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:( i hate my computer (part buying advice plz)

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sprsk

force push the doodoo rock
i need a new mobo\processor

the mobo i have has a fried memory module (1 out of 3) and it has thus made my computer really unstable.

So I'm looking to buy a new mobo\processor combo. What should i get? w hat kind of fan should i get?

my budget is 500 bucks, i already have ram and all that other stuff, i just need a replacement mobo\processor.

oh i have pc3200 ram so something that would work with that wo uld be nice.
 
First find out what parts your computer has at the moment. RAM (specifics!!) VGA card (PCI-e / AGP), HDD's (IDE / SATA) Possible expansion cards. (Integrated sound / NIC) so we know what exactly you need and don't need
 
ookay heres a list

2 120gig hds
3 512mb pc3200 400mhz ram sticks (with only 2 installed)
1 6600gt video card
1 Random ethernet card
1 ati capture card
1 firewire card


processor is a 2500 barton and my current mobo is the asus A7N8X
 
Ok, what you want is a Socket 939 Athlon 64. Buy as fast as you can afford, but the 3500+ seems to be the sweet spot for pricing. Since you have a 6600GT, you might not want a new videocard right now, but since you're getting a new motherboard now is the perfect time to upgrade to PCI-E. Perhaps you could eBay your AGP card and replace it with the PCI-E version?

I'll let someone else suggest a motherboard model.
 
Slo said:
Ok, what you want is a Socket 939 Athlon 64. Buy as fast as you can afford, but the 3500+ seems to be the sweet spot for pricing. Since you have a 6600GT, you might not want a new videocard right now, but since you're getting a new motherboard now is the perfect time to upgrade to PCI-E. Perhaps you could eBay your AGP card and replace it with the PCI-E version?

I'll let someone else suggest a motherboard model.
Click to expand...


Would a pci-e motherboard solution have AGP on it as well? is pci-e that much better?
 
No, it's either AGP or PCI-E. In theory PCI-E is much faster but I don't know if it's showing up in benchmarks yet. Regardless, AGP is being phased out and I don't think that the nVidia 7x00 line will have an AGP version. You could stick with AGP for now, but then you'd have to replace your motherboard with a PCI-E motherboard when you want to replace that 6600.
 
sp0rsk said:
how much of an upgrade is the venice from my barton?
Click to expand...
pretty signifigant. for one your going from an XP to 64 chipset. Also the venice chips can be overclocked by 15% with stock cooling. First thing you will notice as well is power/noise. venice chips use less power which equals less heat which means quieter fans.
 
X2 is fucking awesome. I am encoding about 100 files right now as I type this and have WoW running in a window and am resting. If you have multi-threaded apps (most have at least a couple) the X2 rules. If you multitask (which almost everyone does) the X2 rules. I love my 4200+.

However, it is still expensive. Basically Intel released the POFS Pentium D 820 and made everyone think that dual core technology was affordable. They just forgot to let everyone in on the fact that the 820 fucking sucks and the 830 isn't too much better. At least AMD didn't give any false hope by releasing shitty processors..

but I digress... the venice is pretty significant upgrade from barton. SSE2, SSE3, much lower voltage, 64-bit extensions, and a ton of core optimizations to make it actually run more efficiently. The single core Athlon 64's are PR rated pretty damn accurately compared to Intel's Prescott and EMT64 P4s...

If you can afford an X2, in the long run it will pay off the best. In the meantime however it is hardly the best deal out there. The 3500+ or 3700+ are definitely a nicer deal. But the X2 will be viable for probably two years at least. The single cores probably not.
 
You might want to be extra careful as most Athlon 64 mobo's are dual channel and wont boot with 3 sticks of ram installed. 2 or 4 and most of the time installing 4 will kick your memory down to pc2700 speed for compatability.
 
I think i might do the "sell your card on ebay" thing but im reading reviews for this abit and it seems like alot of people are having trouble?


" Looking good, but whenever router
is reset, blue screen comes out and shut down.
I think I have to use lan card."

I have a problem with my router resetting sometimes...

Anyway i f igure if i go for the bigger processor upgrade i wont have to worry in the future. i could probably go a few dollars over budget for a slightly nicer board though..


actually how about this mobo
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131530


this looks even better
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813128301&CMP=BAC-anandtech_2005_banners&ATT

free wireless card!
 
for what it's worth I have the foxconn mobo from newegg.. paid like $90 for it and it works like a champ. front firewire and dual USB2, rear quad USB2, GbE, coax digital out, four SATA300 ports, etc...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813186037

$95 after shipping and has everything the big boys do except for SLI (they make an SLI version also).

Only catch is MAKE SURE YOU READ THE DIRECTIONS BEFORE FLASHING TO THE NEWEST BIOS!!! :P If you don't move the BIOS jumper from default for the newest flash will cause Windows XP to not work. If you move the jumper over like the included instructions tell you to it works beautifully. You need to flash the BIOS for at least the X2's and possibly the venice and san diego cores.
 
I have the A8N-E. It’s a very stable board but I have two problems with it. The original models had 9000rpm screaming NB fans. I had to replace mine which is fine now, but that may be a headache you want to avoid. The NIC on this board is very inconsistent (it could just be my board though).
 
im ordering on friday, i think im gonna go with the gigabyte but if you guys have any reasons why i shouldnt get it id love to hear it.

My current asus board is really shitty i think, the onboard sound and the onboard ethernet didnt even work. its super loud too..
 
My last 3 boards have been Gigabyte and I havent had any major problems with them at all. Im glad they are now using the large gold heatsinks on the chipset becuase the fans they used before would start screechin really quick. Im currently using the Gigabyte K8N Ultra-9 (nForce 4 Ultra Non-SLi) and it's great. Good brand for me so far.

Not sure if u read my comment before but I'll mention it again. Since the board is a Dual-Channel board 3 sticks of memory wont work at all. 4 will very rarely allow u to run at full speed (PC3200), it kicks back to PC2700 speed. U can check the manual off theyre website for more info. :)
 
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