Which motherboard/processor should I buy?

alonzomourning23

alonzomourning23

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I know nothing about motherboards. Which one is best overall?

Chaintech SK8T800 VIA Socket 754 ATX Motherboard and AMD Athlon 64 3200+ Processor- this is the one I'd choose not knowing anything, mainly because I want an athlon 64 3200 processor, and this is the only one in my price range I can find.

PCChips M860 Via Socket 754 ATX MotherBoard and an AMD Athlon 64 3000+ Processor

Biostar K8T80-A7 Socket 754 MotherBoard and AMD Athlon 64 3000+ Processor

EVGA nForce3 250GB NVIDIA Socket 754 ATX MotherBoard and an Athlon 64 3000+ Processor

Foxconn 755A01-6EKRS SiS Socket 754 ATX MotherBoard and an AMD Athlon 64 3000+ Processor


The sound card on my computer is very good (audigy zx 2 I think it's called, it was their top of the line one a few months ago, at least at circuit city it was), the video card is shot and I need a new one (it looks like ghosts all over my screen and it's not the monitor that's causing the problem). Can anyone recommend one for under 100? Also, is centon memory any good, or should I stick with kingston (1 gig of centon costs about 70 and 1 gig of kingston about 120).

Also, I'm not a pc gamer (the only thing I really play is lords of the realm 2, which is about 10 years old), but I definately want an athlon as the one I have runs circles around the newer (and supposedly more powerful) pentium upstairs, and I also have less ram.
 
i don't know too much about motherboads, but i believe chaintech is a fairly well trusted company. there are a couple things i would look into though. See if you can get a socket 939 processor/motherboard instead of the 754 you currently have. You can still get a 3200, just make sure it is 939. The main reason for that is that AMD is ditching the 754 and it will be harder to upgrade without getting a whole new motherboard, but with the 939 they should continue to release new processors for it down the line. Also, it might be a good idea to look for a motherboard with PCI-express since most new graphics cards being released use that instead of AGP. But since you said you aren't the biggest PC gamer, you probably will want to go with a cheaper AGP video card, in which case it might be best to stick with a motherboard with AGP.

Also, i like corsair ram myself. It's very reliable and the value select ram is very cheap and perfect for most users, unless you want to overclock. I just recently got a gig of corsair ram (2x512MB sticks) for something like $75.
 
Get a 939 board with an Athlon 64, and make god damn sure it is PCI Express, NOT AGP. The new nVidia 7800 is PCI-e only.. which means the next time you get a game upgrade, you'll probably replace both vid and mobo. Also in the future: Get some Mushkin Dual Channel DDR 400 (PC3200), preferably CAS2 (faster, basically). If you want to play the current PC generation games, you need at least 1GB of RAM. Upgrading to SATA hard drives will help in load times, too.
 
If you want to save some money, I would say that you should just maybe get a A64 3000 instead of a 3200. I do agree that you should go with the 939 socket processor. MonarchComputer.com has a AMD combo configurer. I would rather go there, than tigerdirect. They have a better rating at resellerratings.com.

I would say that you should get an PCI-express video card. Newegg.com is also a good place to get stuff. They have a few PCI-Express cards for under $100. Here is a list of those cards. They aren't the fastest, but you can always upgrade later. This might be some good memory.
 
Do not buy from TigerDirect under any circumstances. Especially if rebates are involved, you won't get them. Never, never, never, never buy anything from TigerDirect. Newegg and Monarch are both pretty good.

You can do much better than that. Newegg has new Socket 754 boards starting at $50, refurbs from $39 or less sometimes. To save even more money, you can buy a Socket 754 Sempron, which are the same as an Athlon 64, but with a smaller cache and without 64 bit support (which you probably wouldn't use).

If you want to spend a little more, go with Socket 939. They won't be "ditching" the 754 platform, but the higher end stuff will be on the 939. You probably won't use the same motherboard the next time you need a new computer anyway.

For a videocard, you can get a refurb 6600GT PCI-E for $130 at newegg. Best price/performance ratio out there, its only slightly slower than the 6800GT that costs an assload more.


Check boards like Fatwallet and Anandtech's hot deals forum for deals on the board+cpu. Don't shop at TigerDirect.
 
I have a friend who buys all his pc stuff from tigerdirect, he's built about 4 pc's and never has had a problem (though he hasn't done anything in the last year or so), he directs everyone he knows to them. Have they changed recently or did he just get lucky?

