mobo options

[dbdive]

my first two choices (biostar Tforce 550, dfi ultraII M2) are out of stock and not likely to become available
my third choice is this Gigabyte GA-M61P-S3

I'm hoping to overclock later on, maybe soon who knows ...



but, should i stick with this motherboard or consider ________(blank)?
is there a better mobo to overclock with
here're the other parts

XFX PVT73GUGF3 GeForce 7600GT...........................$88 - 20rebate
G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB)............................................$45
AMD Athlon 64 X2 3600+ Brisbane 1.9GHz.................$56
Gigabyte GA-M61P-S3................................................$75 mobo + cpu 131

is the mobo + cpu even a good deal or should I consider some other bang for the buck combo?

ORR am I good to go?

Also, can I use going-on-4years old AS5?

 

[Crumbelievable]

My exact core system:

cpu

mobo

mem

vid card

BANG for the buck. Works a charm. OC the brisbane to 2.4ghz (could probably go higher but I haven't tried yet). Also the 1650xt is faster than the 7600gt in many circumstances. And in rare circumstances competes against the 7900gs. Check the X-bit review.

 

[Pyrokinetic]

May I suggest the BIOSTAR TF560 A2+ as a better option to the Gigabyte board.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813138081

The Gigabyte GA-M61P-S3 is an integrated graphics solution which generally do not overclock as well as non-integrated boards. Since you are going to buy a graphics card anyway, it does not even make sense to consider such a board.

Anandtech reviewed the BIOSTAR TF560 A2+ and gave it a very nice review:
http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=3051

 

[Regalk]

My vote goes for the Biostar as well .I have the Biostar 570SLI and am very happy with it - running the X2 3600+ at 322 X 9.5.

 

[Killrose]

You could penny pinch a bit further if you buy your CPU and vid card on the forsale trade forum here. I picked up an X2 3600+ Brisbane for $45 shipped no HS fan 3 months ago so you might be able to find a better CPU for the same. Your better off with a higher multiplier CPU anyways. Run mine on a Gigabyte MA69G-S3H @ 2.6gig no problems.

 

[Nessism]

Don't have anything negative to say per say about your choices, but my opinion is if you are going to go X2 you may as well get an X2+ motherboard to assure an upgrade path in the future. AMD will eventually get the bugs out of the new quad core processors which will be a nice upgrade down the road. Everyone talks about X2 being good enough for quads with a bios update, but I'd hedge my bet and get the assured compatibility of X2+.