Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => Hardware and Software => Topic started by: WhiteHawk on February 10, 2006, 06:01:21 PM
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Well, here I go again. I am going to build my second rig and would like to try AMD cpu. Any suggestions for a motheroard? I dont mind spending up to 200 bucks on a mobo, but all I really need is a solid gaming board (I guess that is all anybody really needs;) ) I got the case, I just dont know which way to go from here.
Thnx for any help
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What I did, was go to Mwave or newegg.
Look at motherboard bundles for the processor you want.
Pick the speed of the CPU, ie 3200, etc.
Then look at the motherboard options listed.
There should be a long list of available motherboards for that processor.
Copy, paste into google, and read up on the board.
Process of elimination till your down to one that has what you want, that you can afford.
There are a LOT of good boards out there for 50 to 120$ I don't see much need for going a lot beyond that in price.
Mwave will even add ram, and for 9$ assemble and test the whole bundle.
Its the cheapest insurance you'll ever pay to make sure the vital parts are all going to work when you drop it into the case.
Plus you can not put together a combo that won't work.
Drop it into the case, hook up led & switch wires, power, ide/ata cables, and your ready for drives & first boot.
PS I'm partial to Abit boards, virtually no jumpers to set, its all done in bios software. So they are very easy to build, very reliable. My oldest abit board finally failed on me last year after a power surge. It was 6 years old and had been in 3 diff cases/configurations.
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Sounds like a good plan ..Thanx alot!
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I posted a higher end setup here and got a really good deal on a CPU/Motherboard combo through Newegg. Its posted in this thread link as well.
http://www.hitechcreations.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=170288
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Asus, Asus, and Asus my first three choices followed by Gigabyte and Abit. I say this and Im using an Abit board but I have stopped using them because of chipset fan problems (replaced 3 so far on my AG8 in just over a year) on their boards that use the chipset fans I.E. AA8, AS8, AG8. Havent used any of the new Abit boards that use heatpipe technology for cooling the chipset I.E. AW8, but I would think thats why they went to it. I have built several systems with the new Asus boards that use the heatpipe chipset cooling and they are awesome! Other than that Abit makes a great board. PCIExpress and sli support are almost a must with the new games that will be coming out. If your using it for AH only then you really wont need the SLI support.
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I'm using a Megabyte. It's an Intel chipset though. Still seems to be a very good board and takes the punishment of the n00b builder that I am. :D
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Originally posted by WindX
Asus, Asus, and Asus my first three choices followed by Gigabyte and Abit. I say this and Im using an Abit board but I have stopped using them because of chipset fan problems (replaced 3 so far on my AG8 in just over a year) on their boards that use the chipset fans I.E. AA8, AS8, AG8. Havent used any of the new Abit boards that use heatpipe technology for cooling the chipset I.E. AW8, but I would think thats why they went to it. I have built several systems with the new Asus boards that use the heatpipe chipset cooling and they are awesome! Other than that Abit makes a great board. PCIExpress and sli support are almost a must with the new games that will be coming out. If your using it for AH only then you really wont need the SLI support.
Man i got a abit ic7 max 3 and that thing ive replaced the NB fan 2 times. I hear ya, I think I am going to look at asus. What board would you recommend from asus? I want to up to date with my board. I dont play alot of games, but when the wifes out of town, I like to tear it up. Thnx for the advice.
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If you read through some of the online tests and reviews of motherboards for gaming applications, a few names come out on top. Mostly Abit and MSI. Asus is making good stuff too. The top two rated gaming boards are the Abit Fatal1ty A8N and the MSI Neo4 Platinum Edition.
Personally, I read those articles and then go read the reviews from customers at Newegg and Tiger Direct. Amazing how much difference there can be.
While no one really trashed the top Abit board, it cost well over 200 bucks. All the cheaper models (even the other A8N model boards) had numerous complaints about having to RMA bad boards and failing fans, etc.
The MSI Neo board had much better reviews, and was 100 bucks cheaper to boot. Again though, I noticed that there were lots more complaints as you got into the cheaper versions, even with the same chipset.
Hmmm, you get what you pay for?
From all the reviews I read, all the articles I read, and all the research I did, the best I could come up with in terms of reliability, liklihood of it working when you get it, performance and value was the MSI Neo4 Platinum Edition. Take that for what its worth.
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I'm suprised no one has mentioned DFI , ive read good stuff about them and have setup a few Lanparty boards in the past . They have a very nice bios setup with about every adjustment in the book for overclocking . Id take a look at a few of them , there are alot of review on the net .
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Originally posted by WhiteHawk
Man i got a abit ic7 max 3 and that thing ive replaced the NB fan 2 times. I hear ya, I think I am going to look at asus. What board would you recommend from asus? I want to up to date with my board. I dont play alot of games, but when the wifes out of town, I like to tear it up. Thnx for the advice.
The two boards I use to build most Asus systems are the A8N sli premium (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131540) which is a Socket 939 AMD board and the P5LD2 SLI Deluxe (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131539) which uses the Intel Socket T (775) P-4 Processor, I prefer the AMD based boards because the AMD processors are a bit easier to cool. Both have great performance and both have 1000mhz + fsb's and either will make the basis to a great gaming system.