Though that monarch site seems to be more than I want to spend. Basically, I was given an IOU for christmas to buy a motherboard (or a motherboard and processer) for up to $200. My pc is freezing up lately and too slow. I want the best I can get within that price range, but I don't want to pay extra for all the bells and whistles (like pci slots) when I'll, in all likelihood, never use them. I've had my current setup for about 5 or 6 years, and only recently seriously thought about changing it, and I've yet to buy a program that my pc is too weak for (256 mb ram, 1 ghz AMD processor). Basically all I do on my pc is go online and play music and videos on it.

I'm trying to pay about 380 total, the 200 for the motherboard and processor, and 150-180 for 1 gig memory and a new video card. It's not worth putting all the extras into it since I won't use them, I just want the best I can get for cheap.

edit: thanks for showing me the cheap memory, 77 bucks for 2 516 kingston looks great.
 
[quote name='alonzomourning23']I have a friend who buys all his pc stuff from tigerdirect, he's built about 4 pc's and never has had a problem (though he hasn't done anything in the last year or so), he directs everyone he knows to them. Have they changed recently or did he just get lucky?

Though that monarch site seems to be more than I want to spend. Basically, I was given an IOU for christmas to buy a motherboard (or a motherboard and processer) for up to $200. My pc is freezing up lately and too slow. I want the best I can get within that price range, but I don't want to pay extra for all the bells and whistles (like pci slots) when I'll, in all likelihood, never use them. I've had my current setup for about 5 or 6 years, and only recently seriously thought about changing it, and I've yet to buy a program that my pc is too weak for (256 mb ram, 1 ghz AMD processor). Basically all I do on my pc is go online and play music and videos on it.

I'm trying to pay about 380 total, the 200 for the motherboard and processor, and 150-180 for 1 gig memory and a new video card. It's not worth putting all the extras into it since I won't use them, I just want the best I can get for cheap.

edit: thanks for showing me the cheap memory, 77 bucks for 2 516 kingston looks great.[/QUOTE]
He must not have ever dealt with TigerDirect's customer service, or had to send in their rebates.

http://www.bbbsoutheastflorida.org/...omID=0633000027000500&ComName=TigerDirect.com

The FTC even had to step in with these guys. They are absolutely horrible. Stick to reputable vendors like Newegg, they're cheaper too.

I build computers all the time, I buy parts all the time and I know what I'm talking about when I say they are the worst company on the internet, bar none. They're the buyrite of computers.


If you need things like fans, heatsinks, or accessories, check out this place.

http://www.svc.com

They even offer 1st class mail if its within the weight limit, less than a pound.
 
Newegg does have a socket 939 A64 3000+ for $146, new retail version, and new 939 boards start at about $67, refurbs at about $48.

CPU: $146
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103537

Cheapest new 939 board: $67
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813152052

Cheapest refurb 939 board: $48
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813130469R


If you want to go a little cheaper with the 754 route, you could do something like this:

Sempron 3100: $108
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819104214

A64 3000+ Newcastle: $146
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103486

New Socket 754 board: $50
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813152039

Slightly better 754 board: $60
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813138247

Refurb 754 board: $40
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813135178R

Slightly better refurb 754 board: $45
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813137052R
 
Since you're trying for a budget of $380, I priced out some socket A parts over at zipzoomfly.com. They're as good as newegg and they have free 2nd day shipping on most things. $380 is not a lot for an entire computer.

Here's what I priced:
AMD Athlon XP 2800+ 2.08GHz 333FSB 512KB Processor Retail
Abit NF7-S2 nForce2 Ultra 400 AMD-K7 SktA DDR ATX Motherboard w/Audio, LAN, RAID/Serial ATA Retail
Corsair VS1GBKIT400 1GB Kit DDR400 PC3200 CAS2.5 Value Select Memory Retail
Sapphire Atlantis Radeon 9800 Pro AGP 8X 128MB DDR Video Card w/TV-Out & DVI

I priced all of that for $369, plus all of those items has free shipping. This fits into that budget of yours, but you won't be able to upgrade the CPU much. AMD only went to a 3200+ socket A.

If you want to be able upgrade more in the future, the Sempron that dafoomie mentioned might be a better choice. It's only $8 more than the XP 2800+. When you want to get a better processor, there will be more choices with a socket 734. The bad thing is the Sempron has half the cache of the XP 2800+.
 
Socket A sucks my balls. Save your money and go 939 with PCI-e graphics bus. If you keep buying budget PC components every time you upgrade you'll waste more money building lots of shitty ones rather than a good one the first time.
 
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