Looking to improve
 

Well im trying to upgrade some key components on a past build i have. I want to get a new motherboard, case, and CPU. I was looking at everything and a few questions came to mind.


A lot of the boards have Nvidia chip sets, but does that mean i have to use an Nvidia video card?

whats the difference between 754, 939, and AM2 sockets. In both respects of the CPU and Mobo.

I want to around 100-150 on the mobo and around 200 for the processor (250 if it comes with the heat sink)

any suggestions of the best stuff i can get for my cash?


also i was thinking about gettin a smaller case, does that effect the size of the mobo and other things ?

Nope, any one will work but SLI will only work with NVIDIA, and crossfire will only work with ATI

In order of age, its 754, 939, and the new hotness are AM2. also, AM2 is DDR2 only

I would highly recommend waiting until the Intel Conroe’s come out (Q3 2006), even if you plan on getting an AMD. AMD is planning a huge price cut (late July 06) to make there processors viable in the market with the Conroe.

Some what, when you buy the case takes note of what size mother board it can fit

thanks a huge help, i wasn't planning on doing it untill late july, so the price cuts on the processors are going to be a nice little bonus

i want a little clarification, what is the difference between the pin sets 754 939 and AM2, like is one better than the other.

also what does the DDR2 mean? like would i have to worry about that

Well, AM2 is the new socket for AMD64, so you want to go with it. DDR2 is like DDR, but it runs faster speed but with a higher latency, again, its the new technology, so you want to go with AM2 this means that the old ram you have will most likely not work., my advice is to keep the old system as a secondary system or a file server.

i don't think im gonna do the AM2 probably 939, just cause im not looking to spend an arm and a leg on memory

unless i can find some cheap(but still good) ddr2 memory

Motherboard (AMD Socket 939): ASUS A8N-E (w/NVIDIA nForce Ultra chipset)...$90.99
*You shouldn't need to spend more unless your going SLI (dual video cards). Or using different socket/processor.

CPU: AMD Athlon 64 3700+ (with fan/heatsink)...$205.99

Case: APEX PC-115 ATX Mid Tower Case 350W Power Supply...$24.99
*Unless you have 47 hard drives and 12 DVD drives, or 2 videocards, 350W should be enough.

I haven't seriously priced DDR2 memory, but, with just a quick browse over at newegg under my belt, it doesn't seem much more expensive than its predecessor. I've also noticed that AM2 chips are priced in about the same range as their 939 'cousins.' AM2 chips don't seem to get expensive until you hit X2 levels.

The most important thing, in my opinion anyway, when looking at a new motherboard is compatability. For example, the ASUS-A8N-E is a pretty nice board, but if you're rocking an AGP video card and don't have the cash to make the jump to PCI-e then the ASUS-A8N-E isn't going to do you any good.

DDR2 is not more expensive, about $70 to $80 a gig

Good point.
Whatever board you get, make sure it is compatible with your videocard!

When I built my PC, IIRC, 1gig of DDR2 was over $200. Now it's down to about $70-80 !!!

Totally go AM2, it doesnt make sense not to, plus that's the platform that the next generation AMD chips will be on.

The only thing that the CPU changes as far as the motherboard is the RAM. (what type and what bus)

754= supports sempron,(939 doesnt, think there are some AM2 semprons), uses DDR 184 pin, does not support dual-channel memory (which can potentially double your memory's speed as far as the bus goes)

939=supports dual channel, otherwise the same as 754. maybe the pin count is faster, although i cannot confirm that.

AM2= supports dual channel DDR2, which runs double the speed of DDR, yet it has a much higher latency. Very stable. (the pin count on AM2 is 940 which is what the current server chips that AMD makes are using, the pins are just placed differently)

This Wikipedia article should help a lot.

alright im starting to pick what i want and heres what i've come up with so far


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131569
and it comes with a heat sink so i save 8 bucks making this total about 110 bucks
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835193002


and im thinking this for the chip
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103531

and that leaves me well under my budget, what do u guys think about these choices?

the reason why i want a new case is because mines really a horrible case. The back where the video card and the sound card and the PCI slots stick when i mounted the mobo on the screws to lift it, the slots are too high, so i can't keep them in easily, so im trying to get a new case to stop this problem, and mines a heat box, very bad circulation in it

i have a similar board, with the same bridge heatsink and fan, after a few weeks, it started making the most annoying humming noise, later boards by asus have since eliminated the heatink and fan for this reason. I would recommend getting a replacement heatsink for it

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835108072

i have the earlier version of this heatsink fan in my box and its nice and silent.

everything else looked good though

heres the vid card i have, i think they'll work together
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102289

try again ;) ... that’s an AGP card and your board only has PCI-e, if your not going to game, give this a try

http://www.newegg.com/Product/CustRa...82E16814125208

Ignore the idiot reviewers who thought they could play games with it.

The Radeon 9600 has an AGP interface - no AGP slots on your chosen board. The Asus A8V ($69) would be a solid 939/AGP-compatible board at a good price.

