Which mobo for the AMD X2 5000+?

[EQTitan]

I'm building a rig around the AMD X2 EE 5000+ 2.6Ghz Dual core...

What is a good board for gaming under $100 (no OC'ing at least not right away)

Setup thus far

X2 5000+
(2)x 1gb PC2-1066 5-5-5-15t 2.2v
Seagate 16mb cache 250gb SATA
ATI 4850 (got it for $100 on CL)
Antec Basiq 500w
Antec 300 case
DVDRW

MOD EDIT: I'm kickin' this one over to Motherboards. Might get more responses over there. - Zap

 

[ther00kie16]

Originally posted by: EQTitan
I'm building a rig around the AMD X2 EE 5000+ 2.6Ghz Dual core...

What is a good board for gaming under $100 (no OC'ing at least not right away)

Setup thus far

X2 5000+
(2)x 1gb PC2-1066 5-5-5-15t 2.2v
Seagate 16mb cache 250gb SATA
ATI 4850 (got it for $100 on CL)
Antec Basiq 500w
Antec 300 case
DVDRW

Well, 780g boards are solid and come with integrated graphics. If you want to eventually overclock (maybe with Phenoms in the future also), then maybe a 790. Nvidia 8000 series is also good.
Start here and check whatever feature you want (I find advanced and power search more useful).

 

[Alienwho]

I ended up with this ECS board http://www.newegg.com/Product/...&Tpk=ECS%20Motherboard. I got it for $59 AR.

I am satisfied, I was able to OC my 5400+ to 3.2ghz no problems. Integrated graphics are good. It has features to allow it to be my media center pc as soon as I get a flat panel tv.

 

[heyheybooboo]

BIOSTAR TFORCE TA790GX A2+ AM2+/AM2 AMD 790GX: $99.99

With your X2 the memory will be downclocked to 800MHz at stock (actually because of the ""7"" memory divisor your ram speed will be 743MHz at stock CPU 2.6GHz)

2600MHz / 7 = 371.43MHz X 2 = 743MHz ram speed

X2 5000+ @ 2.8GHz = 800MHz ram speed

X2 5000+ @ 3.0GHz = 857MHz ram speed (if you don't drop the ratio)

Additionally, the X2 will only run 1000MHz HT on an AM2+ mobo

Now. If in the future you add a Phenom your HT will run 2600MHz and your ram will run spec 1066MHz.

The X2 5000+ should overclock nicely on the Biostar mobo but if you consider a Phenom in the future and want to OC to 3GHz+ add some mosfet cooling (unless you snag a nice 45nm Deneb ...)

 

[EQTitan]

So, on the Biostar board I would not be getting my money's worth out of the ram or CPU?! Bad for gaming any other boards?

 

[heyheybooboo]

Originally posted by: EQTitan
So, on the Biostar board I would not be getting my money's worth out of the ram or CPU?! Bad for gaming any other boards?

The ram speed I noted would be with the X2 5000+ on any AMD motherboard.

The memory controller (and memory divisor of '7') on the X2 CPU is the determining factor here on both the ram speed and 1000MHz HT.

The memory controller on the Phenom will operate at 2600MHz with DDR2 1066 on AM2+ motherboards.

You may find an excellent AMD 780g motherboard w/sb700 & PCIe Gen2 for around $80. By the time you add shipping you are in for $90. The Biostar 790gx w/sb750 & PCIe Gen2 (and CrossFire) is $99.99 with free shipping and would provide your best upgrade & OC potential with a new Phenom down the road.

An AM2 mobo may be purchased for less money but you will still be dealing with the memory controller and '7' divisor of the X2 5000+ --- and the AM2 mobo will only have sb600, 6 channel audio and PCIe x16 Gen1.

If that's the way you want to go check out the ASUS M2A-VM AM2 AMD 690G Micro ATX for $72.

 

[EQTitan]

I'm fine with the board, and the cpu I just want to make sure my gaming experience doesn't suffer.

 

[EQTitan]

bump

 

[ther00kie16]

If by EE, you mean Black Edition with multiplier unlocked, you can raise the multiplier to 15.5 out of the box without changing voltages (seen this done by many people) to give 3.1ghz for the CPU. Then Ram speed = 3100/7 = 443*2 = 886mhz. At that speed, you should be able to run 4-4-4 and probably below the default voltage of 2.2V, which is fairly high. The difference between 886 at 4-4-4 and 1066 at 5-5-5 (if you can find something to run it that high) shouldn't be too great and may actually go in favor of the lower latency.

Here is a review that may be useful.

 

[EQTitan]

I bought the BIOSTAR TFORCE TA790GX only because the AM2+ series will eventually be within my grasp, until then I guess the memory will be under clocked, unless I can find a way to unlock the multiplier.

 

[coolpurplefan]

I"m a little inclined to agree with the ASUS M2A-VM AM2 AMD 690G Micro ATX.

I installed an Asus M3A78-EM (it may only be available in Canada, i"m not sure) and I believe it has a lot of features (eSata, Firewire, displayport etc) but I've become almost suspicious of the 780G chipset. I tried an X1650XT with that motherboard and had flawless 1080p video and while installing UT2004, I did not see any lag in the images being refreshed. However, with the on-board video with the 780G chipset, I saw lag in both things I just described. I installed an HD 4670 and the lag now in both is almost microscopic and you almost can't see it. But, like I said, I keep of having the impression there's something minutely wrong and I just can't put my finger on it.

 

[SunnyD]

Originally posted by: EQTitan
I bought the BIOSTAR TFORCE TA790GX only because the AM2+ series will eventually be within my grasp, until then I guess the memory will be under clocked, unless I can find a way to unlock the multiplier.

I'd have recommended the Foxconn 790GX board over the Biostar board.