Please Reccomend a Cheap MB and CPU

[lancingfury]

I'm looking for a motherboard and CPU. The budget for both combined is about $200-$250. I do not care whether it is AMD or Intel. If possible I would like it to have both a PCI Express and AGP slot, as I will not be upgrading my graphics card yet and it is AGP, but I plan to upgrade to a PCI-E card soon (few months). If possible it would have to support PC3200 ram. My desktop's CPU died (apparently unlocked Barton's aren't totally invincible after all when it comes to overclocking) and I am looking for a replacement quickly. Thanks in advance.

 

[dkim086]

Likely with that kind of budget, an AMD mobo and cpu combo would make more sense.

ASRock Motherboards
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.asp?Submit=ENE&N=50001944&Manufactory=1944

Not sure which exact model but alot of them have an AGP and PCI Express slots. As for CPU it shouldnt be to hard and expensive to find on Newegg.

 

[damarble]

A 3800+ X2 on a Asrock should be under $200 easy, and give a nice performance boost from what you have now. If you go s939 you can keep your current RAM too.

I'd jump on this, $30 shipped for this mobo is not bad at all!
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813157081R

OTH, for $250 you can easily get a C2D E6300 combo. The mobo to go with it would not be the best of the best but there are decent cheaper options. Problem is you will need new RAM too and that blows your budget.

 

[FeuerFrei]

You could go with 939, as I remember an Asrock board with AGP/PCI-E. It used an ULI chipset, and even OCd...

I think it is Asrock Dual-something, but Im not sure

 

[lancingfury]

Thanks everyone!

Well, if I sold my current RAM I would be OK... It's pretty close to the best for the processor it was used with. It's 2x512MB PC3200 Corsair XMS TwinX. Think they would sell for enough money to get about 512MB of the kind I would need for the "blow my ram budget" motherboard/cpu?

EDIT: Also, would this motherboard:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813157081R

Work with this processor?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103735

 

[DietPepsi0219]

nope, that processor is socket AM2 but that motherboard is 939 and would not work in combination. Heres what i would suggest:

amd 4000+
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103529

but for the motherboard you wont be able to find a good board that has both pci and agp slots on it so im not sure what to do there.

 

[lancingfury]

Hmm. It says:

1 x Future CPU Port (Supports CPU upgrade from AMD K8 939-Pin CPU to AM2 940-Pin CPU through AM2 CPU Board)

So it seems it would support AM2's. Am I reading it wrong?

EDIT: Also, will the CPU you reccomended work with the motherboard I last posted (the $29 one)?

Also, I mainly do game programming, gaming (nothing too modern, UT2004 and when it comes out UT2007 but I will have a new video card then), and movie watching. Which would do better for me - dual core or single core?

EDIT OF EDIT: Also, what wattage power supply will I need? I'm hoping I can get by on a 400-450W one.

 

[damarble]

Hmm. It says:

1 x Future CPU Port (Supports CPU upgrade from AMD K8 939-Pin CPU to AM2 940-Pin CPU through AM2 CPU Board)

So it seems it would support AM2's. Am I reading it wrong?

You are right in a way, but there is a catch. To use a AM2 CPU in that mobo you need to buy a add on card made for that mobo. The mobo has a special slot that looks like an AGP (IIRC). Then that card will hold the AM2 CPU and DDR2 RAM.

 

[lancingfury]

Thanks! Does anyone know where I would find that card?

OK, I think I have decided on these two items:

CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103529
Mobo: EDIT: DARN, it went out of stock already. Does anyone have a replacement?
They will work together right? And I doubt I will need two cores yet, right?

 

[lancingfury]

Never mind. I bought an Athlon 64 4000+, a compatible motherboard without an AGP slot, and a PCI-E GeForce 7600GS. Thanks again everyone!

 

[damarble]

Good move. You'll love that 7600, it will make your 9600 Pro feel like onboard video.

 

[lancingfury]

Thanks everyone! PC came built it, and its awesome. Plays half-life 2 full details 1440x900 2x antialiasing 2x aniso no problems (havent tried higher), ut2004 perfectly (130fps(!!!!!) in dm-asbestos 1440x900 no antialiasing (cant get it to work under GNU/linux)). Incredible. Motherboard has space for 12 hard drives (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) (3 ide ports 6 sata ports) if I could afford them all (were I rich I could have up to 6TB of storage, INSANE). CPU runs nice and cool, max temp I have seen is 31c, GPU decently cool, max so far 46c. The motherboard came with 2 fans mounted on it already (chipset and one that blows out the io shield), so I now have 7 fans in my case... It sounds like a jet engine, but at least it's as fast as one now.