Need help selecting Motherboard for new system...

[MaDHaVoK]

Here is the deal. I haven't upgraded my machine in like 5 years, and for Christmas I am going to build myself a new system. When I was in school I use to spend hours reading about new computer stuff, but sadly now I am out of the loop. I would really really really appreciate your recomendations..

I am looking for an AMD motherboard.
I really enjoy playing games such as Counter Strike Source.
I don't know what the consensus on SLI or not, what do you think?
I don't plan on overclocking...



Any thoughts?
Thanks,
M.

 

[Wentelteefje]

Pick yourself a decent nForce 4 Ultra mobo, and you should be fine... Playing games isn't a problem with these boards either... Although you don't intend on doing so, most of those nForce motherboards are designed with overclocking in mind, therefore they're so popular with the enthusiasts and gamers...

About SLI... Graphics cards just "refresh" too soon these days... You'll end up paying a lot for the dual graphics cards, but some months later, you will notice that a single card will outperform them... SLI also poses an additional stress for your PSU, creates a lot of heat, and can be loud when using those dual cards with stock coolers...

Just my opinion of course...

 

[Pyrokinetic]

Not sure what your budget is, but I'll hazard a guess you want the best bang for the buck. I'll 2nd the recommendation for an Ultra board, or a reasonable SLI board to use in a single graphic card set up. I also think dual graphic cards are a waste as you will have to update them more frequently than any other component in your system. Here are my recommendations:

A COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 case. Not too expensive ($50) but nice looking with great cooling.

An EPoX EP-9NPA+Ultra motherboard ($105) or an ABIT KN8 SLI ($110). The ABIT board leaves open the option of SLI, but you don't have to use it.

An Antec TRUEPOWERII TPII-550 power supply ($90) or a PC Power & Cooling 510 SLI ($220). The Antec will do (which I own), but the 510 SLI is considered one of the best of the best and has very nicely sleeved cables which alleviate the wire "rats nest" inherent to the Antec and many other power supplies. I wish I had bought the 510 SLI, and I probably will for my next build.

An AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ ($325) a nice dual-core chip or a AMD Athlon 64 3700+ San Diego ($235) single core (which I own and I like). The dual-core may be a bit more future-proof.

CORSAIR ValueSelect 2GB (2 x 1GB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM Unbuffered DDR 400 (PC 3200) ($183) will be enough memory to keep you future-proof for some time, if you want to spend more for faster memory you can go up to CORSAIR XMS 2GB (2 x 1GB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM Unbuffered DDR 433 (PC 3500) for ($298).

A Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD3200KS 320GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive ($156).

A PLEXOR PX-716SA/SW SATA DVD-RW Drive ($120).

Lastly, get a 7800GT video card like the eVGA 256-P2-N515-AX Geforce 7800GT 256MB which currently is $284 with a rebate.

A fairly cutting-edge system for under $1500. Prices are from Newegg.com.