Mobo comparison...

[Agent40]

I was thinking about putting a Asus P4C800-E Deluxe ($175) mobo paired with an Pentium 4 Prescott 3E GHz ($190).

But now that I think about it, I do not want to have to upgrade again because of PCI-E and DDR2 and such being new technology. So now I am thinking of either a Asus P5AD2 Deluxe 925X P4 ($225) paired with either a P4 Prescott 3.4 ($277) or a P4 Prescott 3.2 ($217).

Someone recommended a GIGABYTE GA-8GPNXP (~$200). Would the ASUS P5AD2 or the GIGABYTE GA-8GPNXP be a better investment?

Also, I was planning on getting a Radeon 9800 Pro 256 MB AGP for the video card, but someone also recommended if I get a PCI-E mobo to get the X700 Pro 256 PCI-E. Anyone have a recommendation over these two?

 

[Raekwon]

it's fundamentally your choice to get the newest technology. There is not doubt it will be competetive for longer, but it does cost more, if it were me, i would spend a bit more and get the new stuff.

i have never had an Asus or Gigabyte motheboard, so i can't really give you a recommendation, look for reviews as they normally show the good and bad points of both products.

as for the video card, i wouldn't buy either of the two you mentioned, i would instead get an Nvidia 6600GT which is PCI-E it outperforms the X700XT and beats the 9800Pro also. if you do end up going for the 9800Pro get the 128Mb version as it will perform better than the 256Mb version.

 

[derfist]

why will d 9800pro 128mb perform better than the 256mb version? shouldn't it perform better?

 

[Elbatrop1]

I would definitely go with the P5AD2.

The ASUS can overclock quite nicely. Check this out.

You should also get the PCI-E card rather than the 9800. I haven't seen any benchmarks comparing the new series of video cards from ATi and nVidea (x600, x700, and 6600). So, I don't know which one to recommend for you

Also,

why will d 9800pro 128mb perform better than the 256mb version? shouldn't it perform better?

It doesn't seem logical, but it somehow benchmarks higher

 

[YanBooth]

I am looking at similar motherboards as you, but NOT the Gigabyte, as their boards can be a little pissy at your RAM and other stuff, and some of their boards are known to crash frequently, here is what I am looking at, and I can't decide either (I'll post something similar to this to see also...)

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=13-131-505&depa=0

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=13-136-144&depa=0

Thats what I was looking at...
Yan

I was thinking about putting a Asus P4C800-E Deluxe ($175) mobo paired with an Pentium 4 Prescott 3E GHz ($190).

But now that I think about it, I do not want to have to upgrade again because of PCI-E and DDR2 and such being new technology. So now I am thinking of either a Asus P5AD2 Deluxe 925X P4 ($225) paired with either a P4 Prescott 3.4 ($277) or a P4 Prescott 3.2 ($217).

Someone recommended a GIGABYTE GA-8GPNXP (~$200). Would the ASUS P5AD2 or the GIGABYTE GA-8GPNXP be a better investment?

Also, I was planning on getting a Radeon 9800 Pro 256 MB AGP for the video card, but someone also recommended if I get a PCI-E mobo to get the X700 Pro 256 PCI-E. Anyone have a recommendation over these two?

 

[Agent40]

I'm pretty sure I'm gonna go with the ASUS P5AD2 Deluxe with a Pentium Prescott 550 (or maybe 560 if I'm feeling lucky ) and think I'll research the video cards a little more before I decide between the ATI X700 and nVidia 6600.

 

[Nubius]

bah asus is horrible...good luck with that. I'm not saying you WILL have problems but I've helped a lot of people with bum ASUS boards compared to MSI or ABit.......go with the 6600

 

[YanBooth]

What about the LANPARTY 925X-T2 motherboard, it looks great....
Yan