Ok, so my motherboard died

[Brian23]

Tonight I was updating my bios and I fried it by accident. I've had the upgrade bug for a while, but I was holding off for the dual core A64s. Now that I need a mobo, I'm thinking of upgrading now instead of waiting. If I do get a A64 now, then I'll have to wait for dual core when it comes out because I can't afford to upgrade more than once every 2 years

Here's what I have:
Athlon XP 1600+
GeForce 3 Ti450 Golden Sample Overclock (AGP)
1x 512MB Mushkin PC3200 CL2 Blue
2x 256MB Kingston Valueram PC2100 CL2.5


So I have several Options:

1. $44: KT600 mobo Text

2. $107 DFI lanparty UT NF3 250GbHere
and $219 A64 3400+ Newcastle 2.4GHz
Total: $326

3. $150 3000+ Winchester
$140 DFI NF4 Ultra D
$180 Geforce 6600GT PCIe
Total: $470

4. Opteron?

5. Wait for Venice (I have a laptop to get me by for now)

6. Wait for Dual Core (That's kinda pushin it. I miss my desktop)

7. Other: Please suggest

I dunno what to do. Help me pick!

 

[Duvie]

Get a sckt 939!! Why would you think oif getting a sckt 754...upgrade with a purchase of easy upgrade to that dual core you were waiting for anyways...

I'd say get the NF4 board you want with a pci-e vid card and the cheapest A64 you can get...namely the 3000+...oc it a bit have some fun like the rest of us and when the time comes you can just flash the bios and plop in a dual core....

If you wait for the venice to become widely available then you may be waiting a month or 2 unless you want to shell out big bucks for a cpu you said you will replace with a dual core....


OPterons are too expensive due to the boards and then if you want to run duallies the premium on 200 series a\is a bit more....

 

[osage]

if you are not going for a big OC you can get a very fast and stable board and save $51.00 to boot.
Here

PS: want to sell that 1600XP ? ?

 

[Brian23]

I was thinking about the 754 because it's a 2.4GHz vs. the 3000 which is 1.8GHz. I realize that the 939 has dual channel, but since I only have 1 good stick of memory dual channel doesn't matter that much. If I do end up upgrading to a dual core, it'll be 2 years from now when they're already obsolete. And at that point they'll prolly have socket 1024 8-way processors or something that's so much better than a dullie. Also the 939 board I'm looking at requires a PCIe videocard. I don't game a whole lot, so my Geforce 3 can get me by at 640x480 for another year if nescessary. Also with Venice, there comes a price cut for other processors... I'm wondering if I should just wait.

 

[Brian23]

Originally posted by: osage
if you are not going for a big OC you can get a very fast and stable board and save $51.00 to boot.
Here

PS: want to sell that 1600XP ? ?

I dunno how a Newcastle 3400 OCs, but I'm not afraid to try. I've done it in the past, but I didn't overclock my 1600+ because my ecs board couldn't handle 3 full dimms and an overclock.

Oh, I also forgot to mention, whatever I get HAS to be VERY stable since it's going to run 24x7.

EDIT: I might be interested in selling the 1600, I don't know what they go for right now though and if I'm going to get an A64 or a socket A mobo

 

[Duvie]

Originally posted by: Brian23
I was thinking about the 754 because it's a 2.4GHz vs. the 3000 which is 1.8GHz. I realize that the 939 has dual channel, but since I only have 1 good stick of memory dual channel doesn't matter that much. If I do end up upgrading to a dual core, it'll be 2 years from now when they're already obsolete. And at that point they'll prolly have socket 1024 8-way processors or something that's so much better than a dullie. Also the 939 board I'm looking at requires a PCIe videocard. I don't game a whole lot, so my Geforce 3 can get me by at 640x480 for another year if nescessary. Also with Venice, there comes a price cut for other processors... I'm wondering if I should just wait.

WHY!!!!!

Follow my schedule and the only real thing you will need to upgrade for dual core is the frekkin chip!!!! You could always sell the 3000+ and recoup a bit and if POCs like a mad dog you can have plenty of power now and actuially reach as high as the sckt 754....1 stick is fine to run now and wont do any worse then a sckt 754 chip.....

You go sckt 754 route you have to upgrade a bit though you can hang on to the agp card longer...However looking at that system the vid crad would be a bottleneck in this system....

 

[Brian23]

Originally posted by: Duvie

Originally posted by: Brian23
I was thinking about the 754 because it's a 2.4GHz vs. the 3000 which is 1.8GHz. I realize that the 939 has dual channel, but since I only have 1 good stick of memory dual channel doesn't matter that much. If I do end up upgrading to a dual core, it'll be 2 years from now when they're already obsolete. And at that point they'll prolly have socket 1024 8-way processors or something that's so much better than a dullie. Also the 939 board I'm looking at requires a PCIe videocard. I don't game a whole lot, so my Geforce 3 can get me by at 640x480 for another year if nescessary. Also with Venice, there comes a price cut for other processors... I'm wondering if I should just wait.

WHY!!!!!

Follow my schedule and the only real thing you will need to upgrade for dual core is the frekkin chip!!!! You could always sell the 3000+ and recoup a bit and if POCs like a mad dog you can have plenty of power now and actuially reach as high as the sckt 754....1 stick is fine to run now and wont do any worse then a sckt 754 chip.....

You go sckt 754 route you have to upgrade a bit though you can hang on to the agp card longer...However looking at that system the vid crad would be a bottleneck in this system....

You're prolly right about the 939. What do you think is going to happen April 4 when venice comes out? Price drop? Awesomeness of SSE3/Updated memory controller? I hate buying a 3000 or 3200 winchester when I know that there's a new chip right around the corner.

 

[Duvie]

There may be a small price drop but I wouldn't expect anything big...maybe 10-20 dollars on the 3000+ maybe a bit more on the 3500+...If you can wait until then it may be good to see...BUying a 3000-3500+ and trying to pull a venice may be difficult...

 

[Brian23]

I've heard some people say that the 3200 is better for overclocking than the 3000. I also see that you've got a 3000 at 2.64 on a MSI. Do you recomend the 3000 or the 3200? I've also heard good things about the board you have. Should i consider it or is the DFI the way to go?

 

[BoleCailey]

People have been having problems with the latest batches of MSIs myself included as I have one in RMa right now. I replaced it with a epox9nda3+ and my overclock went up almost 100mhz and at .1 volt lower than my max over clock on the msi. The epox board is cheaper as well. Wait a few weeks and get a venice.

 

[Brian23]

Originally posted by: BoleCailey
People have been having problems with the latest batches of MSIs myself included as I have one in RMa right now. I replaced it with a epox9nda3+ and my overclock went up almost 100mhz and at .1 volt lower than my max over clock on the msi. The epox board is cheaper as well. Wait a few weeks and get a venice.

I was looking at the 9NDA3+ at newegg and I noticed there is also a 9NDA3J. It looks like the only difference is that the + has raid and firewire. I personally would not use either feature. Are they otherwise the same board? Would you recomend the the 9NDA3J?

 

[Shimmishim]

the 9nda3j is a solid board!

had i not upgraded to 939 pci-e i woulda kept that board

 

[Brian23]

Originally posted by: Shimmishim
the 9nda3j is a solid board!

had i not upgraded to 939 pci-e i woulda kept that board

Which board would you say is more stable, the Ultra-D or the 9NDA3J? If you didn't have an A64 or videocard and you weren't concerned with graphics upgradability, which board would you buy?