Need some Hardware advice (AMD/Intel)

[Alienwho]

I jumped on the deal at Newegg for an Antec Sonata which comes with an Antec 500W Earthwatts and AMD Brisbane 5400+ for $102 after rebate.

This was kind of an impulse buy. I'm planning on making this a server that will run a few VM's, and I might possibly use it as a media pc (someday) so I would like to plan for the future if possible.

Do I keep the AMD cpu and find a mobo/HSF/ram? If so, what do I get? I'd like to get all 3 for under $125 if I go this route. I don't even know if it's worth going this route. I have no idea how good this cpu even is since I haven't been keeping up to date.

Or do I sell this cpu and buy intel components? I'd like a mobo with onboard video and some decent features.

I don't know where to go from here.

 

[Roguestar]

If it's just for VM stuff and maybe streaming, you could stick with the AMD CPU and get yourself a 790G motherboard with acceptable onboard audio, some cheap RAM and a decent heatsink, given your low budget. It'd be fairly cheap, maybe cheaper than a comparable Intel build (seeing as the bottom end is the only place AMD are competing at the moment, unfortunately for us consumers).

 

[DaveSimmons]

Biostar makes nice mATX boards with onboard everything. The only downside is fewer SATA ports that a full-size board (if you're planning some massive software-based RAID5 array).

4+ GB RAM is what you need most for VMs, the CPU is secondary and the AMD is fine for it.

 

[mrSHEiK124]

ASUS makes an awesome mATX 780G board, M3A78-EMH. Currently $85 with free shipping on NewEgg. 2 GB of DDR2800 is generally $20 after MIR, and that leaves you with a nice $30-40 for a Zalman HSF. Go for it.

 

[Alienwho]

What's the difference between the 740G, 780G and 790G. Also are these mobo's only available in microatx? that seems to be all I see.

Is this a decent mobo?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813128342

 

[MarcVenice]

740g is low-end, weakest IGP, fewest bells and whistles. 780g also comes in ATX, prtty sure, and has more powerfull IGP, and some more bells and whistles. 790g is high-end, used to crossfire or even qaudcrossfire AMD videocards.