its urgent!!!!

[delco007]

hello everyone,
my friend is in Georgia and i have a choice of buying one grafix card and a mobo.the mobo i have chosen is ASUS A8N-E and the grafix card i have chosen is bfg 7600 gt oc.
but i m a bit confused about both these products , the specifications of A8N-E says that it can support an L2 cache of 512 kb.does tht mean it wont be able to support a processor 1mb of L2 cache like amd 64 4000+ or X2 3800 ?? secondly hes getting the grafix card for $200.is that fine ??am i doing right by buying A8N-E.one thing which i really liked abou this board is tht it supports ddr 2.
my max budget for both of these two is the lower side of $300.also suggest me which are the best places to buy computer hardware over there.soon he will be going to new york too.so take that into consideration as well.
note: pls tell the prices of the items u suggest.

 

[Sc4freak]

The A8N-E definately does not support DDR2. And, for $300, you could probably get an X1800XT. On top of that, its far better to go for a Conroe right now. Buying a S939 CPU/Motherboard right now is silly, because 1) It has already been replaced with AM2 2) It leaves no room for serious CPU upgrade (new ones are AM2 and S939 doesn't support DDR2) and 3) Conroe is better and faster.

 

[HomeyFoos]

Well, right now there has been a serious price drop in s939. So much of a drop that it should interest anyone building a system. Conroe is better. Agreed. But right now, you can get a s939 X2 3800+ for around $169 (down from $297 just last week). An SLi mobo can run as little as $85 (EpoX for one) so for what he could get just the Conroe chip for, he can get a CPU and a Mobo.

SLi'd 7600GS's run about $230-$280 (though if they are that expensive usually they come w/ $80 in rebates) and can be had for as little as $210. Perhaps that does nothing for someone who would buy an 1800xt but they (7600GS SLi'd) will score about 7300 in 3DMark05 (friend of mine has these cards and I've actually seen it - rather impressive for the $200 he paid for them).

Another benefit of s939 is that he can probably use the Ram he already has. And with the predominance of DDR2, the prices on DDR should come down very soon (though it never seems like it comes down too much) if he needs to upgrade.

So, in closing, let me be very clear. Sc4freak is correct that there is no upgrade path with s939. HOWEVER, if you do purchase a s939 the only area you will lack in is DDR2 support. For what you paid for it ($250ish for an X2 3800+ and an SLi mobo), you won't feel terrible for upgrading in a year or two (it will DEFINATELY support everything else besides DDR2 Ram). I couldn't blame you for buying Conroe. It seems to be super-cool. But right now it's expensive. There is tremendous value in s939 and not too long ago people were paying top-dollar for this stuff. I have a s754 HTPC but I have the EPoX SLi board so if I ever need to upgrade this machine, I can put another video card in it and I have machine that will rival anything s939, AM2, or Conroe for the next 12-15 mos. And s754 is completely dead. And soon, so will s939. But as long as you get PCIe, you are fine for the forseeable future.

Just my opinion, and if I am incorrect, someone will quickly correct me.

 

[aniruddha23]

would help if you mention in the summary what it is thats urgent.

 

[delco007]

HomeyFoos rightly said that with s939 i will be able to use my kingston ram and as i am on budget, i dont think i will be able to buy a decent AM2 mobo and a grafix card with in $300.
i dont need the sli technology coz i will never be investting in two identical cards instead i will sell out my old card and buy another single card. the idea of using 2 cards at once does not appeal to me.

so now i want u to suggest
1)asus a8n-e(is there anything better and correctly priced ?) and a good grafix card in $300
2)one am2 mobo and a good grafix card in $300 just in case theres something in my budget

 

[delco007]

Originally posted by: aniruddha23
would help if you mention in the summary what it is thats urgent.

i need u to suggest me a combination of mobo and grafix card within $300 and i need amd platform . rest of the details are in the other posts

 

[Bull Dog]

Originally posted by: HomeyFoos
So, in closing, let me be very clear. Sc4freak is correct that there is no upgrade path with s939. HOWEVER, if you do purchase a s939 the only area you will lack in is DDR2 support. For what you paid for it ($250ish for an X2 3800+ and an SLi mobo), you won't feel terrible for upgrading in a year or two (it will DEFINATELY support everything else besides DDR2 Ram). I couldn't blame you for buying Conroe. It seems to be super-cool. But right now it's expensive. There is tremendous value in s939 and not too long ago people were paying top-dollar for this stuff. I have a s754 HTPC but I have the EPoX SLi board so if I ever need to upgrade this machine, I can put another video card in it and I have machine that will rival anything s939, AM2, or Conroe for the next 12-15 mos. And s754 is completely dead. And soon, so will s939. But as long as you get PCIe, you are fine for the forseeable future.

