Can anyone recommend a good motherboard/processor combo?

[dimtim]

Hey I'm building my first PC. I'm excited. A little nervous, but hopefully I won't do anything too stupid. I am going to be using it mostly for encoding and browsing the internet. I won't be using too many games though. I know I'm going with an AMD processor, but as far as motherboards are concerned I'm lost. Ideally, I'd like to spend about 300-320 bucks on the two of them. What do you guys recommend as far as a motherboard/processor combo? Oh and one more thing, what is the difference between a winchester core and a newcastle core as far as AMD processors?

Thanks a lot
Tim

[Cobra]

dimtim,

I'll tackle the Newcastle/Winchester issue first. When computer chips are made, there is a certain gap in between the tracks of the circuit. In the Newcastle cores, this is 130nm and in the Winchester cores it is 90nm. This reduction in the gap size results in a lower power consumption, less heat produced than the Newcatle equivelant and a lower standard vCore (the amount of voltage required for stable operation). It carries the advantages of easier cooling and better overclocking potential. It does not carry any advantage in speed whatsoever!

I would recommend an Asus motherboard. I have always used them, and they seem to be high-quality, rock-solid motherboards. I am yet to have one go wrong on me, and I've used about 15 of them. Try the A8V Deluxe if you are on a budget - that is what I use and it is a fairly good motherboard. On www.ebuyer.com it comes in at $130. If you get that, then you could pair it up with whichever Athlon64 you can find that suits your price range. As far as I can see, you'll score an XP3000 or XP3200 Winchester for that money, but I haven't hunted around for the best deal for you.

As far as building your own PC goes, I did that in May 2003. It was an experience and we started building machines for friends and family too. Just take your time, get an anti-static mat and wristband, and enjoy it! If you have any problems, just post up here again and we'll try our best!

Good luck!

Cobra

[AlinaVastag84]

As for motherboards I am an EPOX fan , talking about rock-solid motherboards. It should work nice with ATHLON 64 processors , but for lower budgets you can use a 3100 SEMPRON .Of course the motherboard should be taken in concordance with the CPU. It must also have some SATA connectors on it .

[dimtim]

Wow thanks for the feedback. I really appreciate that information on the AMD processors. Ok I think I'm going to go with this motherboard:

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=13-180-061&depa=1

And this processor:

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=19-103-484&depa=1

Do you guys think this is a good combination?

[Soopafresh]

SWEET...

Those Solteks are nice mobos. Good choice using the Nforce Chipset.

[makntraks]

My latest purchase right along the lines of yours...

MB GIGABYTE GA-K8NS-939 NF3 ULTRA - I bought this one as I could not justify the additional $$ for the on-board audio and Firewire
CPU AMD 64 3000+ ATHLON 939P 90 RT

Last few MB's I've bought have been Giga's and have been pleased with them...

makntraks

[glockjs]

you should be able to pick up an A64 3200+ and msi nforce4 board for about that. that's what i would recomend anyways

[lordsmurf]

When dealing with AMD, avoid the budget CPUs and motherboards. Do it right.

[redwudz]

I would go with what Cobra suggests. The Winchester core processor runs much cooler than the Newcastle at little price difference. Mine is 30-32C at idle with a stock AMD cooler. I also like the ASUS motherboards. I went with a Gigabyte as ASUS didn't yet have the combo I wanted. (Check my computer profile.)

I also wanted a system that would be good for a few years. SATA drives, PCI-E instead of AGP. (I don't game, so no SLI for now.)

Odd n Ends: 400 Watt or more power supply. I use a 480W. A good case. I ended up with a Antec mid-tower case. Lots of room and easy to work on. Takes up a little space, though.

Most important, take all the time you can to make your decision. There is a lot of info out there that costs nothing to explore.

[glockjs]

yeah but the new asus board is around $240..the msi nforce4 board is only around $160. he's tryin to keep a budget. the msi got pretty high marks on the few benchmarks i've seen

[redwudz]

ASUS is a little pricey. I paid $125 for my Gigabyte K8NXP-9 at Newegg.

[Cobra]

However, you know where the money went with an Asus board. From some other boards I've seen, they have worked well and often have been excellent boards but none are quite as sleek and refined as Asus boards.

Maybe this is just purchase justication at work here...

[glockjs]

im not argueing that the asus board isnt worth the extra $. im just sayin msi is a great alternative for the price. it's not sli but it is pci-e and runs off of nforce4. the gigabyte is pretty good too, as far as performance though the msi edges it out

[Cobra]

I know - it's a good price, especially for an nForce4 board (which is guaranteed to be good, anyway).

