Motherboard Help.

[RaiderC]

Let me just prefix this by saying I have never built my own computer before and up until a month ago I didn't even know what parts were involved. I have always just been ripped off by buying Gateway's or Dell's.

That being said I have been doing a lot of reading and I have been reading these forums for a couple weeks now. I am looking to build a system for probably 90% gaming. The processer I am looking to get in the AMD 64 3500+.

My question is...would it benefit me to wait until the nforce4 boards come out? For what I will be using the system for would there be any upgrade to a PCIe card over say a 6800GT AGP card? I seem to know everything else that i want, but i am really not sure what to look for in picking my motherboard. I just don't want to plunk down a bunch of money for a system that is outdated in a few months. Thanks for any advice you can give a first timer.

 

[gobucks]

my motto is, when in doubt, go for value and a good platform above all else. As such, I recommend the following:
Nforce4 Ultra or SLI - this mobo will have everything you will need for a long lasting computer - PCIe, SATA-II, SLI (in SLI models, makes for a nice cheap way to double graphics speed down the road), etc.
A64 3000+ (socket 939) - overclocks really well, and you can easily get 3500+ performance with barely any effort (1.8GHz -> 2.2GHz only needs about a 22% overclock, while the 3000+ is capable of about 45%)
6600GT - Great performer, packing 9800XT performance into a $180 package, making it well under half the cost of a 6800GT, with more than half the performance.

Just opting for the 6600GT and 3000+ over your previous considerations saves you almost $350, plenty for a nice CPU/Video upgrade in a year or so, and will perform great for a long time, especially if you overclock.

Anyways, I'd much rather have a nice, cheap system with plenty of upgrade potential than an expensive system on a dead-end platform. Believe me, right now I'm sitting on a Slot A 700MHz Athlon, and 6 months after i bought my killer PC, I had nothing worthwhile to upgrade to. It sucks a lot. Go for upgradeability.

 

[o1die]

Sli is a nice feature, but expensive. I'm looking for more tests on the radeon xpress 200 boards. One msi model is listed at $99.95, but won't be out for 2-3 weeks. Nforce4 prices should come down a little in Feb, if you can wait that long. Too much price gouging right now.