Motherboard Switching!

[TRDCorolla1]

The 939 socket is already here. It's more expensive if you get that because the CPU isn't cheap. You'll go over your budget. Maybe consider socket 754 because of your budget unless you're willing to go over. It's hard to compromise speed for price, but if a budget of $300 is what you want, I can suggest some components. These may not be top of the line or mediocre, but will get the job done. Think in terms of budget PC:

ASUS "K8N" NVIDIA nForce3 Chipset Motherboard For AMD Socket 754 CPU
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=13-131-512&depa=1

AMD Athlon 64 2800+, 512KB L2 Cache, 64-bit Processor
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=19-103-452&depa=1

Corsair Value Select 184 Pin 512MB DDR PC-3200
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=20-145-479&depa=1

I got a little carried away with that one. After that, you won't have enough for a video card or sound card unless you go with onboard sound. That motherboard supports Sempron processors too so if you want to get a Sempron for now which is much cheaper and then upgrade later to Athlon 64, that would be ok.

List of Semprons:
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProdu...frcode=0&propertycode=&propertycodevalue=6355

That would give you some money to shuffle around. Memory can be reduced to 256MB Corsair Value DDR RAM.

 

[Jamxx]

Okay! Thanks a bunch! That's the information I need. The motherboard seems very good (to me), but I'm definitely looking for a better processor. Do you know if I could up to a 2.2 GHz Athlon 64? And how much money would it be?

I noticed that the motherboard has 5 PCI slots. As I mentioned above, my motherboard has 4 slots, and the case only supports 4 slots. Am I going to have to get a new case, or can I manage?

Thanks!
-Jamxx

 

[TRDCorolla1]

For the case, it won't matter. You just won't be able to use that 5th slot. BUying a new case would be nice later on.

Here's the price of the lower end Athlon 64:

AMD Athlon 64 2800+, 512KB L2 Cache, 64-bit Processor
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=19-103-452&depa=1

 

[TRDCorolla1]

The 2.2GHz Athlon 64 would cost you more than $220 OEM. TOo high.

 

[Jamxx]

Allright... Let's just say this...

I have a game that I really want to play, but I have to turn everything down. The minimum processor speed is 1 GHz, and the recommended is 2.5 GHz. What kind of Athlon would I need (because I heard they're great for games) to operate smoothly with a high detail level? It's Tribes: Vengeance, if you were wondering. Of course, that's not the only reason I want to do this...

I heard that the 2.4 Athlon 64 would be about the same as a 3.6 P4 for games, so that would mean a 2 GHz would supply all my needs for a while.

Thanks for the quick responses! I really like this forum.
-Jamxx

 

[TRDCorolla1]

It's more than you need to play any game. Frequency alone is not an accurate measure of performance especially when compared to Intel.

 

[Jamxx]

Oh! Well, that's good to know. So you recommend... The 1.8 GHz Athlon and the Asus K8V motherboard? I might as well up it to a 2 GHz Athlon while I'm at it though. Can you give me some recommendations?

 

[TRDCorolla1]

I really like the Athlon 64 3200+. I had to make a tough decision between that and the Athlon 64 3500+ and decided to go with the latter. Changed mind a few times but finally decided to go higher end. The FX is wayyyyyyy toooo much. Then I thought about going P4 HT, but I love the integrated memory controller on the Athlon 64s.

I'm upgrading from an Athlon XP 2500+ which is roughly 1.8GHz to an Athlon 64 3500+ which is 2.2GHz. That's a big jump for me. I'm anxious to get this beast up and running!!! I never use more than 512 MB of RAM, so 1 GB should be interesting as well. I have geforced fx 5200 right now and love it. I can't wait to get the geforce 6600GT and see what that monster can handle. I'm going to play all my games at the highest setting possible to see how it can handle it. My fx5200 does a good job, but some games at high setting becomes unstable.

 

[Jamxx]

I've got a GeForce FX 5200 as well. I really like it, but I got it for 84 bucks, as it was on special. That made me get it...

What about this processor? I don't know if it is compatible with that motherboard, but this one seems good for the price. But, I really have no idea. Tell me what you think.

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=19-103-483&depa=1

Thanks!
-Jamxx

 

[TRDCorolla1]

that's for the 754 socket motherboard. That's why it's much cheaper.