[dimtim]

Man have I been stressing over this!! Thanks guys for all the input I think after some consideration I think I'm going to go with this:

Case:
http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductDesc.asp?description=11-129-120&depa=0

Motherboard:
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=13-131-510&depa=0

Processor:
http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductDesc.asp?description=19-103-502&depa=0

Ram:
http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductDesc.asp?description=20-145-440&depa=0

I went with the Asus motherboard and the Winchester core AMD processor. If anyone has any suggestions or can tell me if this is all compatible I would really appreciate it

Thanks
Tim[/url]

[redwudz]

I think you will be happy with that combo. I use the same memory in my 3200+ and it works great in dual channel mode. The case is about the same as I have, also. 2 fans in the rear and loads of room. Easy to change out drives, they slide out. It's a heavy sucker, but well built. You can install a front fan in front of the HD bays, it really helps keep them cool. If you use round IDE cables, you might need the longer 36" ones for the CD or DVD drives near the top of the case.

[SaSi]

Don't buy anything before reading reviews and suggestions from www.tomshardware.com.

Also, your configuration seems to be missing a VGA board.

Finally, at these days, you should consider a PCI express motherboard in contrast to a AGP one. I am not saying you should not buy an AGP system, but before you do you need to know the options and decide one way or another.

The ASUS motherboard is a fine piece, especially since it provides all these HD controllers. Your case seems to be a little small to fit more than 2-3 disks. Stacking 2 3.5" disks in the lower cages without a fan in front will cause problems to disks after some time. I would check for a case with more space to put disks so that they can be far apart. (don't get deceived by a possible notion that 1 or 2 disks are enough).

[dimtim]

Sasi I don't mean to sound like a total newbie here but what are you talking about?

What is the difference between an AGP motherboard and a PCI motherboard?

And what is a VGA board?

I'm a little confused. I already have a good graphics card, hard drive, dvd burner, and sound card, if that's what your referring to. My apologies. I really want to make sure I know what I'm doing before I invest

Tim

[redwudz]

Well, I went with a PCI-E graphics interface instead of AGP. If you have a decent AGP graphics board, go ahead with what you are thinking. I started over from scratch and PCI-E. Sure, the PCI-E is probably the future to take over from AGP video cards, but they can be pricey, along with the MBs that run them. If you are on a budget, the setup you are looking at is fine. As long as you have a 8X AGP video card, you are good to go.

I would not describe that case as small, IMO.

I would definitely recommend a case fan in front of the HDs, as
SaSi mentions, but that is a easy addition. I run 3 HDs in the HD drive bay in a similar case with fan with no cooling problems.

Of course, always read the reviews of your MB and other peripherals. As I have said before, it costs nothing to check into what setup you want, and the more you know, the better off you will be in the long run.

[glockjs]

the pci-e boards are for the most part nforce4. which is more than worth the extra bucks

[dimtim]

Ok guys sorry to be a nuisance but I'm still pondering this motherboard thing. I've reconsidered my ASUS board and now I'm trying to decide between these two boards:

They both have PCI express and Nforce4 Ultra

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=13-152-049&depa=1

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=13-186-037&depa=1

Which one should I get? Or should I get another one? I really appreciate your guys advice.

Thanks
Tim

[Soopafresh]

Both of those Mobos are OK. No Firewire port on the Chaintech, if you noticed. I've had really good experiences with DFI's NFORCE mobos. Check this one out.

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=13-136-152&depa=1

[dimtim]

I saw that one, but for the extra 50 bucks? Is it really worth that much extra?

[Soopafresh]

Depends if you want 6 USB ports and Firewire. For me, the thing that really impressed me with the DFI was the simplicity of installation. I built 4 units with the DFI mobo last week and each one booted perfectly on the first try.
The manuals were easy to follow.

[AlinaVastag84]

I like Chaintech because I have one. It works fine, I had no problems with it, it`s fast and good for overclocking. Also I hate the idea of using fans on the chipset because they fail quickly or get noisy in a few weeks(happened to me lot of times).Also if the little fan is blocked, it may burn the cipset with it`s heat (also happened to me). So : CHAINTECH !!!
Again: very good for overclocking.

[dimtim]

Just another quick question. A lot of the motherboards say their supported CPUs are AMD 64, but does that mean they support both socket 754 and 939 or not. Like can you have an AMD 64 3400 Newcastle hooked up to this motherboard

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=13-136-152&depa=0

Thanks

[glockjs]

that's a socket 939 board. they did make some 3400's 939 socket but not as many as the 754. btw dont wast your money on 3400...buy at least a 3500