motherboard help

[shitbird]

Well, the motherboard I am using right now sucks, no AGP slots. I'm limited to PCI. Yea it sucks, well I don't know what to do. I've heard that getting a new PCI card is not worth it, and I've heard that I should just get a new motherboard completely. If you have any suggestions on what to do please let me know. Thanks.

 

[bosox188]

Yeah get a new motherboard, I'm having the same problem except my new motherboard isn't working. What's your pc's specs?

 

[ImJacksAmygdala]

I want to upgrade before the end of the year too. I have been researching hardware for months and this is what I have come up with for hardware that will have the best upgrade options for the future and best gaming performance.

CPU: AMD Athlon64 +3000 - +3800
depending on your system price range. You will be able to play 64bit client for HL2.

Motherboard: Abit AN8 Fatal1ty Max Series (to be released soon Sep-Dec 2004)
Socket 939 (this socket should be around for awhile)
PCI-Express (for future upgrades when PCI-E performance tops AGP performance)
SATA Raid
Dual DDR2
Nforce4 chipset

Video Card: Get either the Nvidia or the ATI PCI-Express graphics cards. The ATI card should perform slightly better for HL2.

Sound Card: Creative Labs Audigy2 ZS sound card

Hardrives: 2x WD Raptor 74gb 10krpm SATA Raptors in Raid 0

Case: Cooler Master TAC-T01 WaveMaster

Power Supply: Antec 480W NeoPower Power Supply (this thing is slick and ready for the future)

Operating System: WinXPpro or download the WinXp64bit beta. When ever Microsoft gets off of their ass and releases XP64pro get that. It will have 64bit drivers and you can still run all 32bit applications while being able to play games under a 64bit client. Gabe Newell can be quoted saying that its not worth investing energy into optimizing for hyperthreading and that running the HL2 64bit client will provide a 30% performance increase over using a 32bit HL2 client using the same system.

Speakers: Logitech Z640, Z680, Klipsch, Creative Labs Gigaworks. Depending on price range.

That my friend is the ultimate HL2 rig that will be on store shelves before the end of the year.... My advice is to wait till September and hear what Abit has to say about the An8 Nforce4 release date. August 15th at Quakecon Abit is going to give a press release about the Fatal1ty line of motherboards and should announce the first 939 socket board with PCI-Express. HardOCP will have a booth there and will be writing articles on the motherboards. You might also want to check out Monarch Computers motherboard bundles, barebones systems, custom systems, and prebuilt systems once the hardware is available. They seem to have great prices and services, and selection. Hope this info helps....

 

[shitbird]

I found this on price watch, http://www.smksuperstore.com/catalog/viewitem.asp?ID=11625, like? dont like? Suggestions please.

 

[Dynasty]

dude your not really helping us :E we need a price limit, or we could just throw all the best hardware at you and you'd get even more confused.

the 3400 isnt necessary, as buying a decent mobo and O/Cing a 2600 can give you a 3200 ffs, and the 2600 is dirt cheap!..well now anyway.

 

[sharp]

Why PCI-Express? AGP will do the job well for atleast another 2 years. Just look at D3. Actually there isn't much difference at this moment on performance between PCI Express cards and the latest AGP high end cards.

Go for socket 939, in the futere you can easily upgrade to another Athlon64 and socket 939 got dual memory channel.

Don't use WinXP 64bit Beta, it's way slower then the 32 bit version. I saw some benchmarks, wait till the beta stage is finished and look for some up to date benchmarks.

 

[bosox188]

Yeah don't get PCI-Express, total waste of money right now. Just stick with AGP. And as for what you picked out, do you really want a new cpu too? I mean if you can afford it, go ahead it's not a bad choice but what do you have right now?

 

[Dynasty]

lol like i said before, you havent helped us by showing your existing specs.

ive got an asus a7n8x-e deluxe mobo, and it is a kick ass mobo for sound, quality and most importantly: price. it has surround sound built in ffs, less money and hardware to worry about :E

but anyway, give us your complete specs so we can give advice or hardware compatability with a new mobo and your existing specs.

 

[shitbird]

OS Name Microsoft Windows XP Professional
Version 5.1.2600 Service Pack 1 Build 2600
OS Manufacturer Microsoft Corporation
System Name NONE-M977WTLU3C
System Manufacturer HP Pavilion 04
System Model P8564A-ABA 752N
System Type X86-based PC
Processor x86 Family 15 Model 2 Stepping 4 GenuineIntel ~1992 Mhz
BIOS Version/Date Award Software, Inc. 3.02, 5/8/2002
SMBIOS Version 2.3
Windows Directory C:\WINDOWS
System Directory C:\WINDOWS\System32
Boot Device \Device\HarddiskVolume1
Locale United States
Hardware Abstraction Layer Version = "5.1.2600.1106 (xpsp1.020828-1920)"
User Name NONE-M977WTLU3C\Seth
Time Zone Eastern Standard Time
Total Physical Memory 512.00 MB
Available Physical Memory 279.21 MB
Total Virtual Memory 1.72 GB
Available Virtual Memory 1.30 GB
Page File Space 1.22 GB
Page File C:\pagefile.sys




That's my system, I don't exactly know my range since I was just looking at mother boards with CPU's I was thinking $500?