Just my opinion, and if I am incorrect, someone will quickly correct me.

Actually AMD roadmaps show Socket 754 getting phased out a few months after AMD finished phasing out Socket 939.

 

[delco007]

i have found these two AM2 mobos , which is better and why (both of them are under $100).
MSI K9NU Neo-V and MSI K9N Neo-F

so far i havent recieved any proper suggestion for the grafix card

 

[HomeyFoos]

Actually AMD roadmaps show Socket 754 getting phased out a few months after AMD finished phasing out Socket 939.

See, I love it when I'm wrong and the real answer is better than I thought. Thanks Bull Dog!!!

I wasn't sure when the actual drop-dead date would be but I see fewer and fewer s754 solutions and I am ALWAYS shopping for stuff. I guess the real point is that while I drool over Conroe, the s754 platform will stay in the ballpark (atleast for the short-term, I'm sure 2007 will see them officially made obsolete) because I can juice up everything around it (video card(s), PCIe 1x, etc. etc.)

If Delco007 is indeed on a tight budget, the Motherboard alone for Conroe will almost eat up $300 (they seem to be in the mid $200 range, though I probably haven't looked enough - still way more expensive than an SLi s939). Also, the only reason I mention SLi is because for the $$ you are getting EXCELLENT performance with the passively cooled 7600GS from eVGA. Taking rebates out of the equation, you can get a 7900GT for around $270? It will score around 7700ish on default settings in 3DMark 05 (I dont think of 3DMark as the bible, just a numerical point of reference when discussing these matters). Comparetively, the dual 7600GS's will score 7300ish for 2/3rds the price. Again, great value.

Now, if you are opposed to 2 cards for a specific reason or you just don't like them, I can understand. Perhaps you are better served buying one 7600GS ($130ish but they always seem to have a rebate - oh, and I'm not recommending NVidia for any reason other than that is what I know the most about - I'm sure ATI has some nice offerings but I would avoid the x8XX series as it does not support SM 3.0 (not everyone needs this but for your money, why not get it?) and it is a last-gen card which means hotter and it will be obsolete). But two are simply outstanding for the price.


Let me nose around (I enjoy it if you would believe that) and see if I can find a good combo for you for your budget. There are a TON of brillant folks around here who will also chime in, provided they read the thread. They may totally disagree with me but the important thing is that you get what you are looking for.

 

[delco007]

i have researched a bit and found tht k9n neo-f is better since it has nvidia 550 chipset .do u guys recommend any other mobo which is NOT SLI enabled and is around $85 .and which grafix card is best around $220 ??
I HAVE GOT 10 HOURS TO DECIDE SO HURRYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!

 

[bobdelt]

GRAPHICS

 

[imported_Truenofan]

7600gt or x1800gto....seems to be. i've been looking for budget cards for a few friends of mine to build new comps.

 

[Bobthelost]

Stop for a second, what CPU do you have? You seem to be labouring under the misconception that you can use an A64 in either 939 or AM2 socket motherboards. Or you're ignoring the CPU from the costs too, in which case you're making a notable mistake. Assuming you've got a 939 CPU already:

The A8NE is a good 939 motherboard. $85
XFX 7900GT $230 after mail in rebate from newegg if you can overspend a bit. If not then a 7600 of some sort.

If you've got a 754 CPU then get a 754 board and a 7900GT. If you don't have a CPU at all then give up, you'll never learn all you need in time.

 

[delco007]

Originally posted by: Bobthelost
Stop for a second, what CPU do you have? You seem to be labouring under the misconception that you can use an A64 in either 939 or AM2 socket motherboards. Or you're ignoring the CPU from the costs too, in which case you're making a notable mistake. Assuming you've got a 939 CPU already:

The A8NE is a good 939 motherboard. $85
XFX 7900GT $230 after mail in rebate from newegg if you can overspend a bit. If not then a 7600 of some sort.

If you've got a 754 CPU then get a 754 board and a 7900GT. If you don't have a CPU at all then give up, you'll never learn all you need in time.

i havent bought the cpu yet so its out of consideration , i will buy that later but for now i need a good am2 mobo which is non sli and a single grafix card. there are so many brands building grafix cards of same chip .this is making my decision more difficult since i dont know which manufacturer is best.since i dont intend to buy cpu for atleast a month therefore i am not really thinking abou it.my only concern is to buy a good grafix card and a mobo which is future proof.lastly my budget limit is $300.
one thing more , i m wondering if it is worthy to buy an am2 mobo since 939 has atleast got a life of 4 yrs ahead with its dual core and fx processors . what do u think?.
Thanks for reminding me abou the cpu but as of now i m just concentrating on these two things.

