ok I have 500 dollars to spend on a mobo+cpu+ram combo

[eknick]

I have around 500 bucks to get a mobo, a cpu, and some ram, what should I get? I looking for a intel system and want my mobo to have 1 IDE(2 better), one PCI-e x16 slot, and at least 3 PCI slots. I did some research on whether to get AMD or pentium but decided to go with pentium, then I was looking at mother boards and cpus but decided to just ask the professionals here.
Thanks in advance!

 

[JEDIYoda]

wrong forum...ONLY AMD spoken here!!!lol

 

[CheesePoofs]

The reason AMD is better represented here is because, in almost all cases, they outperform the equivalent Intel processors.

What is it that made you choose the Intel processor? Because unless you're doing multimedia work, I would have to strongly suggest switching that choice to an Athlon 64.

 

[eknick]

ok masters I've decided to go with athlon!!!!!!! the reasons that I picked intel at first is because I've been using them previously for a LONG time, secondly i actually do some multimedia work on pc and other office work and I heard intel is better for that, then again I also play games and havn't really experienced any AMD machines, so I think i'll try AMD for this one time.

 

[tropic]

I'd say an NF4 board with an Athlon 64 4000+ (San Diego single-core) for a personal Windows gaming rig. I have an Abit Fatal1ty AN8 (high quality board, but way overpriced and VDIMM limited to 2.80v).

After the initial NF4 teething process, a couple of boards I've played with give great bang for buck: Abit's AN8 Ultra & DFI's Lanparty UT, both in the $125 ballpark. Go with the Abit if you're not a tweaker; it's rock solid as soon as you update the BIOS to 17. The Lanparty UT's a great overclocker, but it'll take you a while to get it purring just right. The DFI only has 2 PCI slots, though.

Both boards are picky about memory, so hit a couple enthusiast forums to get the scoop on what works best. If you already have DDR400 or better, you'll be fine as long as you tweak the memory timings. I'm currently running 2 x 1GB OCZ DDR400 sticks at Cas2-3-2-5 1T and default voltages with no problems.