New motherboard selection

Thorchild · 16 Feb 2010 at 15:34

Hi there,

I'm looking for a replacement board for my MSI P4N SLI (NVIDIA nForce4 SLI Intel Edition) motherboard,

(http://www.hardwarezone.com/articles/view.php?cid=6&id=1714),

as two capacitors have blown. I know it supports 90nm LGA775 for my Intel Dual Core, but having looked through the OC site, I don't know what would be a suitable replacement with a similar spec/sockets. Could anyone make some suggestions so that I can narrow it down please? I basically want to be able to use my existing kit and CPU, with room for future upgrades, so an equivalent or better spec would be ideal.

Many thanks

Diggsy · 16 Feb 2010 at 15:58

To be honest you will probably want a P35 or P45 chipset as cheap as you can get it really.

Forget about future upgrades as the socket and RAM have now changed, so you will have to replace board/CPU and RAM at some point.

If I were in your position I would either source a motherboard 2nd hand on the cheap, or sell off your CPU and RAM and upgrade the lot.

Depends on your budget of course.

Thorchild · 16 Feb 2010 at 17:09

Ah ok, thanks for the reply. I was looking at a cheap bundle pack originally to replace the lot, but given what you said, it seems like jumping out the pan into the fire so to speak. I was looking at this:

QUAD CORE AM3 Athlon2 X4 Board Bundle with 2GB DDR2 Memory.

Quad core performance motherboard bundle
AMD Athlon™2 X4 Quad Core 620 2600MHz AM3 CPU
2GB DDR2 800MHz memory included (up to 16GB maximum capability)
ECS AM3 GeForce 6100PM-M2 motherboard with performance heatsink and fan
NVIDIA® GeForce 6100 / NVIDIA® MCP61P chipset
Nvidia® Geforce DirectX 9 graphics
Supports shared memory up to 256MB
Fast PCI-Express X16 graphics port
Integrated 6-channel High Definition audio
Features 10/100 Ethernet for fast networking and broadband
Expansion slots: 1 x PCI-E X16, 1 x PCI Express X1, 2 x PCI slots
Integrated SATA 3Gbps with RAID 0, 1, 0+1, 5
1x IDE port for 2 x Ultra DMA133 devices, 4 x USB 2.0 ports, 2 x RAM slots
mATX compatible

It's for a cheap gaming rig for my son. Having looked at a review of the original board, I see it's at least 5 years old now, which is why I was struggling to find another. The board in the bundle pack didn't look that hot tbh, which was what made me think to just replace the board for now and keep the Dual Core CPU. The bundle pack was about £180, but other than the cheap Quad Core, from what you're saying, it's pretty much as old as the original kit. Any ideas on the best route?

Cheers

Diggsy · 16 Feb 2010 at 18:04

What's your budget? You could get a decent 2nd hand board supporting your existing kit for £30 or even less.

If you want to fully upgrade, then the cheapest option is likely to be the AMD Phenom II....

CPU - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-249-AM&groupid=701&catid=6&subcat=1328 £72

Motherboard - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-355-AS&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=1481 £73

RAM - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-026-PA&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat=1517 £80

Adding up to a pretty cheap but worthwhile upgrade at £225. But I am sure others will be along to guide you as well.

To be honest though this topic would get more attention in General Hardware, so maybe a mod will do you a good turn and move it there

Thorchild · 16 Feb 2010 at 18:34

Thanks Diggsy, thats given us something to work from now. I did, however have an email back from OCUK. They said this:

The Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3LR Intel P45 (Socket 775) DDR2 Motherboard [GA-EP45-UD3LR] would be suitable for you to use.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-172-GI&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=1155

This board will have to have new RAM anyway, as it will not run anything under 533 according to the reviews. Given that, I think maybe a new upgrade will be the way to go, unless there are any other suggestions.

Thanks all.