Motherboard/CPU and General Info Advice

GhettoChild · 20 Mar 2006 at 11:30

All,

I'm on the prowl to sell my current system and replace with all new parts.

Currently, my focus has been on a AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ CPU.

I'm a little stumped when it comes to mobo choices tho, the ASUS SLi boards seem good for the money, but not sure if there are better options out there.

The PC will be used for not only standards apps (word etc etc) but also a large majoirty of CAD and CAE work and thus needs the capabilities to deal with this.

Furthermore, having been out of the computer scene for a while, I'm not up to date with the latest progressions such as the AM2 AMD's etc, and thus would it be better waiting for this to show its face?

Regards

Andy

semi-pro waster · 20 Mar 2006 at 11:40

I'd suggest the X2 4400 over the X2 4200 as the 4400 has 1mb L2 cache and is obviously the faster overall. If you cannot stretch to that then I'd probably suggest the X2 3800 and overclock it as I don't feel the X2 4200 offers such great value for money.

I'd pair it with a minimum of 2gb Ram as well to get the most from the CPU.

Asus are a good brand, I've never had a problem with them although if overclocking is a primary objective then you may be better off with a DFI.

I don't think it is all that worthwhile holding off for an M2, DDR2 doesn't seem to offer huge performance gains and the chipsets may well take a while to become stable, also you can end up waiting forever as there is always something just around the corner but it is up to you

GhettoChild · 20 Mar 2006 at 12:35

thanks for your help, i was def thinking of going with 2GB with a matched DDR pair, most likely Corsair but open to advice.

Regards the mobo, is there anything particular in the DFI or Asus range that stands out?

Andy

ACESHIGH · 20 Mar 2006 at 12:54

I will agree to all that semi-pro waster has said in his post above.

The X2 4400+ is better due to extra L2 cache. If not overclocknig the X2 4200+ is still a good choice.

The DFI boards are great for overclocking, as many options are available in the bios & they are well built & stable.

Geil Value ram is pretty good to. If you want the best: Mushkin redline.

GhettoChild · 20 Mar 2006 at 13:23

Thanks, I won't be too worried about overclocking at the start, but maybe as I need more from my system.

Which boards are the ones that I should focus on from the lineup of current mobos?

Andy

ACESHIGH · 20 Mar 2006 at 13:38

DFI LanParty UT NF4 Ultra-D (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard (MB-014-DF)
Price: £79.95 (£93.94 Including VAT at 17.5%)

Asus A8N-E nForce4 Ultra (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard (MB-088-AS)
Price: £59.95 (£70.44 Including VAT at 17.5%)

Asus A8R32-MVP Deluxe Crossfire (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard (MB-131-AS)
Available This Week Only for just £104.95 +VAT.

Abit KN8 nForce4 (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard (MB-086-AB)
Price: £59.95 (£70.44 Including VAT at 17.5%)

GhettoChild · 20 Mar 2006 at 16:18

Asus A8N-SLi Premium nForce4 SLi (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard (MB-111-AS)

Asus A8N-SLi SE nForce4 SLi (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard (MB-101-AS)

Asus A8N32-SLi Deluxe nForce4 SLi X16 (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard (MB-118-AS)

What about these three? Are there advantages to these over the ones you previously mentioned?

Andy

semi-pro waster · 20 Mar 2006 at 17:08

SLi generally isn't worth it unless you are going to be buying two graphics cards at the same time for ultimate performance, even then you are adding complication and cost. A single X1900XTX isn't all that far behind 2x 7800gtx cards in SLi in most cases so there isn't any real need for most people.

That said if you want to try SLi or there are certain features available on SLi motherboards(like passive cooling or whatever) that you might want then by all means pick them