 

[Captante]

Originally posted by: delco007

Originally posted by: Bobthelost
Stop for a second, what CPU do you have? You seem to be labouring under the misconception that you can use an A64 in either 939 or AM2 socket motherboards. Or you're ignoring the CPU from the costs too, in which case you're making a notable mistake. Assuming you've got a 939 CPU already:

The A8NE is a good 939 motherboard. $85
XFX 7900GT $230 after mail in rebate from newegg if you can overspend a bit. If not then a 7600 of some sort.

If you've got a 754 CPU then get a 754 board and a 7900GT. If you don't have a CPU at all then give up, you'll never learn all you need in time.

i havent bought the cpu yet so its out of consideration , i will buy that later but for now i need a good am2 mobo which is non sli and a single grafix card. there are so many brands building grafix cards of same chip .this is making my decision more difficult since i dont know which manufacturer is best.since i dont intend to buy cpu for atleast a month therefore i am not really thinking abou it.my only concern is to buy a good grafix card and a mobo which is future proof.lastly my budget limit is $300.
one thing more , i m wondering if it is worthy to buy an am2 mobo since 939 has atleast got a life of 4 yrs ahead with its dual core and fx processors . what do u think?.
Thanks for reminding me abou the cpu but as of now i m just concentrating on these two things.

Since you don't already have a CPU & don't plan on buying one for awhile, my advice is to keep your money safely in your wallet until a month from now & take your time making the decision. Prices on AM2 & Conroe cpu's will both likely drop some in that time & also you'll have time to make a more informed decision instead of rushing into a mistake.

If you do elect to go with a new AMD-based system, the only way to go in my opinion is socket AM2 because of the available processor upgrade path, however if Conroe motherboards & cpu's do drop in price they are the better choice.... either way remember this old saying because it applies very well here: "buy in haste, regret in leisure".

 

[delco007]

Originally posted by: Captante

Originally posted by: delco007

Originally posted by: Bobthelost
Stop for a second, what CPU do you have? You seem to be labouring under the misconception that you can use an A64 in either 939 or AM2 socket motherboards. Or you're ignoring the CPU from the costs too, in which case you're making a notable mistake. Assuming you've got a 939 CPU already:

The A8NE is a good 939 motherboard. $85
XFX 7900GT $230 after mail in rebate from newegg if you can overspend a bit. If not then a 7600 of some sort.

If you've got a 754 CPU then get a 754 board and a 7900GT. If you don't have a CPU at all then give up, you'll never learn all you need in time.

i havent bought the cpu yet so its out of consideration , i will buy that later but for now i need a good am2 mobo which is non sli and a single grafix card. there are so many brands building grafix cards of same chip .this is making my decision more difficult since i dont know which manufacturer is best.since i dont intend to buy cpu for atleast a month therefore i am not really thinking abou it.my only concern is to buy a good grafix card and a mobo which is future proof.lastly my budget limit is $300.
one thing more , i m wondering if it is worthy to buy an am2 mobo since 939 has atleast got a life of 4 yrs ahead with its dual core and fx processors . what do u think?.
Thanks for reminding me abou the cpu but as of now i m just concentrating on these two things.

Since you don't already have a CPU & don't plan on buying one for awhile, my advice is to keep your money safely in your wallet until a month from now & take your time making the decision. Prices on AM2 & Conroe cpu's will both likely drop some in that time & also you'll have time to make a more informed decision instead of rushing into a mistake.

If you do elect to go with a new AMD-based system, the only way to go in my opinion is socket AM2 because of the available processor upgrade path, however if Conroe motherboards & cpu's do drop in price they are the better choice.... either way remember this old saying because it applies very well here: "buy in haste, regret in leisure".

my friend is in US for a short while and thts y i m in hurry.i need to make the best out of this time and i am not buying the cpu since they are heavily priced for now. one thing more amd 64 3500 is compatible with am2 socket mobo.am i right?

 

[HomeyFoos]

I have always bought eVGA. The reason being, they allow you to step your card up within 90 days of purchase. So you can buy a 7600GT for $160-180 today and then register your card at their site and they will put you in a waiting queue. You select the card you would like to step up to (any card they offer except for the signature series that I recall) and they send you an email when it's time to step up. They will give you full retail value for your card and all you do is pay the difference plus shipping your card to them ($8) and them shipping the new one to you (another $13).

Took me about 45 days to step up from a 7800GTX to a 7900GTX Superclock and the total cost was like $150? Anyway, the point is you can buy now, use for a period of time, and upgrade to a new, better card. Great program. Also, eVGA offers a lifetime warranty on their products. As long as you do not fracture the board, you can put a new fan on, voltmod, whatever. If it ever breaks, they will fix it. If they can't fix it, I assume they will replace? Or perhaps credit you towards a new card? Anyway, no other company offers both of these programs. Look into them, sounds like what you are looking for.

