AMD Motherboard?

[Izenra]

Hi. I am buying a new computer. I choose most of the part I want , but I really have a
problem : I don't know what to choose as motherboard. I tried to look on the forum & guide,
but there is nothing that says like : "this one is better than this one because..."
" we recommand this one because..."

Here is the system I will have. I will be mostly playing video game( WoW, Half-life 2) and play poker on my computer. Also, ( complementary) I will probably set double to quadruple monitor( I don't think it changes something though)

MD Athlon 64 3500+ 2.2 GHz CPU
PC, Sun - Socket 939 - Bus 1600 MHz - 512 KB L2 Cache -

ATI RADEON X800 XL 256MB PCI-E

Corsair Value Select 1024MB PC3200 DDR 400MHz Memory 160

I don't know yet about the harddrive, but it is not hard to choose.


Thanks!

 

[us3rnotfound]

have you been here before.......

 

[Chode Messiah]

Any MSI,DFI,or ASUS is good. There are others that are cheaper though. Welcome to the
AT forums btw.:thumbsup:

 

[imported_Kensai]

MSI or DFI.

 

[Izenra]

Thanks for the answer
" have you been here before......."
yes

"Any MSI,DFI,or ASUS is good. There are others that are cheaper though. Welcome to the
AT forums btw"
Thanks!

See that what I was talking about, people does not seem to know which one is better. I am still clueless about what to pic.

Ex: For the processor it was easy : I want a gaming computer. I saw from many sources that " AMD is better for gaming" so I went with AMD.

With the motherboards, well again I saw no where that I should pick this particular for my needs and because it does this or that, that others doesn't do.

 

[Izenra]

Ok I though about the lanParty socket 939.
dFI nForce4 4X (939) LANPARTY UT nF4-D 117.50 $
DFI nForce4 SLI (939) LanParty UT SLI-DR 177.00 $

Are these good?

Also, I read somewhere this : ""That SLI motherboard will be a COMPLETE waste of money. You're buying an ATi card, so you won't be able to use SLI anyways."

 

[deepinya]

You cannot SLI with an ATI card but if you plan on upgrading to Nvidia cards in the future then SLI will still be option if you buy the sli-dr.

Then again you can mod the dfi ultra-d to SLI.

 

[IEC]

Originally posted by: deepinya
You cannot SLI with an ATI card but if you plan on upgrading to Nvidia cards in the future then SLI will still be option if you buy the sli-dr.

Then again you can mod the dfi ultra-d to SLI.

That's not true as of the latest PCB revisions. nVidia forced them to stop it

 

[Izenra]

Ok so a DFI nForce4 4X (939) LANPARTY UT nF4-D 117.50 $ is all good and no conflict for these parts? Like, it's have PCI-e, etc?

MD Athlon 64 3500+ 2.2 GHz CPU
PC, Sun - Socket 939 - Bus 1600 MHz - 512 KB L2 Cache -

ATI RADEON X800 XL 256MB PCI-E

Corsair Value Select 1024MB PC3200 DDR 400MHz Memory 160

 

[crazyeddie]

Consider the MSI RS480M2-IL.

It's a socket 939 motherboard with Radeon Xpress 200 integrated graphics as well as 16x PCI-E graphics support.

This is good from your standpoint because the integrated graphics supports ATI's Cinema Display mode. The IGP will work in conjunction with your X800XL for triple monitor desktop support.

The board is readily available in the $80 to $90 price range from a number of resellers, and boasts an impressive list of other features as well. It is very stable, but doesn't include any BIOS options for overclocking. It also doesn't include Gigabit Ethernet, the integrated adapter is 10/100.

If you're not an overclocker, this is a very, very solid value for the money!

 

[stimpy1]

I second crazyeddie's advice. I remember asking him about the RS480M2-IL when I was considering others, and I'm not sorry I got it for my first build. The onboard graphics were better than I expected. I can play Half Life 2 with it just fine. Another advantage is that there isn't a fan on the board chipset (it has a heatsink), so you don't have to listen to another fan whining.

 

[Izenra]

Consider the MSI RS480M2-IL.

It's a socket 939 motherboard with Radeon Xpress 200 integrated graphics as well as 16x PCI-E graphics support.

This is good from your standpoint because the integrated graphics supports ATI's Cinema Display mode. The IGP will work in conjunction with your X800XL for triple monitor desktop support.

The board is readily available in the $80 to $90 price range from a number of resellers, and boasts an impressive list of other features as well. It is very stable, but doesn't include any BIOS options for overclocking. It also doesn't include Gigabit Ethernet, the integrated adapter is 10/100.

If you're not an overclocker, this is a very, very solid value for the money!

Thank! that is the kind of answer I wanted !

So I am going to get more "graphic power" buy using the ATI chip on this board than using the DFI LANPARTY UT NF4 ULTRA-D ? Or will I get the same kind of power ( but lower price for MSI RS480M2-IL ) and just have 3 monitor support ?

I am not a overclocker. I didn't even know what I was 4 days ago :S!

It also doesn't include Gigabit Ethernet, the integrated adapter is 10/100.

Anyway, a Ethernet card does not cost a lot I think, and I don't plan on making heavily lan party or networks.

Oh by the way, I play World of Warcraft for the major part. I guess the duo ATI x800 xl + integrated will be powerful!

Thank !

 

[BlingBlingArsch]

well, u cant run integrated and x800xl at the same time and get additional performance. either u activate the onboard graphics in bios or u disable it and use the X800XL. Btw this card is the best bang for the buck at the moment. Buy it And have a look at the Sapphire X800XL with its great hsf. Very silent (i own this hsf on a 98pro), very good cooling, stylish optic . Gigaybyte also offers a completely passively cooled X800XL, great too.

Regarding harddrive take a look at the new seagate series 7200.8. It has the latest features like SataII, NCQ and a good speed and low noise. If u need perfect silence go for the Samsung SpinPoint P80 (SP1614C). And Hitachi, the best manufacturer these days.

mainboard: I dont wanna say the the MSI is crap, it surely offers solid performance. But there are better boards with a complete set of connectors, firewire, wirelessLan, SataII, u name it. So id suggest to buy something like the DFI u already picked out. It has all necessary features, great amount of bios options, good layout + i didnt hear of any big troubles.

What memory did u pick? is it a single 1024mb module? Iam asking cuz Sockel 939 CPUs have dual-channel Ram feature, which - in some games - means 5-10% more performance. So it may be a better idea to buy two sticks of memory. BTW prices were dropping massively for about 2-3 months. I dont know why, but memory is very cheap at the moment here in Germany, europe. U can buy a 1024mb stick with CL2.5 latencies for about 80$-100$ and two x 512mb with CL2@433Mhz for 110$. So its a great time for upgrading memory.

gl