Need Motherboard Recommendation

[AODfan]

Hi,

I havent upgraded my pc since 2006. Currently I have an AMD 3000+, ASUS A8N-SLI Premium, and EVGA 8800GT. I am looking to upgrade as it seems my pc is bogged down with the games I play. I am looking for a system on a budget and cant go all out,. I plan on keeping my 8800GT

I have read that Dual Core is the way to go with games and Quad Core for productivity. Well I kind of seem to do both, would a Quad core hinder my game performance?

I have reviewed and look at several motherboards online and have come down to a few, just cant decide. I have never owned one of the brands below so I dont know their reliability. I would like to stay around or under $100 for the motherboard.

GIGABYTE GA-MA790X-UD4P

BIOSTAR TFORCE TA790GX

ASRock A790GXH

Foxconn A7DA-S


I have also seen this one, I know its an older board compared to the others, but how much gain is there?

GIGABYTE GA-MA770-UD3

The CPU I am looking at is the 7750 BE but if Quad is better 9600 Agenda

 

[grndragon57]

Any of the motherboards you listed based on the 790GX chipset would be fine. I use alot of Biostar boards in builds and haven't had any problems with them, but some people don't like them.

I would think the 7750 BE would be a better choice than the 9600. The 7750 is higher clocked with a newer archtecture than the 9600.

 

[QuietIce]

Building in that price range I'd pick the Foxconn A7DA-S and the 7750BE. The Foxconn board should be good for a CPU upgrade (maybe at the 920/940BE price drop when the AM3's come out?) and the 7750 should OC better with that board.


Performance will suffer if you have apps & games that are quad-threaded but single or dual threaded programs and games should run much better than the slower-clocked 9600. So far most things are only dual-threaded at best. A lot of games are technically "multi-threaded" but in reality they dump sound and network duty onto the extra cores and the main program still runs dual (or even single) threaded. You might check the home, support, and forum pages of games/programs you are particularly interested in increasing the performance of ...

 

[BG-0]

As you're keeping you 8800 GT and have no need for Crossfire, I would suggest the Gigabyte GA-MA780G-UD3H. Supports the Phenom IIs, and is cheaper.
The 770 does not support Phenom IIs, so it is not a good buy IMO as you can't upgrade much. Aslo, do not get the Phenom 9600. Point 1: Phenom 1s are bad. Point 2: Phenom 9x00s are horrible.

 

[AODfan]

Alright, made my order this is whats on its way to me:

G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-8500CL5D-4GBPK - Retail
GIGABYTE GA-MA780G-UD3H AM2+/AM2 AMD 780G HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
AMD Athlon 64 X2 7750 Kuma 2.7GHz Socket AM2+ 95W Dual-Core black edition Processor Model AD775ZWCGHBOX - Retail

 

[Dave_01]

cool

 

[Sgt_Pinto]

can i hijack this thread and just ask which is better for PH2 oc'ong

770, 780G, 8200 and 8300 chipsets.

 

[QuietIce]

780G will be the closest. That's the forerunner of the 790GX that set the World records ...

 

[Sgt_Pinto]

does it matter much? considering the PH2 i will be using has an unlocked multi?

 

[funnyperson1]

The only major thing is if you get a triple-core processor a board with the SB750/SB710 southbridge might allow you to unlock the fourth core (all 790GX boards and some 780G).

 

[QuietIce]

does it matter much? considering the PH2 i will be using has an unlocked multi?

PII's aren't just a matter of the CPU multiplier - there are a slew of other multipliers as well, plus the voltage controls. I figured a 780G chipset would be most likely to have the "advanced" multipliers and voltage settings you need for excellent OC's ...