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New to Forum- Thoughts on a new Motherboard

H

HawkeyeRecon

Member
Hello All,

I am SLOWLY beginning to build a new gaming computer. I will be using an Antec 900 case and a Sigma Shark 635 SLI capable power supply. Those are the only two parts I have bought so far.

I think I will be buying the AMD 64 x2 5000+ black edition which supposedly has an unlocked multiplier and is easily overclocked to 3.0 to 3.2 ghz. I like the price on this chip and have read good things about its capabilities and value to price ratio. My two previous computers have had AMD chips. (A 2500+ Barton and an old K7)

I will be buying some type of 8800GT 512 graphics card. I'm leaning towards EVGA because I have had good luck with them in the past. I will be buying one card and would like to be able to expand to two cards in the future using SLI.


My main question, is what would be the best motherboard to use? Here are some considerations:
1. I want it to be SLI capable so that in the future, I can buy a second 8800GT if I need to.

2. I would like to be able to run 2x2G dual channel ram. Are there other RAM considerations I should be aware of? Voltage issues?

3. I probably won't overclock the board or RAM but would like to have that option.

4. One unique issue is that I have a keyboard Midi Controller for writing/recording music and if possible I would like a motherboard with good on board sound options.

5. If possible I would like one that would be forward compatible with AMD AM2+ chips. This may be too tall of an order though.

In the past I have had good luck with an Nvidia chipset on an ASUS board, and am probably leaning towards a ASUS M2N32-SLI Deluxe / Wireless. Its a bit more expensive then I would like though and seems to be kind of an "older" solution. I've also read that it has "crappy audio." I'd like to spend about $120 but would spend up to $175 for a truly great, forward compatible board.

What motherboards should I really be considering for these requirements? Is nForce 590 my best bet or should I be looking at other solutions?

I would put my experience with building computers at medium/low. With some help I built my last computer and have upgraded some hardware since then on my own.

I appreciate your insight and any recommendations you might have.
Thank you!
 
Welcome to the AT Forums 😀 As for the cpu choice, I'd recommend going with an Intel at this point just do to pure higher performance and that theres a large upgrade path if you go with a cheaper cpu. As for SLI, you'll have to get an nVidia chipset board if you want to be able to SLI, probably a 680i or thereabouts, the Asus P5N32-E looks promising although a tad higher than what you wanted to spend. Overall for a system I'd suggest the 8800 GT on the Asus P5N32-E with an E2160, you can easily overclock that to 3ghz or higher. You could go with an AMD socket board however as it stands Intel's chips perform far better and as of yet we don't know what to expect from AM3 cpus. Just my recommendation.
 
Thanks for the input. I really am leaning towards AMD because of past success with them and because if not for them Intel would probably still be offering us overpriced Pentium 3's. I will definitely do some research on your suggested chip/board combo though and appreciate your input!

Is the board you recommended forward compatible with Intel's future offerings? What features about it make it worth the $200+? Your chip suggestion is really inexpensive, so this board/chip combo isn't out of my price range. Thanks!
 
Futureproofing for SLI has always been a lose in the past. By the time you need the second card it's always cheaper to sell your existing card and pick up a new generation card at 2-3x the performance instead.

While a 2160 OCd to 3ghz will be faster than anything AMD can offer at this point you may not need that level of cpu performance. A 5000+ with a mild overclock is capable of playing most modern games with aplomb. The 770/790/790FX boards are excellent, but lock you into a crossfire solution if you're dead set on a multi-GPU setup. Nvidia chipsets (and Skulltrail) are the only way to get SLI, and they're not quite as good as Intel or AMD chipsets. They run hot, use lots of power, and are reported to destroy RAM. Many need upgraded NB cooling to continue living.

Good onboard sound is an oxymoron.

That said, the current AMD darling board is this one: http://clubit.com/product_detail.cfm?itemno=CA4854034 <-- no longer at the egg. It supports CF, not SLI. Very few nvidia chipset boards are compatible with AM2+, never mind AM3. You have to decide between SLI and a good board/cpu combo at the moment whether you go Intel or AMD.
 
