Motherboard : How do I know?

[pokernod]

Im still looking at motherboards (I know, just get one!)
My question is, Generally, how do I know what CPU's the board will accept if it doesnt say. For instance an AM2 board summary just says "AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core/ Athlon 64 / Sempron processor" Im sure that doesnt necessarily mean I could stick a AMD x2 6400+ in there. Is there someplace I can learn more about the specifics on Motherboards and the CPUs that fit them? Like significance in Tranfer rates, FSB speeds, Chipstes, Etc.???

 

[Trotter]

On an AMD board, a AM2 will run any AM2 chip. A s939 will not work on an AM2 board. There is some interchangablity with AM2 and AM2+.

With an AMD, FSB really has no meaning as far as motherboard compatibility goes, as AMD uses on-chip memory control and not on the motherboard. The same goes for transfer rate.

Different chipsets have differnet strengths, and there are all kinds of them. the new ones from AMD/ATI are killer as far as AMD goes. I am not as up to date on Intel, so someone else will have to fill you in on them.

 

[pokernod]

I couldnt afford an s939 anyway.
So FSB and Tranfer rates are not a factor and are out of the equation. So what are the important factors of a motherboard (Basically). I mean, in comparing MoBos side by side for an AMD x2 4600+, what am I mainly wanting to compare. Since I wont be OCing this (not even techy enough to start that, though Id like to experiment with an older Com.), is BIOS (or flash ROM, whatever that is?) really a factor?

AMD dual cores are still considered single chip, Correct?

Sorry to bug you guys so much, but saving $10 here or $15 there may be the difference between getting a PSU this week or next month/month after.

I found this on clearence/special $43 free shipping.

NFORCE6M-A V.2.0 | Ecs Nforce6m-A S.Am2 Ddr2 Sata Pcie X16

Mind looking at it for me? would I be better off just getting the GigaByte MoBo?

Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GA-M61PME-S2 AM2 NVIDIA GeForce 6100 / nForce 430 Micro ATX AMD Motherboard - AMD Motherboards

Thanks Guys!

EDIT: I am a bit confused about SATA vs. IDE. will I have problems with SATA? I mean am I going to have to get new cables or anything if there is no IDE connection, Or is that an idiotic question. I do run dual HDDs. Keep all my personal stuff on one and programs on the other so if anything goes terribly wrong i dont lose anything.

Also, Speaking of dual, does anyone know much about the power consumption differences in running dual monitors? I run dual 19" flatscreen monitors, and not the nice ones either....The monsters that warp your desk and heat your room for you in the winter time. I run one from my ATI 9250 card and one from my 64MB Integrated graphics. Is this going to play a major factor in my system? Is it killing the tiny system I run now?

 

[Trotter]

SATA is the way to go... better throughput, better airlfow (small cables).

The 6100 is a solid chipset, but the board is a mATX. Unless your case will only hold a mATX, go with an ATX. An ATX board is more spread out, allowing better airflow around the parts.

ECS is a no-go for me. I have yet to get hold of an ACS board that was worth a flip. All have been DOA or died within days.

Running dual onitors is not really an issue. Your computer just acts like it is one big creen. Most games will only utilize one screen, so it won't really affect them.

 

[Puddle Jumper]

What is your budget for your motherboard and processor and do you need integrated graphics?

 

[Kharn]

S939 is dead so i wouldn't use that get a AM2 board something with DDR2 support.

Don't cheap out on a mother board as its the back bone of your computer if you get a cheep board from a inferior brand like ASrock you will be building a computer on a shaky foundation that only leads to problems later on.

Brands look at are Gigabye, ASUS, Abit, Foxcon all good quality mother board brands that shouldn't let you down.

 

[pokernod]

Sorry I disappeared there....was changing everything out on these Computers.

Thanks Saxon, Trotter, and Puddle Jumper..... shows how little I know about MoBos. I thought ECS was a good brand and I thought Asus was crap (I guess because they were building computers for Wal-Mart at one time). Though I had heard maybe a year or so ago that Asus was coming up fast.

Puddle Jumper, you asked about my budget. Its actually painfully small right now, which is why I was trying to save money where I could, but you guys are def. right, Ive been doing some reading and the MoBo is not where I want to cut corners, no pun intended. And no I dont HAVE to have onboard graphics (I just bought that BFG Nvidia 7800gt OC) but Id like to so I dont have to share graphics between my monitors.

On the other hand....Thanks to you guys and this site, I just switched all my components over to my other Com w/ the Sempron 3100+ (your right, it feels better)
So I listed my HP Pav w/ a 17" monitor, keyboard, mouse, speakers, all original Recovery Discs/manuals/Word+Office and a really nice HP Printer/Scanner all on craigslist for $250 and actually got a call from a young girl a few minutes ago who is going back to school and wants a computer for that. Problem is her father is the money holder so, its not quite etched in stone yet. But if it goes through my bank will be back up to $400 and Ive already got the GFX Card......which is what I was so trying for when I came to this site in the first place.

So where is that thread about the $400 Build at?

 

[Trotter]

If the 7800GT has two outputs, you can hook both monitors up to it and run them fine.

 

[pokernod]

It does but i didnt want to split the vid ram......Or is that not how it works?
I was under the assumption that If you had a 256MB card and plug one Monitor in your getting 256MB, if you plug two in your getting 128MB to each monitor.

And when did I become a Junior Techie??? Sweet!

 

[Puddle Jumper]

This build comes to $378 before mail in rebates. Intel motherboards are fairly limited when it comes to integrated graphics and your 7800gt should have two outputs so this motherboard does not have integrated graphics.

Newegg.com - LITE-ON Black 20X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 20X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA 20X DVD±R DVD Burner - CD / DVD Burners

Newegg.com - COOLER MASTER Elite 330 RC-330-KKN1-GP Black SECC ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Computer Cases

Newegg.com - Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3250310AS 250GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - Internal Hard Drives

Newegg.com - CORSAIR CMPSU-450VX 450W ATX12V V2.2 Power Supply 90 - 264 V UL, CUL, CE, CB, FCC Class B, TUV, CCC, C-tick - Power Supplies

Newegg.com - WINTEC AMPX 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Desktop Memory

Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GA-P31-S3G LGA 775 Intel P31 ATX Intel Motherboard - Intel Motherboards

Newegg.com - Intel Pentium E2180 Allendale 2.0GHz 1MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor - CPUs / Processors