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Need help picking mobo and CPU

E

Epsil0n00

Golden Member
Hey guys,

My HDD is dying and since I'm going to have to reinstall the OS and all my apps it seems like the right time for an upgrade--

I first need to decide what mobo and CPU to purchase, but I haven't kept up with the latest models and I would greatly appreciate some advice. Though, there are a couple requirements:
- I will be purchasing an AMD CPU (of course), probably an Athlon 64. I don't care about overclocking...
- The motherboard needs to have an AGP slot to work with my GeForce 6800, but it would be great if it had a PCI-E slot too for my next video card. Oh, and I don't care about SLI.
- I would like a good nForce chipset mobo that supports SATA as well as at least one PATA drive.
- I do not need the very fastest processor available; and it would be nice to have a mobo that supports a wide range of processors so that I can drop in a faster CPU in a year or two without upgrading the mobo and RAM.
- I can spend around $300 on the Mobo, CPU and RAM. I plan on buying 2GB of RAM if the budget will allow...
- I will also need to purchase a new heatsink, RAM, HDD and possibly a powersupply... but I'll worry about those after I get the mobo and CPU decided.

Other questions:
- Are there any nForce4 mobos that have AGP and PCI-E slots?

Thanks for any advice... I usually like to take a long time and do lots of research... but I am stuck without a useable computer at this point. 🙁 (well, except my work laptop)

TIA! Epsil0n
 
Originally posted by: Epsil0n00
Hey guys,

My HDD is dying and since I'm going to have to reinstall the OS and all my apps it seems like the right time for an upgrade--

I first need to decide what mobo and CPU to purchase, but I haven't kept up with the latest models and I would greatly appreciate some advice. Though, there are a couple requirements:
- I will be purchasing an AMD CPU (of course), probably an Athlon 64. I don't care about overclocking...
- The motherboard needs to have an AGP slot to work with my GeForce 6800, but it would be great if it had a PCI-E slot too for my next video card. Oh, and I don't care about SLI.
- I would like a good nForce chipset mobo that supports SATA as well as at least one PATA drive.
- I do not need the very fastest processor available; and it would be nice to have a mobo that supports a wide range of processors so that I can drop in a faster CPU in a year or two without upgrading the mobo and RAM.
- I can spend around $300 on the Mobo, CPU and RAM. I plan on buying 2GB of RAM if the budget will allow...
- I will also need to purchase a new heatsink, RAM, HDD and possibly a powersupply... but I'll worry about those after I get the mobo and CPU decided.

Other questions:
- Are there any nForce4 mobos that have AGP and PCI-E slots?

Thanks for any advice... I usually like to take a long time and do lots of research... but I am stuck without a useable computer at this point. 🙁 (well, except my work laptop)

TIA! Epsil0n
Click to expand...

your best bet would be the asrock 939 dual pci-e/agp board, has everything you want, but is not nf4, in fact i don't think there are any nf4/agp boards, that is why i just went nf3 with my opteron.

m/b=~$70, 2GB=~$150...doesn't leave much for cpu. your best option would be to go with a opteron 144 and o/c it (i know you don't want to, but the opterons usually o/c better than the regular a64s and your budget will thank you).

otherwise m/b=~$70, 1GB=~$100, 3200=~$160...still too high. a opteron144 (1.8GHz/1MB cache) that can usually do 2.5GHz with the stock hsf vs the 3200(2.0GHz/512K cache) and still save ~$10? why not...
 
Bob4432~
thanks for taking the time to consider my options and provide recommendations!

I saw some posts where people were saying that they were having stability problems with the Asrock mobo--was that when they were OCing? I have never heard of Asrock--Is this mobo good and stable? Are there any other options for boards with both AGP and PCI-E, or is the Asrock the only one?

Given the price premium for RAM I think I might just purchase 1GB at first (that's all I have now anyway, and it's PC2100) and then purchase another 1GB module in a few months.

Would it be better to sell the AGP-6800 and purchase a PCI-E video card, then I can go with an nForce4 mobo with only PCI-E?

Thanks for all the feedback--much appreciated!!!
 
Originally posted by: Epsil0n00
Bob4432~
thanks for taking the time to consider my options and provide recommendations!

I saw some posts where people were saying that they were having stability problems with the Asrock mobo--was that when they were OCing? I have never heard of Asrock--Is this mobo good and stable? Are there any other options for boards with both AGP and PCI-E, or is the Asrock the only one?

Given the price premium for RAM I think I might just purchase 1GB at first (that's all I have now anyway, and it's PC2100) and then purchase another 1GB module in a few months.

Would it be better to sell the AGP-6800 and purchase a PCI-E video card, then I can go with an nForce4 mobo with only PCI-E?

