Intel or AMD MB combo

[Matt L]

My 5 year old ECS MB has crapped out and I need a moderate priced replacement. Lost the SATA drives, today it went black with audio, then would not boot. It's up now but for how long?

The 2 I have in mind is the Intel based MSI Z97 PC Mate Socket LGA 1150 ATX Intel Motherboard with the G3258 3.2 GHz LGA1150 Boxed Processor for $99 at Microcenter

The other option I'm considering is the AMD cobo of AMD FX 6350 Black Edition 3.9GHz Six-Core Socket AM3+ Boxed Processor and Gigabyte GA-78LMT-USB3 Socket AM3+ mATX 760G AMD Motherboard for $109.

I'm running an AMD quad core Athlon II 620 800mhz now. I'm going to have to buy memory too, 4G is another $45. Really don't want to spend the money with the holidays here but I need my main system up and running.

Any better options at $150 or less - Which of the two listed in the best option? I'm not a power user btw...

 

[Watrreindd]

The other option looks good to me.
Your computer equipment depends on your purpose.if you want to use for personal,that is enough.

 

[daveybrat]

Go with the Z97 Mate and G3258 combo deal. Good performance and you'll have a motherboard that you can upgrade with in the future.

The AMD motherboard is old and a dead end for upgradability.

 

[Matt L]

Ok, we are one and one. is the AMD FX 6350 Black Edition 3.9GHz Six-Core Socket AM3+ at the end of it's life cycle or is it just the MB?

 

[mikeford]

Where did you see the 6350 and Gigabyte MB for $109?

Just bought my son a MicroCenter bundle of the 6300 boxed and ASUS (spit, issues) M5A97 for $129 OTD.

 

[mikeford]

BTW my thought sticking with AMD is that eventually the MB issues get worked out, and its cheap bang/buck mid range performer.

 

[Matt L]

scroll down to the 6350 bundles.

http://www.microcenter.com/site/products/amd_bundles.aspx

 

[scannall]

The AMD is more bang for the buck. Games are coming out now that will not even load on a dual core machine. I know, Intel rocks and all that, but a dual core Pentium really isn't very good.