Which Motherboard to get?

[algu7344]

AMD- most have shitty L2 cache.
AMD- not as good prefetch logic.
Intel- Expensive as hell.
Intel- Marketing whores
Intel- To long of pipelines relies to heavily on ghz to sell.

Just summed it up.

 

[gaara]

Wow, you guys are arguing over nothing. He's playing the occasional game, other than that, an Original Athlon or Pentium 3 could run handle his needs with ease.

I tend to agree that he won't need a DFI or another enthusiasts board, but the board and chipset is probably the most aspect of the PC, especially in his case, so I see no harm in going that route.

 

[diabloII]

so basically amd sucks, intel sucks, but since they both suck, the cheaper suck is a better buy than the expensive suck

 

[algu7344]

All I was in the beginning throwing out my suggestion, then some stupid kid starting talkin trash.

 

[tigerfootball05]

kids, kids settle down! PM each other hate mail about CPUs! Sorry mx416, but whenever anyone says anything about processors in this forum, it becomes an AMD vs. Intel war without helping you.

To answer your question, if i were you i wouldn't spend more than $200 on a motherboard (mobo) and CPU combined. That much money alloted would give you a good rig that would last you a fairly long time if you keep using it like you say you will. I would reccommend getting a mobo with onboard sound and maybe video? If you do a lot of things at the same time u might want to get a CPU with either Hyperthreading (Intel) or Hyper Transport (AMD) but that might be kinda expensive too.

If you want an AMD processor, get a socket 764 and no bigger than a 3000+ (don't worry about the GHz since AMDs structure their chips differently). If you want it to be upgradeable in two years or so, get a socket 939 mobo.

If you go Intel, stick with a 478 chipset mobo and nothing bigger than a 3.0 GHz CPU.

If you have more than $200 to spend, then go ahead and get some better stuff just so that your computer will last longer without needing to be upgraded but for now, $200 will do you nice. Hope i can help.

 

[mx416]

Thanks for the replys to those who actually had something intelligent to say. I really have no prefrence between intel or AMD. I do run alot of programs at one time. Thats one problem I have right now. I run too many things and then end up locking XP up. Right now I have a laptop (Intel Pentium 4) that is 2.4Ghz with 512mb ram. It seems that the home destop computer with AMD 1.34Ghz and 256mb ram has alot less problems than my laptop.

I set up both computers to be running pretty much all the same programs and it seems like the AMD runs alot better than my Intel. But my laptop runs at alot higher temps so that might have something to do with it also.

Can anyone recommend any spefic mobo/cpu combination? I look online and there seems to be tons of different stuff ranging from like $40 to well over $100.

I'm also unsure about ram. I think I want at least 1GB. I see there are different types, speeds. How would I know which ram to get for the mobo, is it pretty much universal and would plug into both AMD and Intel?

Thanks for the replys, most forums, I would just get flamed for asking such noobish questions.

 

[HAVOC]

I've built many PC's for people that fit along the same lines as what this guy has describe as what he intends using it for.
Intel P4 520 2.8GHz LGA775 would be perfect for you. They are roughtly $160.00 USD (retail). The MOBO i would recommend would be, MSI "661FM3-L" SiS 661FX it has ONBOARD (Video, Audio & LAN). This would be enough to get you started. IF you wanna upgrade later to play games you could shop around for a AGP 8x video card. Grab yourself a GIG of corsair value select PC3200 and pick up a 200 GIG SATA HDD. This MOBO supports RAID 0/1 so you could grab another 200GIG later and RAID them.
Also, pick yourself up a MultiDrive. DVD/CD/DVDburner/CDburner & grab a floppy drive.

As far as the cases go, pick which one you like. Don't buy a case with a PSU, buy the PSU separate. Either Antec or OCZ. (400watts would be fine for you.)

Don't listen to all of this Intel vs. AMD stuff. I have both and like both for much different reasons. Where one lacks the otherone kicks ASS. And vice versa.

Intel P4 2.8GHz LGA775 = $160
MSI "661FM3-L" microATX= $62
1Gig Corsair VS PC3200 = $87
Seagate 200G SATA = $125
MultiDrive = $70
Floppy = $8
Case (microATX) & PSU = $100 - $150

Rough Total = $670



Good Luck...

 

[mx416]

Thanks for the reply. Why is it not a good idea to but a psu with a case? I was thinking about gettin this case becuase I like the looks more than the others out there plus it has a matching keyboard and mouse.

I already know what dvd burner I want, and I don't think I'm going to get a floppy drive. I haven't used one of those it a couple years.

I forgot to mention that I do want to mind a mobo that has a built in video and sound card to help keep costs down some.

 

[gaara]

If you do a lot of things at the same time u might want to get a CPU with either Hyperthreading (Intel) or Hyper Transport (AMD) but that might be kinda expensive too.

Don't confuse Hyperthreading and Hypertransport technologies, both are very different. Hyperthreading simulates multi-thread processes, and Hypertransport is a high bandwidth, low latency bus.

Power supplies sold with cases are what we refer to as "generic". They are generally of low quality, and are not very reliable.

 

[dhw200]

I would recommend a 400 watt PSU. mebbe more than what u need, but leaves room for future expansion. Try this, a 420 watt thermaltake for $37

its got 18a on the +12v, but since ur not doing any heavy gaming or running a real heavy vid card, it should be fun/