suggestions for motherboard/cpu (been out of the game for a while)

[ronjeremy85]

I have been out the game as far as upgrading for a while and I am lost. Can someone catch me up and suggest a reasonably priced motherboard/CPU? I have always been an AMD guy, and I run Windows XP, along with photoshop, illustrator, and vb 2005 demo. I have a kr7a-raid and a 1.2 gb amd xp processor, which would tell you how long it's been since I upgraded. Any help would be appreciated. If intel is currently better than amd, any suggestions for an intel board is welcome. Thanks.

 

[crazyeddie]

The hot new board is the MSI RS480M2-IR, it's a mATX Socket 939 board compatible with the Athlon 64 socket 939 cpu series. It is small enough to fit in an Antec Aria small form factor case. It also boasts a 16x PCI-E graphics slot, gigabit Ethernet, SATA Raid 0/1/1+0, s/pdif digital output from integrated sound, built-in IEEE 1394 firewire connectivity as well as USB 2.0, Dual Channel DDR RAM support, and even has integrated DirectX 9 graphics processing if you want to wait to buy a new video card.

The MSI RS480M2-IR is widely available and shipping today at prices starting around $92 plus shipping and handling. Get yours today!

 

[ronjeremy85]

Thank you very much!

 

[ronjeremy85]

Don't like the Antec Aria case though, but I'm sure I can find a case for it. Thanks again.

 

[crazyeddie]

No problem, you can put it in just about any mATX or ATX case that you want to. I just mentioned the Aria because SFF PCs are popular now.

 

[Zap]

What's your budget and what size case you gonna be using? Also, what parts from the old system are you hoping to keep?

 

[BlueKit]

Originally posted by: crazyeddie
The hot new board is the MSI RS480M2-IR, it's a mATX Socket 939 board compatible with the Athlon 64 socket 939 cpu series. It is small enough to fit in an Antec Aria small form factor case. It also boasts a 16x PCI-E graphics slot, gigabit Ethernet, SATA Raid 0/1/1+0, s/pdif digital output from integrated sound, built-in IEEE 1394 firewire connectivity as well as USB 2.0, Dual Channel DDR RAM support, and even has integrated DirectX 9 graphics processing if you want to wait to buy a new video card.

The MSI RS480M2-IR is widely available and shipping today at prices starting around $92 plus shipping and handling. Get yours today!

Just curious Eddie where are you getting your info on this hot new board, that makes it so hot?

 

[TransientBen]

The AMD 64s (socket 939, 90nm) are the way to go right now, both for cost and performance reasons. Retail 3200+ will set you back $190 shipped. Boards are a tossup, depending on what you intend to use. nForce4 just game out and several companies have boards out - MSI, DFI, Soltek, Chaintek, ECS and Asus. I'd recommend doing plenty of research to figure out what's best for you.

MSI has had QC complaints, but those who have it working are happier than heck.
DFI's board is having some serious RAM issues. Lots of supporters, however.
Soltek is a value-priced board with a good name as of late. I'd put Chaintek in the same camp.
ECS has a questionable track record but very favorable results in their Extreme series.
Asus tends to be solid, but expensive.

I'd recommend reading up on all of the boards you can.

 

[crazyeddie]

Just curious Eddie where are you getting your info on this hot new board, that makes it so hot?

I ordered an MSI RS480M2-IR last friday, so it is the greatest socket 939 motherboard ever! At least inside my fragile little mind it is.

I want to talk as many other people into buying them as I can, so when I have problems you all can tell me how to fix them!

 

[bloodline]

Originally posted by: ronjeremy85
I have been out the game as far as upgrading for a while and I am lost. Can someone catch me up and suggest a reasonably priced motherboard/CPU? I have always been an AMD guy, and I run Windows XP, along with photoshop, illustrator, and vb 2005 demo. I have a kr7a-raid and a 1.2 gb amd xp processor, which would tell you how long it's been since I upgraded. Any help would be appreciated. If intel is currently better than amd, any suggestions for an intel board is welcome. Thanks.

I have totally fallen in Love with the Gigabyte GA-K8NF-9 nForce4 based Motherboard it is dirt cheap, and cram packed with features. put a 90nm CPU on it and it overclocks like a dream.

Before this board I was an MSI man.

 

[ronjeremy85]

I am learning VB.NET and hope to learn Java as well. I use photoshop and illustrator for vb and internet website/blog purposes. I am not a gamer but I do need some graphics capability for image editing. My main focus is to be able to multi-task without bringing my computer to a slow creep. A newer platform seems logical since most of the programs I use were written for a newer platform. I have thought about dual processors to help with multiple programs, and even using linux (which divides system resources better through multiple applications) instead of windows.

