TC good choices but...isn't the 790 a bit over the top if maddafinga wants to use his existing hardware? The 770s have almost identical specs to the 790s sans some obvious points but, with madda's existing hardware it's more complimentary, offers upgrade options and is more cost effective.
Just sayin.
when I was looking at what MB's he had picked or others had offered. I looked at both the North Bridge chipset and South bridge Chipset.....
Regarding North Bridge chipset:
He will have opportunity to gain more with the AMD790FX over the lower 700 models, or even the AMD 790X model ( I have to find the old review, that helped me pick my current MB... to back this up )
South Bridge Chipset Information:
The only thing SB600 and SB700 have different is the SATA port count (and that they use A-Link 2.0 (PCI-E 2.0 x4 connection with the NB)), while SB750 is the one that features ACC (Advanced Clock Caliberation). So SB700 is more similar to SB600 than to SB750.
he mentioned either just picking a MB and using all his exisitng stuff or pick a MB/CPU combo..... I had 1st thought of the same CPU he chose along with the MB I am suggesting. but it was way to costly, and I figured he was trying to cut cost.. then I remembered the:
AMD Athlon II X4 630 Propus 2.8GHz Socket AM3 95W Quad-Core CPU
which will blow away his current CPU ( 5200 X2 ) and can overclock with ease, if he desires or feels the need too without touching any Vcore adjustments ( just has to bump the FSB multiplier ) people ae getting 3.2 to 3.5 easily on Air cool ........
and I looked at the price of the Combo he had chosen, the options & features that MB had........ and figured if ya going to go with either a new MB or a MB/CPU combo why not go FULLTILT and get a MB that you can really EXPAND with ( provided the AM3 socket AMDs run for a few years )
since I have kind of known maddafinga for years.. I looked at his situation as if it were me... my PC I am using now is equipped with an ASUS M3A32-MVP Deluxe WiFi-AP MB.. although I have a very disrespected AMD 64 Athlon 6400+ X2 3.2 gig Dual Core Processor ( actually works very well for me).. I am able to upgrade to the AM2+ and with bios flash to an AM3 when I am ready...... my MB is over 1 1/2 yrs old already btw.....
Reference websites about my own MB:
http://www.asus.com/product.aspx?P_ID=KC8yHOfBMCe9SlrP&templete=2http://event.asus.com/mb/AM3_CPU_Support/so he can use all his existing hardware now....... and he can have a very long upgrade path to boot.....except for the DDR3 part, I mentioned before...
I even told him in a PM to look at maybe getting an Ati 5750/5770/5870 video card....depending on their cost verses the GTX260 he had listed above..... he'd might save money there, and also have DirectX 11 support to boot....... and GDDR5 memory?....... ( I have not checked what specs the GTX260 has or its cost )
anyways that is why I recommended he go with the MB I had suggested.......
it solely is up to maddafinga to pick his setup.... I was just giving him a "what TC would do in my situation, and was budgeting my funds to get the most umph out of what I buy" type thought....... How far could I really UPGRADE before completely rebuilding a total New PC type thought.....
hope this is a acceptable answer, gyrene
my apologys to everyone for being such long winded in some of my posts........
