Old Gaming Rig.

[iPROTechman]

Hi there, I built a gaming rig just over 3 years ago now. Specs are as follows:

AMD Athlon 6000+ 3.01ghz 1MB cache on each core AM2

Corsiar XMS2 TwinX DDR2 667MHZ 2 x 1gb Sticks.

Asus M2N Sli Deluxe AM2 motherboard (Died) Got RMA Replacement Vista edition one ( which has now died im pretty sure need help with that)

8800GTS 320MB ( Died - Couldn't RMA , so tried oven trick - Failed) Replaced with spare Nvidia 6200LE.

Seagate barracuda 7200 250GB Hard Drive.

Casecom budget Case with maxed out coolermaster fans - Absolutely awesome can link if needed.

Power Supply Thermaltake 450W Modular, Can't remember model number, ask if needed.


Basically, sometimes my computer doesn't post due to a video card error, which is a loose PCI E connection so I have to wiggle it to get it working. Now It wont boot unless i take out the bios battery, take power out for 20 mins etc. Sometimes comes up with a Bad Bios rom error message saying it's corrupted. And when I do get it to boot it bluescreens or the graphics goes crazy and it just goes onto a black screen.


At the moment I have a really bad budget, I've got a backup old PC at the moment which I can use. I'm not too fussed about gaming at the moment I just want a decent performing PC which I can multitask on.

I was thinking of buying either of these two motherboards:

Asrock N68C-S UCC nForce 630a (Socket AM2+) DDR2/DDR3 PCI-Express Motherboard - Aria Technology

Gigabyte GA-M68M-S2P nForce 630a (Socket AM2+/AM3) DDR2 PCI-Express Micro-ATX Motherboard - Aria Technology

Or would I be best trying to sell my parts or keepingthem as spares and saving up for a new computer? I've been through three motherboards now...


Thanks Guys

- Josh.

 

[patonb]

The gigabyte will allow you to eventually uprade to a better chip, while still keeping your current components. While the Asrock is only a am2+ board so youre staying old gear still.

The gigabyte will be your best route to go if on a tight budget, as you don't waste any money when you do update.

 

[RichM499]

The gigabyte will allow you to eventually uprade to a better chip, while still keeping your current components. While the Asrock is only a am2+ board so youre staying old gear still.

The gigabyte will be your best route to go if on a tight budget, as you don't waste any money when you do update.

You've got it backwards. The Gigabyte is the one using older tech. The Asrock has support for DDR3, and it will allow him to use his current DDR2 until he can afford the switch to DDR3. It would serve as a nice stepping stone.

Also, both motherboards support AM3 processors.

Gigabyte CPU support list: GA-M68M-S2P (rev. 1.0) - GIGABYTE - Support&Download - Motherboard - CPU Support List
Asrock CPU support list: ASRock > Products > N68C-S UCC > CPU Support List

I would go with the Asrock in his situation

To answer the OP:

If I were on a tight budget I would want to use the current hardware, and try to step up 1 piece at a time until everything is new.
If you go with the ASrock motherboard you linked, you can use ALL of your current parts, and you have room to upgrade to Phenom II x6 hex core, DDR3 memory, and you won't need to upgrade the motherboard again for a while.
If you go with the Gigabyte motherboard you'll be stuck using DDR2, and you'll have to pay an outrageous fee for high-end DDR2 if you want to really upgrade the memory later. Not to mention in a year (or two?) you'll be in the same situation of wanting to upgrade, but it will end up costing you because you'll have to upgrade the motherboard, AND the memory.

 

[iPROTechman]

You've got it backwards. The Gigabyte is the one using older tech. The Asrock has support for DDR3, and it will allow him to use his current DDR2 until he can afford the switch to DDR3. It would serve as a nice stepping stone.

Also, both motherboards support AM3 processors.

