What board and chip combo for £250?

[Timmy!!!]

PCIe and AGP are not compatible and have a different connection, although it does look similar.

However to solve this manufactures market the same card with both connections. (not on the same card)

[shiato storm]

so like a 9800 agp and a 9800pci-e version...
i can see lots of incorrect orders arriving at their destinations cause of a minor mistake at the shipping warehouse if people aren't careful!

[tfboy]

Also, if you're on a really tight budget and are not planning moving over to PCI-E, isn't it worth looking at A64 on a S754? I would have thought that the performance of a A64 3000 or 3200+ is about the same whether it's a S754 or S939.

Of course, a winchester core S939 has more overclocking potential, but if overclocking isn't on the cards and neither is PCI-E, why not save a few bob and go for a S754 solution?

Is the roadmap of S754 already doomed and discontinued denying upgrade possibilities in a year or two?

Just another thought really

[shiato storm]

yeah but you cant dual channel memory the 754 boards...
i now have an eye on the neo2 939 version, unless persuaded otherwise
Less athlon64's for 754 sockets being made (or have AMD stopped making them already?) as semprons being geared to take over, unlikely to happen to the 939 sockets any time soon though...

[poindextermatic]

If u only wat to use a camera and stuff like Photoshop on it mate it does not have to be THAT good!!! Save your money - get a new system - but dont spend loads - u dont need to!!!

[poindextermatic]

http://www.komplett.co.uk/k/ki.asp?sku=301893&cks=PRL
http://www.komplett.co.uk/k/ki.asp?sku=304047&cks=PRL

- oh no, I just noticed that this is SATA - I cant use that!! (or is there an adaptor to change IDE to SATA???)
What do I do now? - all the boards I am looking at are SATA
Will I be able to use my IDE drives and have AMD 64bit????

[skuzgib]

Most if not all boards have IDE and SATA

[Timmy!!!]

http://www.komplett.co.uk/k/ki.asp?sku=301893&cks=PRL
http://www.komplett.co.uk/k/ki.asp?sku=304047&cks=PRL

- oh no, I just noticed that this is SATA - I cant use that!! (or is there an adaptor to change IDE to SATA???)
What do I do now? - all the boards I am looking at are SATA
Will I be able to use my IDE drives and have AMD 64bit????

The board in you link has both IDE and SATA connectors, so no need to worry. (It has IDE 133)

[poindextermatic]

The board in you link has both IDE and SATA connectors, so no need to worry. (It has IDE 133)

- does it? Yes, it says it does but I cant actually find a picture where I can 'see' them on the board itself...?
Can't see them on the picture from link - they are normally pretty obvious.... is there just one or somthing....? Am I just blind? Is it the wrong photo?

....O I see them, at the bottom left at a different angle (on their side as it were) so u put the ide cables in side ways..... that is them aint it??

[Rave]

Yeah, that's them. It generally helps with cable routing to have them there.

Rich :¬)

[poindextermatic]

thats a good idea :-)
first time i've seen it.
Rave, what do you think of this: http://www.komplett.co.uk/k/ki.asp?sku=112188&cks=SPC

Cheers for the advice m8

[shiato storm]

thats the one i was looking at - doesn't do dual channel tho, what i currently have. thnk komplett made an error tho as i aalways thought amd64's were classed with a '+' for 939 socket...could be wrong.

[Rave]

The + doesn't really signify anything, cetainly not the socket. poindexter, I would spend a little more to get a socket 939 board. The S939 3000+ is usually a very decent overclocker and you could probably get it well over 2GHz with not much effort. If your current RAM is two sticks of 256 then you can use it in dual channel even though it's PC2700, it won't hurt the performance much. If it's one stick it's no t so ideal, but it'll still work fine.

Shiato, if you're a casual gamer then find a 128MB 6200. It'll be better than a 9600XT (or worst case scenario, the same) and should be cheaper. It's sometimes possible to 'softmod' them to increase the performance to 6600 levels, which is a nice bonus. The X600 is just a 9600 bridged to work with PCIE; the X300 is a slower version of it (although it's often a better overclocker, surprisingly).

Rich :¬)

[poindextermatic]

are you saying I should get the first ones u suggested? Is the 64 3200 overclockable also?
I have 1 stick of 512MB PC2700...

[shiato storm]

Shiato, if you're a casual gamer then find a 128MB 6200. It'll be better than a 9600XT (or worst case scenario, the same) and should be cheaper.

eh? the 6200 128 is actually better than the 9600? - ah right nvidia vs ati, and pci-e no less!...my bro got a ti4200 so I'd like something comparable (better? :devil: ) hence my looking at the 9600 128mb, though i've not had any ati cards myself (only nvidia) i'm open to suggestions from both camps, though I know sapphire are good quality.

any comparing reviews?