Motherboard died and need a replacement suggestion

[laurieny]

My son's board died - and he is suffering serious WOW and COD withdrawal so this is a medical emergency. ;-)

We built the system about two years ago, and I am no longer current with boards and chipsets. I went AMD before, but would like to go back to an Intel dual core that supports the cards, drives etc that he already has. Unfortunately I just don't have time right now to do the research again and am hoping for good suggestions so I can go it ordered asap. And obviously if I am switching boards I will need a new CPU as well so please suggest some compatible CPU as well. I would prefer to buy one generation back from whatever is the latest actually shipping new board-so something really good but not at the top of the hype cycle in other words.

The current system is as follows:

MB: ASUS AMD A8N32-SLI Deluxe
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ Dual-Core
HSF: ZALMAN CNPS9500 PSU
PSU: ENERMAX Liberty ELT620AWT ATX12V 620W
Video: ATI X1900XT 256MB
Sound: CB Audigy 2 Z
Memory: OCZ Platinum 2 GB (2 pcs 1GB) DDR (400) PC-3200
HD1: WESTERN DIGITAL 74 GB SATA 10K Raptor
HD2: SEAGATE BARRACUDA 300GB 7200 RPM
DVD: SONY DRU-S810A
FD: MITSUMI Floppy 7-in-1
Mouse: LOGITECH MX518
Case: CM Stacker 831 SE

Any help will be most appreciated!

Thanks,
Laurie

 

[theAnimal]

MB - Gigabyte GA-EP35-DS3L
CPU - Intel E7200 or E8400
RAM - 2 or 4GB DDR2 800

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

Off the top of my head, and welcome to the Anandtech Forums:

CPU
e8400 3Ghz multi of 9 - 194$ at NewEgg 6mb cache, dual core, 45nm technology, Hafnium
e8300 2.83Ghz multi of 8.5 - 164$ at eWiz 6mb cache, dual core, 45nm technology, Hafnium
e7200 2.6Ghz multi of 9.5 - 134$ at NewEgg - may be lower price; 3mb cache, dual core, 45nm technology, Hafnium
any one of these beats the fastest AMD dual core out at there rated stock speeds, and all of these are capable of 1000Mhz above stock speeds

Mobo
ASUS P5K-E LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail 139$
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813131225

Memory
buy super talent if you want to re-invest in the USA, as far as i know, they are made in Silicon Valley CA, other than that
WINTEC AMPX 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 - 48.99$
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16820161063
- 4.4.4.12 latencies @ 1.9v
SUPER TALENT 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 - 49.99$
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16820609026
- 4.4.3.8 latencies @ 2.2v - one reviewer said 1.8v is possible

There you go Keep the kid out of trouble

Good Luck

529th

 

[Winterpool]

Welcome to AnandTech.

I'd suggest reposting your query in the 'General Hardware' category. Click on the 'sticky' at the top of that forum and read the guidelines. You don't have to follow every one of them, but it would be critical to know where you'll be buying from (ie country), what software you hope to run, and -- most important -- your budget.

The suggestions already posted are pretty good and near standard, though the memory manufacturers listed above are 'economy'. I'd go with a qualite brand like Corsair or G.Skill instead: 2 GB of Corsair PC2 6400 costs $29 after rebate right now.

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

Don't buy into brands. Quality depends on the IC (chip) used; depends on if they operate stable at stated latencies, depends on overclockability, and if you take that rebate step, depends on how they honor the rebate.

 

[laurieny]

Thank you all for your assistance and suggestions. Your help made it very easy to check out and decide and the new toys are on the road. Fortunately for spoiled son, budget wasn't a real issue, and his mother can't help buying "better" than what is really needed when it comes to any kind of computer or gadget related purchase. Stuff is on the road and rebuilding his box will be how I spend Monday night. ;-)

I ended up getting:

EVGA 512-P3-N871-AR GeForce 9800 GTX(G92) 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail

G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-6400CL4D-4GBPK - Retail

ASUS P5E LGA 775 Intel X38 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80570E8400 - Retail

Yes he really didn't *have* to have a new video card, but it seemed wrong to upgrade the rest without it. ;-)

Again, thanks for your help,
Laurie

 

[Winterpool]

Oh goodness, I wish my mum were so generous! That system's better than what I paid for myself (okay, what JPMorgan Chase paid for, and now I owe them...).

Glad that our community was able to be helpful.