 

[ImJacksAmygdala]

I think this guy should wait for a socket 939 mobo that has PCI-Express and dual DDR Ram and I'll tell you why.....

This guy is still using a PCI graphics card! To me it sounds like he buys a product and sticks with it for a long time before he upgrades again. I realize right now PCI-Express doesn't offer more performance for your money, but waiting for the Abit AN8 motherboard might actually save this guy money in the long run because he won't have to upgrade his motherboard and graphics card in 2-3 years... His motherboard will already except PCI-E cards so he will only have to upgrade his graphics card instead. Thats the only reason I recommended he wait for the Abit AN8. Thats why I am waiting for late August, early september to upgrade.

By this fall PCI-E graphics cards will not cost much more than their AGP twins, so if your building a new system why not buy something that will except the new standard???

AMD64 +3500
Abit AN8 Fatal1ty
Dual DDR2 2x512mb DDR667
ATI PCI-E X800 512mb All In Wonder (for your Sony Wega 62" HDTV)
Audigy2 ZS
2x WD 74mb 10krpm Raptors in RAID 0
Cooler Master TAC-T01 WaveMaster (black)
Antec 480W NeoPower PSU

I'm building this myself this fall and it should cost about $2500. Then I'm getting an HDTV this spring and playing HL2 in all its glory....

 

[Dynasty]

k m8 stop bragging :E that is a beast of a machine..who needs alienware.

it depends how serious a gamer you are. if you cant stop playing, then wait and upgrade like ImJacksAmygdala (lol what a name) said, or upgrade npw and get a decent setup for 2 years future proof. look at my specs below, they will last me for 2 more years as the g card is more than capable atm. my cpu could do with an upgrade (again), but considering i got my mobo, g card and cpu for £240 through a m8 of mine, its pretty good...touch wood.

i personally recommend my mobo for a cheap choice, as it has a unexpectadly decent sound card and a 400mhz fsb, so it can take anything upto and amd +3200 or +3600.

the choice is, as they say, upto you.

are you sticking with intel?? any gamer would not recommend them, i sertainly dont :E $500 hey...should get you a good deal...but try and get things seperate. buy the cpu in OEM version (no box, fan etc) and then buy the fan and paste, if you need it, seperately...and from the same company. then get the mobo, and stick it all together.

 

[ImJacksAmygdala]

If your on a tight budget why not take your current system and then get a barbones system...

Check out this deal... If you don't already have farcry this might be a very good deal!

http://www.monarchcomputer.com/Merc...roduct_Code=800075&Category_Code=AMDBarebones

Pre-Tested and Setup AMD Athlon 64/Sempron (754) Barebones System $18.00
Case: - NO PS - Enermax FS-710 B-1 Tower Case (Black) $56.00
Power Supply: - PS 420W - ThermalTake W0009R w/Dual Fan P $54.00
Motherboard: - Abit KV8 PRO Audio/GB-LAN/USB/SATA/DDR-400 $101.00
Processor: - AMD Athlon 64 2800+ 512K $140.00
Heatsink Fan: - CoolJag JVC681A for AMD Opteron/64/FX Heatsink $8.00
Thermal Grease: None
Memory: None
2nd Memory: None
Warranty: - Motherboard-CPU Warranty - 6 Month
Case Fan: None
Round Cables: None
Far Cry Promotion: - FREE Full DVD Version of Far Cry - $39.95
Subtotal for your selected options: $377.00

Memory might be about $115 and another $200 for a 9800pro. Would be a great HL2 rig... Check out the custom systems on that site. It also has a decent CPU heatsink so you can probably OC the CPU fairly easily...

Not to mention its pretested and shipped so its much less of a hassle.

We can build your Barebone system! Configure your customized system below with Case, Power Supply, Motherboard & Processor (with Heat Sink and Fan), along with options for Memory. We set up the machine for you as configured, and even tie off the loose cables for you. Our tie-off procedure has taken us years to perfect, and as a result our cases have a reputation of being the neatest and cleanest in the industry. We also load the latest BIOS on your motherboard, and "burn-in" your system with an extensive battery of diagnostic tests for 24 full hours. Your Barebones system will be ship to you fully "Ready to Run."

You can also play the HL2 64bit client when the software comes out. Gabe Newell said it would boost performance 30% over the 32bit client using the same system... This should be a high performance HL2 machine for less than $400 and the 420watt PSU should be able to handle a beefy graphics card.

 

[shitbird]

Ok well i like to consider myself a moderate gamer. I spend a lot fo time plating games but it's not my number on thing. If you guys can find me a nice motherboard/ cpu combo for 500 or less that be great if you could paste the link. But reading all of this sounds like you guys know a lot more about this then I do so if any of you see a good deal that I don't have to modify or anything that'd be great. Thanks.