 

[delco007]

Originally posted by: HomeyFoos
I have always bought eVGA. The reason being, they allow you to step your card up within 90 days of purchase. So you can buy a 7600GT for $160-180 today and then register your card at their site and they will put you in a waiting queue. You select the card you would like to step up to (any card they offer except for the signature series that I recall) and they send you an email when it's time to step up. They will give you full retail value for your card and all you do is pay the difference plus shipping your card to them ($8) and them shipping the new one to you (another $13).

Took me about 45 days to step up from a 7800GTX to a 7900GTX Superclock and the total cost was like $150? Anyway, the point is you can buy now, use for a period of time, and upgrade to a new, better card. Great program. Also, eVGA offers a lifetime warranty on their products. As long as you do not fracture the board, you can put a new fan on, voltmod, whatever. If it ever breaks, they will fix it. If they can't fix it, I assume they will replace? Or perhaps credit you towards a new card? Anyway, no other company offers both of these programs. Look into them, sounds like what you are looking for.

right now i m thinking will they do this if i m in India?if my friend buys the card in US and if i will pay em the shipping cost , i dont think it will be as much cheap as it might be for someone living in US.so the only thing i can do is to buy the best my money can buy .i guess every card maker offers lifetime warranty.isnt it true??

 

[delco007]

its 4 am here , i m going to sleep now.hope to see some more interesting answers when i get up

 

[Captante]

I didn't realize that was for your friend & that was why you were in a hurry ... in that case the Asus M2N-E NForce 570 & the EVGA 7600GT would be good choices for you.

 

[delco007]

i am satisfied with the mobo, but in the grafix cards section .i wanna know if i should buy a SAPPHIRE 100154 Radeon X1800XT 256MB or a XFX PV-T71G-UCF7 Geforce 7900GT 256MBcard ??? and are these cards worth the $$$ i m going to pay ??

 

[hmorphone]

What does your friend like to do on his computer? Which games does he like to play the most? They're both good cards and they're worth it if he likes to game a lot. Some games favor Nvidia, some favor ATI.

 

[delco007]

games : 1st person shooters, 3rd person shooters , adventure games like prince of persia,
racing games nfs most wanted.
MY ORDER OF PREFERENCE OF CARDS
1)SAPPHIRE 100154 Radeon X1800XT 256MB
2)XFX PV-T71G-UCF7 Geforce 7900GT
3)POWERCOLOR X1800GTO 256MB Radeon X1800GTO 256MB
4)eVGA 256-P2-N554-AX Geforce 7600GT KO 256MB
whats ur preference order?

 

[HomeyFoos]

I am certainly not an ATI expert but if I recall correctly, you get better performance out of the 7900GT than you would out of the 1800XT. If you got the 1800XTX, then it would win out, but I think the XT loses to the 7900GT. Could be wrong, though, as I said, I'm not much an observer of the ATI side of things and just go by what I read here (or think I read )

Also, this last gen of cards, ATI took the high-end crown (though some would say it's debatable because of SLi's dominance over crossfire) but NVidia truly rules everything below that. So if you are looking at the GTO series, I think the 7600GT KO (superclock or whatever they call it) would be the better choice. The middle-of-the-road is owned by NVidia and both of those cards fall in that category. So my list would look like this (even though some will probably disagree and if I am not straight on my facts, feel free to correct me)

1. GeForce 7900 GT (I would buy eVGA but I live stateside)
2. x1800xt
3. 7600GT KO
4. x1800GTO

I'm sure this makes me look like a greenie (and truth be told, I am) but I really try to base my opinions of this stuff off of the people really in the know. And that would be the posters here who go back and forth every day about green vs. red. They fight like cats and dogs but even they can agree that ATI is lacking in the low-to-middle end offerings. However, they are quick to point out ATI's success in the high-end market. I don't know if the 1800XT falls into that category. If it did, it would be low-to-middle high end. There are a couple of x1900xxx cards out there that stack ontop of it and the x1800xtx. Also, didn't the x1800xt compete directly w/ the 7800GTX? And the 7900GT is that card using 90nm technology (depsite the initial problems w/ the ram)?

 

[delco007]

hey Homeyfoos,
i checked some reviews abou these cards and found out what u r saying is true.the 7600gt card even though it has a memory interface of 128 bit is giving tough competetion to x1800gto.
now to other members : everything has been decided about buying but the main prob is that the prices which we have found online are atleast $20 less than the general shops in georgia and somedays back the evga 7600 gt ko card was offered at $135 online at bizrate.com but when he checked out a store in georgia , its been sold for $200.why are they selling it for such a high price as compared to online shops. isnt there any good place to buy pc hardware like a wholesale market of pc hardware or something like tht??help me out with this part.

bye for now
Sonu