sonar and SoundForge. Infrequently, I dabble in video editing, but rarely. So I need some power, but I'm not a gamer (except for an occasional bout of Empire Earth or Rise of Nations...) and don't need bleeding-edge stuff.

I'm interested in the Athlon 64, probably somewhere around the 3200 or 3400+ model, and the socket 939 mobo. I have 1gb of brand new dual-channel PC3200 (mushkin) ready to go, along with an AGP vidcard and many PCI cards. It will be installed in an Antec Sonata case with Antec True 380s power supply, and will be running XP Pro. My requirements are that it have at least 4 PCI slots, AGP, USB 2.0, 10/100 ethernet, both IDE and SATA, and dual-channel RAM. Firewire would be a great plus, but not completely necessary.

I'm looking for that value 'sweet-spot.' Based on what I saw at NewEgg and ZipZoomFly, I'm guessing I'd spend around $200 on the CPU and about $100 on the Mobo.

Any tips or advice are greatly appreciated, as would any links to information about what to select for a value AMD64 setup--I'm not up to speed on the AMD side, and am not a computer tech to begin with. Thanks!!
-Mark

 

[Daddyjaxx]

3000+ or 3200+ for the CPU. The only 3400+ 939 pin was some OEM thing that only Tiger Direct had. The Soltek SL-K8TPRO-939 is an excellent motherboard, but it is only available at NewEgg.

 

[imported_markj]

Originally posted by: Daddyjaxx
3000+ or 3200+ for the CPU. The only 3400+ 939 pin was some OEM thing that only Tiger Direct had. The Soltek SL-K8TPRO-939 is an excellent motherboard, but it is only available at NewEgg.

Thanks Daddyjaxx--I will check those out. I see there is a 3500+ Athlon64. Do you know if there a considerable or minimal performance boost over a 3000 or 3200+?

 

[Daddyjaxx]

The 3500+ is only 200 MHz over the 3200+ and costs almost 100.00 more. The 3200+ can be easily overclocked to 3500+ speeds.

 

[crazyeddie]

ECS "KV2 EXTREME V1.0" VIA K8T800 Chipset Motherboard at NewEgg for $92.75

This looks like it should fit the bill nicely for you. Socket 939 with 8X AGP and 5 PCI slots. Integrated 6-channel audio has optical and co-ax digital outputs as well as analog i/o so lots of sound options. Dual Channel DDR support. Dual Ethernet controllers with gigabit and 10/100 support. 2 seperate raid controllers, 1 for Ultra ATA and another RAID controller for SATA. Built-in 2-port IEEE1394 firewire support, optional pin-out header included. The board also comes with an amazing array of cables and accessories.

You will have exactly enough room in your budget left for a Socket 939 Athlon 64 3200+, either retail or OEM with aftermarket heatsink and fan, to finish your system.

If you don't want to go PCI-E for video, this is an impressive motherboard for the price.

 

[imported_markj]

I just saw a retail 3400+ at NewEgg.... it's s754, though.

I'm just beginning to educate myself on AMD CPUs here... I see they come in Winchester or Newcastle cores (looks like newer 90nm process vs. older .13 micron process?) Is there a substantial performance or features difference between the two?

Also, there seems to be about a $50 difference between the 3000+ and 3200+... do you think that is a negligible performance difference?

Know of a good site to learn about/compare Athlon 64 processors? I know I'm asking newbie questions here...

Thanks again,
-Mark

 

[crazyeddie]

Tom's Hardware - The Mother of All CPU Charts Part 2

Tom's hardware did an exhaustive side-by-side comparison of a very wide array of CPUs (both Intel and AMD) just back in December 2004. They compared almost every modern CPU from both manufactures in a huge variety of benchmarks including gaming, graphics, applications, video, sound, and synthetic benchmarks.

You can actually compare Athlon 64s to comparably priced P4s, Semprons to Celerons, and even compare an Athlon XP 2400+ to an Athlon XP 2800+ to decide whether or not it would be worth the money to upgrade and sell your old chip on EBay.

Very extensive, but very informative. They do get into different silicon revisions, but some of the newest A64 chips weren't available 2 months ago.

 

[imported_markj]

Originally posted by: crazyeddie
ECS "KV2 EXTREME V1.0" VIA K8T800 Chipset Motherboard at NewEgg for $92.75

This looks like it should fit the bill nicely for you. Socket 939 with 8X AGP and 5 PCI slots. Integrated 6-channel audio has optical and co-ax digital outputs as well as analog i/o so lots of sound options. Dual Channel DDR support. Dual Ethernet controllers with gigabit and 10/100 support. 2 seperate raid controllers, 1 for Ultra ATA and another RAID controller for SATA. Built-in 2-port IEEE1394 firewire support, optional pin-out header included. The board also comes with an amazing array of cables and accessories.

You will have exactly enough room in your budget left for a Socket 939 Athlon 64 3200+, either retail or OEM with aftermarket heatsink and fan, to finish your system.

If you don't want to go PCI-E for video, this is an impressive motherboard for the price.

Thanks, Crazyeddie. That looks like a very full featured value board. However, do you have anything to say about ECS/Elitegroup quality? I had a horrible time with their budget P4 board--it came bundled with a 3.0Ghz E P4 that I finally had to RMA--the system couldn't run more than 10 minutes with the BSOD or a random reboot, and I tried to contact their support team over three weeks with no results.

I'm going to see what kind of reviews I can find on this ECS, it does look like a good buy.

Thanks!
-Mark

 

[imported_markj]

Thanks for the link to Tom's hardware! I'm on my way to check that out right now.

Thanks again,
-Mark

 

[crazyeddie]

Everybody has their own motherboard likes and dislikes. I've seen PC Chips boards explode, and I've seen them run forever. I've seen Asus boards explode, and I've seen Asus boards run forever.

My overall impression is that ECS/Elitegroup is middle of the road, I don't believe they have a better or worse failure rate than 90% of the other vendors. Hopefully the reviews on the NewEgg website will be a bit helpful.

Bottome line - if your board that you buy is bad, you'll hate it. If it runs fine, you'll love it.

Motherboard quality tends to be very subjective and deduced only from personal experience in most cases.

Edit: Hehe, went back to look and there are no reviews at NewEgg!