socket 939?

[gotrdun]

I'm on a tight budget right now, and I think my old epox 9npa+ just crapped out on me. Using this as an opportunity to upgrade just a wee-bit, I want to pick up a 8600gt and upgrade my cpu from 3000+ to one of these nice looking 4000+.

Does anyone have recommendations for a decent (stable! I don't really plan to overclock and I have an audigy2 card that's been good to me) socket 939 mobo that will also work with my 2gigs of 184-pin ram?

I game a decent amount but nothing high-end.
I looked on newegg and I'm not exactly confident in buying a biostar or foxconn, since it seems every other person has had at least one board doa.

Thanks ahead of time for the advice!

 

[NXIL]

Hi Got,

of the remaing socket 939 boards in the consumer category, only this Biostar does not have a northbridge fan:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...lue=709%3a7495&bop=And

As you know, NB fan = noise, and, they die.

Or, for a bit more, but with great quality construction:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...ue=713%3a17743&bop=And

I have had the 2865 for alomst two years now...no problems at all....

HTH

NXIL

 

[gotrdun]

Thanks for the response. The $200+ are a bit out of price range, and I need 3 pci slots for audigy, tv, and wireless cards.
I didn't know NB fans generated that much noise, nor that they have a history of dying.
Guess I have no other choice than to try my luck and hope I don't get nailed with return shipping costs...

 

[NXIL]

Dear Got,

northbridge cooling fan issues are unfortunately not uncommon:

http://www.duxcw.com/digest/gu...ip/chipfan/chipfan.htm

http://www.motherboardpoint.co...-chip-fan-failure.html

I have never shopped at PC Universe, but:

http://www.pcuniverse.com/prod...sp?pid=3368533&m_id=32

Includes dual core processor:

http://www.tigerdirect.com/app...ASE&CMP=OTC-GOOGLEBASE

http://www.nextdaypc.com/main/...915&rsmainid=ND0130014

By the way, I notice you are swapping out:

mobo
upgrading CPU
new Videocard

So bascially you are retaining your 2GB of Ram: worth about 100$ or so, depending on its lineage. (Good quality gaming memory > than 100$, generic value ram with no lifetime warranty, much less than that.....) You could sell the 184 pin, and get DDR2, which is very inexpensive right now:

Just a very quick scan of highest rated DDr2 800:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...4125%2CN82E16820134117

You can compare the performance of a SCKT 939 4000 with newer AM2 X2s or Intel Conroe core CPUs, both of which pretty much nuke the S939 for price/performance: AMD dropped prices on the AM2 line to compete with Intel, and they had to because the newest line up of Intel CPUs is really pretty amazingly good...

Edit: here is link to CPU comparo chart:

http://www23.tomshardware.com/...0&model2=881&chart=424

HTH,

NXIL

 

[Binky]

If you're replacing/upgrading your existing socket 939, why would you buy another 939? You can grab 2GB of memory for a low as $50. You should really consider an AM2 setup.

 

[SerpentRoyal]

Get an Abit IP35-E @ MWAVE for $70 AR (MB forum). 2 x 1GB of HP/Crucial DDR2 667 RAM will cost $44 AR (hot deals forum). E2160 is around $70. Total cost is only about $50 more than a new 939 CPU/MB combo.

Overclock the CPU to at least 3.0GHz. This rig will have no problem keeping up with the AM2 dual core 6000.