2 Boards, which one?

longshanks

longshanks

longshanks

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25 Aug 2007
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608
I already have an AM2 CPU and a small case. I can't decide between these 2 boards so i need your expert advice guys:

Gigabyte GA-M68SM-S2, NF630a, Socket AM2, PCI-E(x16), DDR2 800MHz, SATA II, SATA RAID, uATX, HDCP

http://www.giga-byte.co.uk/Products/Motherboard/Products_Spec.aspx?ClassValue=Motherboard&ProductID=2640&ProductName=GA-M68SM-S2

or

Gigabyte GA-MA69GM-S2H AMD 690G, SAM2, PCI-E (x16), DDR2 533/667/800, SATA II, SATA RAID, uATX, VGA

http://www.giga-byte.co.uk/Products/Motherboard/Products_Spec.aspx?ClassValue=Motherboard&ProductID=2579&ProductName=GA-MA69GM-S2H

Cheers guys.
 
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If you really don't know the difference then just get the cheepest, because it's not like the mb is going to effect performance unless ** OC'in.
 
Well, i have always been an AMD man. My mate says i should go over to Intel now!

Thing is, i don't have the first idea what to plump for if i went over to Intel!! What would be a nice setup for me? I would need a Mobo to fit my TJ08 case. What CPU? Don't want to spend a lot but need it to be better than the AM2 2x 5200 i have now.
 
yantorsen said:
If you really don't know the difference then just get the cheepest, because it's not like the mb is going to effect performance unless ** OC'in.
Click to expand...

I can understand the sentiment behind this statement, and there was a time when I thought the same, but having had LOTS of motherboards I have firmly come to the conclusion that a good (often more expensive) motherboard will result in a faster overall system. And there are definitely differences between chipsets in terms of performance.
 
longshanks said:
Well, i have always been an AMD man. My mate says i should go over to Intel now!

Thing is, i don't have the first idea what to plump for if i went over to Intel!! What would be a nice setup for me? I would need a Mobo to fit my TJ08 case. What CPU? Don't want to spend a lot but need it to be better than the AM2 2x 5200 i have now.
Click to expand...

Are you wanting to overclock? I've just built a few systems up using the ECS P31T-M motherboard and it's a very nice motherboard indeed (about £36). It's also very, very small depthwise, so it would fit very nicely in the TJ-08 (I've had them in the past and they're quite tight for clearance behind the HDD/3.5" bay mounting).

Unfortunately, you've got a fast CPU already so you would need something like an E6750 or a Q6600 to be a decent upgrade (and even then, you'd only see the difference in things that required brute horespower like DVD encoding).

The latest AMD CPU/NVidia Chipset combinations are very quick indeed and AMD systems always feel 'snappier' to me in terms of how responsive they are to mouse clicks and stuff.

I certainly wouldn't be bullied into buying Intel for the sake of it. If you need number crucnching power, then Intel is much better, but for games and general useage, I prefer AMD setups with an NVidia chipset.
 
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