I like your reasoning (for sticking w/ AMD). I'm sticking with them too, After all, were they to disappear Intel would lose it's incentive to remain competitive.
As to the motherboard, I personally would pick an AMD 790FX based Crossfire motherboard (rather than an Nvidia based SLi motherboard). This would require the use of an ATI based video card (for multi-card video), but it offers many advantages (AM2+ upgradability, PCI-e 2.0, 2600MHz Hyper Transport, and 2,3, or 4 way Crossfire capability). Alternately, there are some Nvidia SLi motherboards that can be BIOS upgraded to AM2+ processors (offering you a future upgrade path for your BE 5000+). One such board is the ASUS M2N32-WS Pro AM2 NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI ATX Server Motherboard currently offered by Newegg.com in a bundle with the BE 5000+.
 
Thanks V8envy for the input. I appreciate you taking the time to reply!

After much searching I realize I'll probably need a discrete sound card.


Quick question? I'm assuming that if I want to use a Nvidia 8800GT graphics card I am going to need a mobo with an Nvidia chipset. Correct? Or will the 8800GT work with any PCIe16 mobo?

Thanks!
 
Thanks Negronpope for your input.

I'm probably planning on sticking with AMD. My current PC which is from a 2003 build was an AMD chip on an ASUS nforce board and an Nvidia card. I kind of was looking to recreate that combo which worked well for me.

Its unfortunate AMD fumbled over the past few years on delivering a 65 nm solution that beats Intel. I don't know if they bit off more than they could chew with ATI, or whether they are in trouble because of deals with Dell and other manufacturers which didn't make financial sense.
 
The GT will work with any PCI-E x16 slot board, SLI only works with the nVidia chipset for more current boards. As for the AMD forces Intel to be creative, its not entirely true, read up on the EU thread in the CPU/Overclock section. If AMD were to fall another company would come up to challenge Intel, possibly nVidia 😀 and v8envy does have a point in that waiting too long for the second card usually doesn't work out. AMD processors currently can't hold a candle to Intel's, hopefully the AM3 socket cpus they churn out will be competitive but people thought Phenom would be worth competition for Core 2 65nm quads, which they aren't.

Well the ATI acquisition created an interesting situation imo, since now AMD boards most likely won't have SLI support, the ability to have SLI is becoming scarcer and more expensive which is going to hurt nVidia overall. If nVidia teams up with Intel however the AMD/ATI team is going to face a lot of problems with enthusiasts or gamers, maybe budget system will still have them. nVidia is on thin ice, a few more wrong decisions is going to seriously hurt their overall business.
 
Personally, I'm not ready to write off the Phenom just yet. If AMD had managed to get the Phenom running at the speeds that the top of the line Athlon 64 X2 processor run at (about 3Ghz) then the Phenom would have no trouble competing with Intel processors. As to whether or not AMD pushes Intel to develop better products, well Intel seemed to respond to the failure of their Netburst architecture (which couldn't best AMD) with a total change in direction (with the Core family of processors). Of course all this is a matter of personal opinion and perspective. Personally, I don't believe that another company is likely to challenge Intel (other than AMD) in the near future. It would take too much investment.
Anyway, the important thing is YOUR inquiry Hawkeye. Krnmastersgt make a very good point that SLi hasn't been the greatest upgrade path. I myself ran into that when I bought an Nvidia 7600GT based video card a while ago. By the time I decided to upgrade to a second card there were other options (better single cards, DX10 cards, etc.) that made the dual card option questionable. Sure you can install an Nvidia 8800GT based card in either an AMD or an Nvidia based motherboard. It will work fine in either. The Nvidia based motherboard might have the option of adding a second card (via SLi), but by the time you want to buy one you may find that other cards (like the soon to be released 9800 cards) have eclipsed your proposed SLi setup with a single card solution.
The point is any dual card video setup (SLi or Crossfire) seems best when you purchase the entire setup initially or you upgrade very quickly. Otherwise. why not buy the best single slot solution you can afford and then upgrade to another card later.
Good luck with your decision(s).
 
I just put together an inexpensive system based on the 5000 Black and Biostar TF560-A2+.

The board is cheap, stable and overclocks well.

Highly recommended.
 
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