Nforce4 - Is it worth it?

[The Pentium Guy]

Is nf4 really worth it? I'm not much of an oc'er. Should I stick with nf3 instead? The gigabyte NF4 board is the msi neo2 platinum nf3 ultra board.

The reason i'm debating this is because, well i'm building my dad's pc and he doesn't want a good graphics card, so I doubt he'll spend the money for a PCI-Express card. I wish they had AGP *AND* PCI-E on nf4.

-TPG

 

[Demo24]

well theres no need to go PCI-e at all if he doesnt need a good card

 

[friedrice]

I'm wondering this as well. With the 6600 GT coming out in an AGP version, the PCI express isn't really important then. Also I'm planning on keeping that card and system for at least 2 years, and so by then I'd prolly want a new motherboard anyway. Also, Gigabite ethernet isn't really that important as I don't have any gigabyte switches and the lans I go to are all T-100's. But, I am looking at overclocking an Athlon 64 3200+ with the 90 nano core So, I, is nForce 4 better at OC'ing? Also, what in the world is SATA II?

 

[bap4201]

Nforce4 - Is it worth it?

Absolutely...next!

 

[Mephistopheles1101]

I personally am planning on a new build based on the nf4 plus an X800XL, which is pcie only.

 

[Insomniak]

Might as well make the jump to PCI Express now if you're upgrading...the cost is pretty much the same, and your upgrade path is clearer...

 

[fishmonger12]

Originally posted by: Insomniak
Might as well make the jump to PCI Express now if you're upgrading...the cost is pretty much the same, and your upgrade path is clearer...

yep.

go nforce 4 .

 

[Mellman]

Originally posted by: Insomniak
Might as well make the jump to PCI Express now if you're upgrading...the cost is pretty much the same, and your upgrade path is clearer...

exactly...what if your agp card dies down the road....how hard is it now to find a pci graphics card, go with the future!

 

[The Pentium Guy]

What's the cheapest pci-e card with TV-out? I mean he's looking in the 50 dollar range .

 

[friedrice]

Except for nForce 3 boards are much cheaper then a nForce 4 board. I think the biggest question is, can the nForce 4 overclock better then the nForce 3. That's my main question. If the 4 is better, then without a doubt i'm going to get it.
O, and on a side note, what is SATA 2.0? And does this required a SATA 2.0 hard drive?

 

[amheck]

Originally posted by: The Pentium Guy
What's the cheapest pci-e card with TV-out? I mean he's looking in the 50 dollar range .

Have you even bothered to check prices? Try newegg for example.

Hint: Go to the video card section, search by interface "PCI_Express" and the lowest priced card will be the first card listed.

 

[mystere]

If you're building a cheap system, no.. nforce4 isn't worth it. The advantages of nforce4 are, dual channed ddr, PCIe, SATAII, gigabit ethernet, and 1000Mhz HyperTransport.

None of those things are necessary if performance is not your #1 priority. For that matter, it might even be cheaper to go the Celeron or Sempron route instead of Athlon 64.

Things to keep in mind though, are:

Future upgradeability. Socket 939 will be what's going forward (except for sempron, and I imagine that will go 939 eventually as well). PCIe will be the standard going forward. AGP will be like PCI graphics today. You can find them, but not very common. You'll have a lot more choice in PCIe going forward.

SATAII, drives are all SATAI right now, 1.5MB/s, SATAII (3MB/s) will be coming down the pike soon, but will probably be backwards compatible with SATAI anyways.

Chances are, he won't notice the difference between nForce 3 (250) and nForce 4, but if you are going to be using it as well, you might want to convince him to go for the muscle.

 

[The Pentium Guy]

Have you even bothered to check prices? Try newegg for example.

Hint: Go to the video card section, search by interface "PCI_Express" and the lowest priced card will be the first card listed.

Whoops. I meant to ask "what's the cheapest card with PCI-E that you can *recommend* ". Sorry for the confusion.

Yeah, th echeapest is $190. I'm not goign anywhere near there.

I've actually switched to VIA K8T800Pro and decided on the ASUS A8V deluxe
http://www.newegg.com/app/View...=13-131-510&depa=1

-The Pentium Guy

 

[jabronidan89]

Originally posted by: Mephistopheles1101
I personally am planning on a new build based on the nf4 plus an X800XL, which is pcie only.

Same here. I am also waiting for the Venice core to come out, then I will have all the money I need and hopefully the x800xl will actually be available.

 

[slurmsmackenzie]

go with an intel with onboard video. for what it is, it's onboard video is impressive and if he doesn't need great video, that'll be perfect for him.

 

[amheck]

I found a PCI-e graphics card for $60, with TV out. I'm sure it'd be fine for your dad who doesn't want an expensive one anyway.