motherboard advice

[howie]

the motherboard in my other computer recently died and i need a new one. the motherboard is an M2N4-SLI socket AM2.

since it has died im thinking of upgrading my processor aswell (x2 3800+). preferably to intel.

ive been looking at processors but i dont know that much about motherboards.

any advice on a new motherboard and/or processor will be appreciated.

not looking for anything too expensive - £150-£200 for both

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

What are you using your computer for?? What PSU do you have?? You may need to upgrade the latter as it could be the reason your motherboard went kaput.

TBH don't discount AMD as the Phenom II is very competitive against the sub £200 processors Intel have.

If you get a Phenom II X3 720 and a 790GX or 780G motherboard you can overclock easily over 3.4ghz as it has an unlocked multipier. Also many people have also managed to unlock the fourth core successfully.

There is also the Athlon X2 7750+ and the Phenom II X3 710 which are cheaper.

On the Intel side there is the E5200 and Q8300.

[howie]

i use my computer mainly for gaming. games of the likes of crysis, crysis warhead, left 4 dead, cod4.

PSU is a Hiper type r series 530w. dont know anything about it. i got the computer from a local computer shop when i had little knowledge of computers.

the reason i said intel is because ive been looking at benchmarks and intel have continuously been on top with each release.

ive had a look at the e5200. doesnt seem to do so well at stock but it looks a good overclocker.
what do you think of the e7400?

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Check out the reviews for the Phenom II they actually beat many similarly priced Intel processors:

http://techreport.com/articles.x/16382

http://www.guru3d.com/article/amd-ph...be-review-am3/

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cpu...710-am3-cpus/1

The X3 720 has an unlocked multiplier so it is very overclockable.

Some people here may advice your to get another PSU as many do not trust Hiper even though is not an el cheapo brand.

What graphics card do you have as this will make a bigger difference than a very fast processor for most games currently!!??

A dual core processor will do for now but more and more games in the future will take advantage of multi-cores.

There is one of two ways to go:
1.)A Phenom II X3 720 and a 780G/790GX motherboard ~ £180 to £200
2.)An E5200,ak965 cooler and a motherboard ~ £135 to £150

An E7400 is not worth the money TBH as you can get a triple core Phenom II X3 710 for around the same price.

[Sputnik]

If you get a Phenom II X3 720 and a 790GX or 780G motherboard you can overclock easily over 3.4ghz as it has an unlocked multipier. Also many people have also managed to unlock the fourth core successfully.

There is also the Athlon X2 7750+ and the Phenom II X3 710 which are cheaper.

On the Intel side there is the E5200 and Q8300.

That is what I just got and it is great. I'm soo impressed at how cool it runs. Have not tried overclocking it yet or unlocking the 4th core.

[howie]

the graphics card i have is a geforce 7950GT 512MB.

i havent really looked into them before but after a quick look the phenoms do seem to perform better than i expected.

il have a more detailed look tomorrow.

just so you know, the full computer spec is
M2N4-SLI
x2 3800+ (2GHz, stock)
3GB DDR2 667 (2x1GB, 2x512KB)
geforce 7950GT 512MB
Hiper Type R series 530w
a maxtor 160GB HDD

[maxwilson]

So the x3 710 has 4 cores but one is disabled? how does this work lol? whats the point?

Back on topic lol, I can vouch for the cheaper idea with E5200. It's an excellent little overclocker, even with a cheap mobo I manged to acheive a nice stable overclock.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Yep, you do need a graphics card upgrade if you want to play a game like Crysis at higher settings.

This is what I would get:
1.)XFX HD4830

http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/s....html?XFX-4830 ~ £76

Novatech do free postage and are a reputable company. The HD4830 will be a massive upgrade over your 7950GT!

2.)Asus 780G-EM motherboard ~ £64

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/150278

Ebuyer do free postage too.

or

Biostar 790GX motherboard

http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/s...tml?BIO-TA790G

I would use your existing processor as it should be OK for most games too. It is working still BTW?? At a later date I would slot in an Phenom II x3 720. Most of them seem to overclock really well too and have very low idle power consumption. With any games which make use of multiple cores(like FarCry 2 and GTA4) it would be better than an E5200.

The current AM3 processors can be used on AM2+ motherboards with DDR2 RAM as the AM3 processors have a DDR2 and DDR3 memory controller.

However if your X2 3800 is broken then go with an E5200,an AK965 cooler and an appropriate motherboard. This still should keep you to your £200 budget.

Also why did your motherboard break?? I would make sure that the PSU is fine too as is the RAM.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

So the x3 710 has 4 cores but one is disabled? how does this work lol? whats the point?

Back on topic lol, I can vouch for the cheaper idea with E5200. It's an excellent little overclocker, even with a cheap mobo I manged to acheive a nice stable overclock.

It helps create different price levels. Also if the AMD quad cores are native quad cores unlike the Intel ones which are two dual cores dies in a MCM package. Hence if one core does not pass tests it becomes an X3. However it seems a fair number of the X3 processors have a fully functional fourth core so it is disabled for marketing purposes.

The same goes for Intel processors like the Celeron E1*** and Pentium E2*** and E5*** series which have some of the cache disabled too when compared to their more expensive cousins.

Nvidia and ATI do the same when lower end models have stream processors disabled too. It is a fairly standard industry practice done for years!!

Why do you think that your E5200 is not clocked as standard at 3ghz even if it can do it easily then??

Creating levels means more upgrade cycles for users and more money for the companies. Not everyone will overclock so they will clock parts artificially low so that someone will buy a faster clocked part as an upgrade later on. If all parts were at the highest speed users would keep the processors longer meaning total sales over a couple of years would be less.

[maxwilson]

^^ Thats cleared that up then lol.

[GeorgeStorm]

I would go for the AMD 720BE and a decent motherboard, will cost you less than £200, and you will be getting great performance for your money

[howie]

all components were working fine up until the motherboard died. the PSU still has power. when switched on the switch still lights up.

Also why did your motherboard break??

im not too sure about that one. i was using the computer and it just went off. i tried turning back on again but without any result.

i was just looking through forums when it happened so the computer was under little stress.

i think it may have just reached the end of its life. the computer is only off while im at school or asleep. if i remember il turn it off when i go out but i usually set a scan off while i go out.

I would make sure that the PSU is fine too as is the RAM.

i dont have another computer that the components would work with so i cant test any of it.


the HD 4830 looks promising. performs well for its price and is pretty cheap. out of the two id go for the cheaper motherboard because i wouldnt plan a big overclock. the phenom processors seem better than i expected so i think i may follow your advice.

thanks for the advice so far