As far as a heatsink goes, quieter is better. A small 40mm hsf is going to be spinning real fast (read: LOUD) to do the work of a larger (92mm) fan running at lower rpm. For a socket 939 board, I would recommend either the Scythe Samurai Z ($29), Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro ($30), or a Zalman CNPS7000B ($30).

ughhh so whats the difference between PCI and APG, is there a huge one or what?

i play games with the card i have no pretty decenty, guild wars, starcraft, diablo2, fable, and Black and White 2. I mean this is a computer for college, and stuff, but i also want to be able to play games, will this let me expand, or is there a way to get AGP and PCI so if i want to go bigger i can?

i refered myself to the video card thread and answered my own questions on this post


although i woul dlike to know is the AsusA8V

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131541

going to run well with the other the chip i selected, is the chip going to be too great for the baord, would i be better off staying with my current motherboard (a 754) and just getting a better CPU

this is what i have
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...?EdpNo=1213194

As far as I can see, that board is fine.

Newegg has a number of hybrid boards available if that's the route you want to take. 939 socket... DDR 400.... slots for just about everything imaginable. You'll get to hang on to your AGP card a bit longer and at the same time have the capability to go the PCI-e route...whenever.

In fact, I have the AsRock board in one of my machines. It was cheap, it's handled everything I've thrown at it and I've had absolutely no problems with it.

i think im gonna go with that asusA8V and the 3800+

if i decide to upgrade in the future i'll just get another mobo and a new vid card

thanks for the help guys.

now all thats left is a case for around 20-30 bucks that is sturdy and not a microwave

For your stated budget of $400-450, the biggest performance gains you will see will be from an upgraded videocard & processor. Because your current board is not much different than an Asus A8V (same chipset), I would keep it. Because your board is AGP compatible, a really strong AGP card matched with a new processor would be a sound upgrade path for gaming and daily stuff.

Some strong AGP vid cards would be, separated by price:

Geforce 7800GS 256MB AGP $290
Geforce 6800XT 256MB AGP $143.
Radeon X800XT 256MB AGP $270
Radeon X800GTO 256MB AGP $141


Along with a good processor:

AMD Athlon 64 3200+ $122
AMD Athlon 64 3400+ $150.

If you can afford it (shouldnt be too crazy expensive) get a board with PCI express 16x, if not get AGP 8x; but DO NOT get PCI, those are really only good for cheap dual monitoring (like workstations and what-not) you probably wont be able to play any newer games on any of those. PCI-e is the way to go though, if you got a PCI-e board with a lower end card, you know you could always upgrade for a little while (at least until they come out with PCI-e 1e^1000293x :p )

The ASUS board in your post is.. ok... It has a pretty low end chipset though, and it's AGP (seriously consider PCI-e). ASUS is a dynamite brand though, i have the A8N32-SLI Deluxe, and i have never regretted it; they all have awesome extra features. Another company to look at is Abit, they're very similar to ASUS's boards.

Heres what i would look at:

1. If you can afford it. ASUS A8N32-SLI Deluxe Socket 939
-This board is the only board (as far as i know) that supports the full bandwidth of both PCI-e cards in SLI mode. If you are ever considering going SLI, this is the board to get.

2. A little cheaper, but still awesome ASUS A8N-SLI Premium Socket 939

3. Little cheaper yet, but still nice. ASUS A8N-SLI Socket 939

4. Getting closer to the budget boards, but still an awesome board. ASUS A8N5X Socket 939

I would recommend getting at least a 939 board if you can. If your budget doesnt accomidate it, then get a better AGP card (check out some of the ATI x1600's on newegg), and get at least a gig of ram. It will never be as high performance as an AM2 or a 939 because it only has single channel memory, but you will be able to play these games comfortably.

If your budget is $400-500 get this:

Motherboard

CPU

GPU

A case from this search (just 75-100 dollars)

There ya have it, a pretty awesome system for somewhere around 420-450 (depending on what case you choose)

Keep in mind that this system will be much more flexible with modding later on. Just add ram (im assuming you have some?)

p.s make sure you have a 24 pin ATX connector on the PSU, that can getcha sometimes; if yours currently doesnt have one, try to get a bundled one with the case, and eventually upgrade to an antec smartpower or a truepower

This is a solid 939-based mobo/pci-e videocard/processor upgrade path as well.

i have an antec smartpower in my current computer and im not looking to upgrade insanely, just a little bit faster, i don't wanna go over 300 total on the mobo and CPU, the CPU i picked out was nice rihgt

and i have a 3200+ is the difference between the 3200+ asnd 3400+ that big, which is kinda why i wanted a a new mobo, so i could get the 3800+, and the 3800+ is like the same price as trhe 3400+


i don't want to spend an arm and a leg on the case either no more than 30 for the case, doesn't need to be all that fancy. Just strudy and Not Heat box

if you want for conroe to come out on the 24th of this month, AMD prices are goinhg to plummet. that's when i'm buying my dual core FX55 (currently 600 and change, expected to be upper 400s)

Check this out:
http://www.tfproject.org/tfp/showthread.php?t=106281

According to this the 3800 should be 150 (and thats for AM2 and 939)

i'm just gonna do the asusA8V and the 3800+, i really don't feel like droping the cash for the new Vid card, my next build i will, but that won't be untill my junior year at college so in about 3 years i'll be looking to spend around 1200 on a tower for gaming and what not, but for now im just looking for some speed improvment, and a case that won't get so hot.

I've got a few in mind for around 20-30 bucks but i haven't decided yet


I think i found my case for 32 bucks
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811156021

AND IT'S GREEN!