Hello guys,
I'm currently on the lookout for a new system (CPU, motherboard, memory and video). But I notice that the situation with motherboards is a lot more confusing than say 5 years ago. So I'm having a bit of difficulty choosing the right components for me.
I'm going AMD and from what I've read, the nForce4 chipset is probably the best choice nowadays. Initially I fell for the MSI K8N line of motherboards, but I've read a lot of mixed comments and reviews about it. Then the ASUS A8N line fell to my attention. I'm still figuring things out.
So after a lot of reading, I eventually decided to ask for a bit of help here. I've been very happy with my ABIT and ASUS motherboards and MSI videocard in the past. So I would prefer a board of one of these brands.
I will most likely never use SLI (except if I win the lottery), RAID and overclocking abilities. Though it would be nice to have them ready. I would like to have a system that is comparable in quality to my current one, but price IS an issue:
-Athlon XP 2000+
-ABIT KR7A
-Apacer 512MB DDR
-MSI GF4 Ti4200
I plan on putting in a GF 6800GS for gaming purposes.
Also this time I'd like my cooling to be as silent as possible without using hardcore cooling methods.
And last but not least, do current motherboards still need BIOS updates to accommodate faster CPUs? On the MSI website I noticed the following:
"Or higher", does that mean both will support all possible speeds? If not, then this will also be a factor in my end selection.
I appreciate it if you've gotten this far in reading my post. And I await all your insights and suggestions! 🙂
Tia,
Tom
I'm currently on the lookout for a new system (CPU, motherboard, memory and video). But I notice that the situation with motherboards is a lot more confusing than say 5 years ago. So I'm having a bit of difficulty choosing the right components for me.
I'm going AMD and from what I've read, the nForce4 chipset is probably the best choice nowadays. Initially I fell for the MSI K8N line of motherboards, but I've read a lot of mixed comments and reviews about it. Then the ASUS A8N line fell to my attention. I'm still figuring things out.
So after a lot of reading, I eventually decided to ask for a bit of help here. I've been very happy with my ABIT and ASUS motherboards and MSI videocard in the past. So I would prefer a board of one of these brands.
I will most likely never use SLI (except if I win the lottery), RAID and overclocking abilities. Though it would be nice to have them ready. I would like to have a system that is comparable in quality to my current one, but price IS an issue:
-Athlon XP 2000+
-ABIT KR7A
-Apacer 512MB DDR
-MSI GF4 Ti4200
I plan on putting in a GF 6800GS for gaming purposes.
Also this time I'd like my cooling to be as silent as possible without using hardcore cooling methods.
And last but not least, do current motherboards still need BIOS updates to accommodate faster CPUs? On the MSI website I noticed the following:
"Or higher", does that mean both will support all possible speeds? If not, then this will also be a factor in my end selection.
I appreciate it if you've gotten this far in reading my post. And I await all your insights and suggestions! 🙂
Tia,
Tom