Gigabyte CPU support list: GA-M68M-S2P (rev. 1.0) - GIGABYTE - Support&Download - Motherboard - CPU Support List
Asrock CPU support list: ASRock > Products > N68C-S UCC > CPU Support List

I would go with the Asrock in his situation

To answer the OP:

If I were on a tight budget I would want to use the current hardware, and try to step up 1 piece at a time until everything is new.
If you go with the ASrock motherboard you linked, you can use ALL of your current parts, and you have room to upgrade to Phenom II x6 hex core, DDR3 memory, and you won't need to upgrade the motherboard again for a while.
If you go with the Gigabyte motherboard you'll be stuck using DDR2, and you'll have to pay an outrageous fee for high-end DDR2 if you want to really upgrade the memory later. Not to mention in a year (or two?) you'll be in the same situation of wanting to upgrade, but it will end up costing you because you'll have to upgrade the motherboard, AND the memory.

Thats a great answer TBH. I just didn't wanna buy a motherboard if it'd cost me more in the long run. My only concern is, Say I got the AsRock board, stuck in 4gb of ddr3 Ram and maybe a athlon 635 or a phenom x6 1055t, Wouldn't the motherboard bottleneck it? Due to the fact It's technically not an AM3 Board? Also when i get the cash to put a decent mid range graphics card in there also do you think this board is solid enough in the long run? Sorry if I sound like an idiot lol - I just wanna save the most money in the long run. Thanks again. - Josh.

 

[RichM499]

Thats a great answer TBH. I just didn't wanna buy a motherboard if it'd cost me more in the long run. My only concern is, Say I got the AsRock board, stuck in 4gb of ddr3 Ram and maybe a athlon 635 or a phenom x6 1055t, Wouldn't the motherboard bottleneck it? Due to the fact It's technically not an AM3 Board? Also when i get the cash to put a decent mid range graphics card in there also do you think this board is solid enough in the long run? Sorry if I sound like an idiot lol - I just wanna save the most money in the long run. Thanks again. - Josh.

No because technically it IS an AM3 board. This board was marketed as AMD Phenom II x6 supportive, which means they had this planned out as a budget AM3 board before it was released.
Motherboards generally don't bottleneck anything. You might see a few FPS difference between identical setups with 2 different motherboards, but not much.
The difference you're going to notice in a budget board like this is that generally they won't overclock quite as far and they don't have all the features (like SLI or Crossfire support).

You won't be bottlenecked by that motherboard. Your overclock might be limited, but I can tell you from experience. I am running an ASrock n68-s UCC with Phenom II x2 550 @ 4.0ghz, so, this particular board is a good example of a very solid budget board.

EDIT: You won't have any problems sticking a nice graphics card in this motherboard and running with it. I'm using a Radeon 4870 for now, until the Northern Island cards come out.

 

[iPROTechman]

No because technically it IS an AM3 board. This board was marketed as AMD Phenom II x6 supportive, which means they had this planned out as a budget AM3 board before it was released.
Motherboards generally don't bottleneck anything. You might see a few FPS difference between identical setups with 2 different motherboards, but not much.
The difference you're going to notice in a budget board like this is that generally they won't overclock quite as far and they don't have all the features (like SLI or Crossfire support).

You won't be bottlenecked by that motherboard. Your overclock might be limited, but I can tell you from experience. I am running an ASrock n68-s UCC with Phenom II x2 550 @ 4.0ghz, so, this particular board is a good example of a very solid budget board.

EDIT: You won't have any problems sticking a nice graphics card in this motherboard and running with it. I'm using a Radeon 4870 for now, until the Northern Island cards come out.

Ahh - Nice one mate . I generally Don't like to overclock - I'm a bit obsessed with low temperatures =D. Cant wait until I finish my last year of college and then I get lots of money to build an absolute monster of a machine ;]

 

[patonb]

doh, Rich is correct. I didn't look at the full specs, was lazy and only saw the link titles, that say its am2+/am3... And supports both ddr2 And ddr3.