DFI makes a good board but I've had problems in the past with RMA'ing defective boards and here lately same with MSI and Abit. I've never had a problem with RMA'ing an Asus board or a Gigabyte board. As always the choice is up to you and what you want! Good luck and hope you get a killer system! Also my recomendation for ram for the newer boards is the Patriot ram by PDP. Get the dual channel with XBL technology and you wont be sorry! This stuff is rock solid stable and I have been getting really good overclocking numbers with it lately. However if you go with the P5LD2 board youll need DDR2 memory.
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As you may know, going with a major name brand is important. Abit, Asus, DFI, Gigabyte, MSI... in alphabetical order are all good boards and will provide the support and upgrades you need. If you want to overclock, the DFI message board has lots of information about doing that sort of thing with their boards. All things considered, any of the above boards should work and 99% of the time you won't have any problems.
Both Abit and Asus have active message boards where questions can be asked and if the answer is simple, answered. I didn't find a message board for Gigabyte and MSI, but I didn't look very hard. I suggest checking out the motherboard message boards and look for problems that seem to be common.
Good Luck!
Malta
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Good advise Malta
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thanx guys. Im going shopping, I will post my selection. (cuz i'll probably need a boatload of help getting it up and running).;)
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Asus is sort of the main runner for Amd's, Its pritty hard to go wrong combo wise with them.. .
I went with a A8N for my new work PC , Ive been very happy with it so far .
But as always Do the research ,, and ask tons of questions
(just remember Not all monkeys can build there pc's correctly)
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Originally posted by Roscoroo
Asus is sort of the main runner for Amd's, Its pritty hard to go wrong combo wise with them.. .
I went with a A8N for my new work PC , Ive been very happy with it so far .
But as always Do the research ,, and ask tons of questions
(just remember Not all monkeys can build there pc's correctly)
I was hoping you would show up. the A8N looks top of the line and newegg has it for close to 200 bucks. I was looking closely at the KN8 by abit, due to the reduced price. About 100bucks. I have some money to spend, just not enuff time to spend at the joystick to justify a top of the line board. So I am going to try to put together a real solid gaming system for a ham-and-egger price. Do you see any downsides to the KN8? The reviews were good, in general. I have dabbled in OC'ing, but it is not a priority with this system.
Thnx
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Whitehawk - I highly suggest buying Arctic Silver 5 thermal paste for mounting any heatsink/fan to your CPU die.
Its expensive compared to other pastes, but for the money, its worth it, especially if you have any inclination to OC your CPU.
http://www.arcticsilver.com/
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Originally posted by Casper1
Whitehawk - I highly suggest buying Arctic Silver 5 thermal paste for mounting any heatsink/fan to your CPU die.
Its expensive compared to other pastes, but for the money, its worth it, especially if you have any inclination to OC your CPU.
http://www.arcticsilver.com/
Thank you. I will do that.
BTW, The abit Kn8 is on the way via newegg. 100 bucks. now, I am looking at the atlon 3200 for 170. Any thoughts on processors appreciated.:)
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If you can swing it a 3700+ is a good bang for buck cpu . If you overclock ,they are great overclockers. im at 2.9ghz from 2.2 , and its as stable as running stock . Even with air cooling the chip will do 2.8ghz NP , thats FX-57 speeds for alot less .Go to the AMD fourms here http://www.overclock.net/ there is usually many threads on what to buy .
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try to stay Nforce 4 chipset and 939 pin .
the Kn8 Abit didnt look to bad when i was drooling over them ... but ive had 2 bad Abit boards in my paws (bolth were pent 4's though) thats why i shied away from them .. but that doesnt mean there all bad
I believe several of the guys here are runnin the kn8 though ... I'll keep my ears open and see what they know for ya though .
(i'll try to get time to read thru the forums this week too for ya )
Oops reread saw u got the kn8 otw ...
Try to match it up w/ a 3500+ or 3700+ if its in the buget (190-260 est ) they are alot better at higher clock speeds then the 3200 cpu ...
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rgr that. I can spend some money on the cpu, ram and vid card. Yea, I was going to scrap the Kn8 because of the abit board I had the first go around. Something about RAM voltage fluxuations when pushing the high end. They denied the problem at first, then admittted it but said 'sorry bout yer luck. You shouldnt be OC'ing anyhow.' Since the baord was advertisd as an OC'ers dream, everybody got quite upset. They finally decided to repair the boards at cost, but only after a buletin board member scratched out the mod and posted step by step instructions on how to fix the problem. (that was quite impressive BBer by the way). Hmmm, why the hell did I buy abit again :( . Ahh, well. My board still rocks and I never had to run the RAM voltage up to where the problem is. Just pray I get a good one.
Thnx again :).
PS I will go for the 3500 or the 3700. Any suggests for RAM?
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Corsair XMSC2 is half way decent , i can get a 250 fsb @2.5 CL with it . If your going to go for a big overclock , OCZ and Geil are pretty good .
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i went corsair Xms also .. its ussually a fair price , and theyve never let me down when ive (accidently hint hint) wrecked it from OCing hard .