Author Topic: new mobo/cpu combo (Read 268 times)

Modas · « **on:** February 18, 2003, 08:41:04 AM »

Can anyone recommend a good motherboard/CPU combo (intel or AMD). Going to upgrade the P3 700 and the GF1 card with the tax return....

looking to spend between 150 - 200 clams

Much thanks!

Ghosth · « **Reply #1 on:** February 18, 2003, 09:03:22 AM »

Depends on what your willing to spend and what you want.

I just bought a couple of Abit KD7-E boards, but they just shipped yest.

I was on a tight budget so went with AMD XP 2000 (1.67 ghz)

Read the reviews at tomshardware.com
& any other info you can find.

Siaf__csf · « **Reply #2 on:** February 18, 2003, 09:07:47 AM »

If you want to go AMD way, nforce2 is the best motherboard choice. Other than that, it's mostly a question of how much money you're willing to spend.

On Intel there are much more options.

I myself am currently very interested in Shuttle SN41G small form-factor nforce2 box. It has everything you can hope for and then some in a breadbox size.

humble · « **Reply #3 on:** February 18, 2003, 11:03:07 AM »

My A7M266 bit the dust after only 18 months or so (power supply problem). I ended up getting a Gigabyte board (GA-7VAXP) and it's been a great choice so far. 8xAGP with a nice raid controller built in. 1st gigabyte board I've seen that fully supports overclocking.

bloom25 · « **Reply #4 on:** February 20, 2003, 02:18:08 AM »

$200 doesn't give you much to work with. Any new MB and CPU are also going to require you to get new ram (DDR most likely) and probably a larger power supply than what you have.

That said:

If you go AMD, you want an nForce 2 based board. IMO no exceptions. The VIA KT400 chipset is the closest competitor, but can't match the speed nor the stability of the nForce 2. I prefer the Asus A7N8X (there is a Deluxe and non-Deluxe version, the Deluxe version has just about all one could dream of but onboard video).

The non deluxe version of this board will probably cost around $130 and the Deluxe about $160.

Currently the AMD CPUs at 2200+ and below are very well priced. A 2000+ is probably the best bargain among them. CPU prices are going to vary A LOT depending on who you buy from.

If you go Intel I prefer the 845PE chipset based boards or the new Granite Bay chipset. (I haven't personally tried the latter though...)

Intel P4 CPUs are significantly more expensive than AMD Athlon XPs at the 2.2 GHz level and below. Unfortunately, they also do not outperform the equivilant AMD products either IMO. If you go Intel the best bang for the buck is probably a 2.53 GHz 'B' model, but that will cost quite a bit. It's only the 533 MHz FSB 'B' type P4s that are even worth considering IMO.