Thanks for all the feedback--much appreciated!!!
Click to expand...

not really sure what the problems are with the asrock boards, but i believe asrock is the generic asus stuff. i knew they had problems running ram at certain specs, but i was not aware of the reliability issues.

unfortunately the asrock board is the only board that did pci-e and agp correct. others tried it, but there were large performance differences when using the same card just one being pci-e or agp, where the asrock board has benches where the agp and pci-e of the same card are nearly identical. also, i have read that the chipset is a little faster for the ide and sata, but i don't have one here to test, just what i have read.

as far as selling, you may want to see what you can get for the 6800 and see in benches for the games you play where the 6800 compares to a 6600gt since they are pretty reasonably priced or whatever you want to spend on a gpu, i know i have seen in the hot deals lately a x850xt for ~$220 in pci-e

the only reason i did my upgrade the way i did was because i just bought my gpu ~6mos ago, and didn't want to lose a lot of $$$ on it.

for the ram, just get 1x1GB stick as running in dual channel is not that big of a deal with the a64s or you could probably just use your current ram and the m/b will apply a memory divider, which doesn't have nearly as much of an effect on a a64 like it does on a p4. others can comment on that as i have not done that, but i do know that many people will run crazy fsb(htt) to get to a given GHz rating on the cpu, but lower the ram speed quite a bit.

 
thanks again for the feedback... I am now looking into the possibility of selling my AGP 6800 and switching to PCI-E... we shall see... I might be back soon with questions about PCI-E nForce4 mobos. 🙂

Thanks!
Epsil0n
 
As pointed out, the asrock is pretty much the only solution for the AGP now, PCI-E later problem. I haven't had any stability problems myself, and my processor is modestly overclocked. Most of the complaints I see leveled against the board are in regards to its lack of sufficient overclocking features.
 
Originally posted by: Epsil0n00
thanks again for the feedback... I am now looking into the possibility of selling my AGP 6800 and switching to PCI-E... we shall see... I might be back soon with questions about PCI-E nForce4 mobos. 🙂

Thanks!
Epsil0n
Click to expand...

no probs, if you do to nf4/pci-e, the epox one that everyone talks about is the way to go. it has good features, can o/c like mad and is reasonably priced. i don't know the exact model #, but if you search epox nf4 you would find it
 
I've been Asus for the past 8 years now and just picked up an Asrock 3 months ago. It's a great little board for what it does. Also the ability to add the upcoming expansion card to handle the AM2 chips that will take over from the current generation of X64 AMD chips is pretty great. These guys are the up and comer mobo makers. They make a good board that is versatile. Honestly if it wasn't as versatile as it is then they wouldn't sell much beyond flat out budget boards. As you probably know they do not over clock well, but that's their only flaw. Stability issues have been gone for ages since they updated the Bios.
 
Originally posted by: Sean Maxwell
aim for PCIe, and it seems like DFI is owning the mobo market
Click to expand...

Do you find your self at parties saying things where people just look at you after you've said something and don't say anything?
We're trying to get this guy working with an AGP card, what are you talking about?
 
Originally posted by: Epsil0n00
Would it be better to sell the AGP-6800 and purchase a PCI-E video card, then I can go with an nForce4 mobo with only PCI-E?

Thanks for all the feedback--much appreciated!!!
Click to expand...

how about a nice glass of stfu for you niggles?
 
Originally posted by: Sean Maxwell
Originally posted by: Epsil0n00
Would it be better to sell the AGP-6800 and purchase a PCI-E video card, then I can go with an nForce4 mobo with only PCI-E?

Thanks for all the feedback--much appreciated!!!
Click to expand...

how about a nice glass of stfu for you niggles?
Click to expand...

ahh... and well mannered as well.😀

 
Thanks for all the input guys...
I have decided that it is indeed time to switch to PCI-E, cause the days of AGP are dead.
I strated a new thread just looking for recommendations on a nForce4, PCI-E, non-SLI setup in THIS thread.
Please stop by the new thread and give me your opinion if you have a moment.
Thanks!
Epsil0n
 
Originally posted by: Sean Maxwell
aim for PCIe, and it seems like DFI is owning the mobo market
Click to expand...

they are owning the extreme o/c market only because they can do 4.0V for the ram for the nuts that use that uber expensive VX stuff.
 
Originally posted by: Epsil0n00
Thanks for all the input guys...
I have decided that it is indeed time to switch to PCI-E, cause the days of AGP are dead.
Click to expand...

Not quite dead, but mostly dead yes. The Asrock is a nice bridge between the two formats, but if you can go straight to the PCI-E then do it, you'll get a more rounded board for what you need. Asrock quickly loses it's alure if there is no AGP requirement and you have no concern about having to upgrade again when the AM2 CPUs start coming out in a few months.
After Sean Maxwells little tirade I hate to agree, but I think he's right on the PCI-E mobo (or Asus if you have no plans to OC). I let those with pure PCI-E boards discuss on your new thread though as I have no direct experience on them. I only know what I've read on these and a few other boards.

Best of luck.
 
get the ASRock 939 board. it has both AGP (for now) and PCI(for future expansion) and has good stability and overclocking abilities (even though you don't care). get the A64 3000+ or opteron 144 (who knows, you might decide to OC later on). that leaves about $100 for ram so you should but a gig of value ram and save the rest of the money (about $30) or you could use it on the tax for all 3 components.
 
If I was interested in upgrading now, the Asrock dual board would be at the top of my list. You can get hacked BIOSes for it (at OCworkbench.com) that help it OC like crazy if that's what you want to do (heck, I'm running a Duron 1600 right now and that's enough for me)... I've also heard that nVidia is looking to buy ULi, on whose chipset the Asrock is based. Asrock IS the budget line from Asus. ULi (formerly named ALi) is doing killer chipset work right now and nVidia is seeing the "writing on the wall" re. rolling their own chipset.

You can not only run either AGP or PCI Express video cards on the Asrock, you can run them BOTH AT THE SAME TIME!!!

.bh.
 
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