I just didn't really know what I was looking at when I went to anandtech, and that scared me. I used to be up on all of this. It will take me some time to get back in the groove.

By the way, I don't plan to use anything on my old computer in the new one. I will probably send my old one to my mom. That's how I've done it for years now. She get upgraded and it doesn't cost her anything.

 

[Zap]

I don't plan to use anything on my old computer in the new one.

Ahhh, a clean slate...

What's your budget?

My main focus is to be able to multi-task without bringing my computer to a slow creep.

Dual Opteron setup would be expensive, but would multitask circles around anything else on the desktop. Next up would be any P4 CPU with HyperThreading (HT). HT "fakes" dual CPUs. In actual practice it can multitask a bit better than without HT, but not as good as true dual CPUs. However, with a fast enough system you may not notice much difference anyways depending on the nature of your "multitasking." If you are playing MP3s in the background and have various programs running but are doing something only in one program at a time, probably won't notice a difference. If you have things running in the background that require true CPU usage, such as (just pulling tasks outta my orifice, don't really know) compiling software or compressing video and you expect to be able to do other stuff while those tasks run, then dual CPUs (or two computers on a KVM) would be really nice. I've even noticed a definate performance difference between having and not having HT when downloading bittorrents. With a few popular torrents going, the non-HT system felt kinda sluggish while the Ht system didn't feel any different.

The best overall bang/buck would be some kinda A64 system. Feel free to use either socket 754 or socket 939. Since you aren't concerned with future CPU upgrades, either one would suffice.

 

[ronjeremy85]

The problem is, I am concerned with future upgrades. I am looking at the MSI RS480M2-IL (don't know if the IR in the previous posts are a typo, but I could not find an IR on the MSI website) with an amd 64 3000. How new is this processor and will this board with 939 pin support anything higher than the 64FX ? I noticed that there are not a lot of 64 bit programs out there. How soon will the 64 bit processor be used? I guess I am asking if I am better off buying a couple of GBs more memory with my current system and put back some serious cash for a great pc later, when the windows 64 bit op passes beta release and other programs go 64 bit?

 

[akugami]

The Athlon 64 3000+ is a very good cpu although some people are reporting that more recent builds (starting with week 51's) are not able to overclock much past 2200mhz though some still are able to. The stock speed on it is 1800mhz. If you don't plan to overclock then it doesn't matter. Some are speculating that A64's previously that would run at higher speeds were made into A64 3000+'s because of high initial demand for the cheaper cpu's compared to it's higher cost siblings. I'm going to guess people like those visiting these forums bought a lot of them.

Supposedly all Socket 939 motherboards will support dual core cpu's along with the usual speed bin upgrades so we should be well covered in the upgrades department. There are prototype S939 dual core cpu's being demo'ed from AMD so all signs point to yes as far as a good upgrade path is concerned.

I too saw that particular MSI board with the ATI chipset but haven't seen any reviews on it and I definitely don't own one so I can't say whether it's good or not.

You probably won't see major 64 bit support from many system vendors until the latter part of 2005 and beyond. With dual core cpu's and 64 bit enabled cpu's from AMD and Intel the software developers are probably making coding changes for both updates rather than update for one then the other. So it could be a while before we see any real changes in terms of software. After all, if you're going to have to rewrite a lot of code to take advantage of 64 bit cpu's you might as well rewrite that code to take advantage of dual core cpu's if it's present.

 

[customcoms]

I would go with the Chaintech. It all depends on your budget. That MSI board based on the ATI chipset is NOT the hot new thing-before this thread hardly anyone has mentioned it. crazyeddie is just trying to get more people to buy it because he wants other people to tell him how to use the product he is buying. Basically, get a nForce4 board and a 3000+ or 3200+ and go from their. You will need a new graphics card since it is PCI-E, and that is going to set you back $80-100 for the cheapest cards, and for longer term performance a 6600GT would be a good investment. Also, get a GOOD psu. The cheapest, good psu that has native 24 pin and plenty of amps is this:http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=17-101-509&depa=0
Also, for your needs, I would look into getting some more ram as an alternative (don't know what you are starting from), since that processor isn't too shabby in that department (I know, I'm typing this on one right now), of course it isn't going to beat the latest and greatest. Just to let you know, Intel tops AMD in almost everything but games and overclocking, so if running more "general' software, looking into Intel might not be a bad idea, but it is more expensive!

Sam

 

[intogamer]

would you be o/cing? Just get an a64. 754 newcastle.

 

[ronjeremy85]

Thanks to everyone for all of the help.