my first build

[marcster]

hi i am building my first pc!

i am set upon a amd x2 4800 as a cpu and want a non sli mobo but i can't seem to find the best one. I am probably going to run a 7600gt graphics card and maybe a sound blaster x-fi xtreme music card.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thankyou marc

[FInalD]

Well you can't get decent non-SLi motherboards, but just because they are called SLi boards it does NOT mean you need to buy two graphics cards.

It all depends on what you are going to do with your computer as to what motherboard you want. If you are a little more specific about what you'll be doing with it then people can help you more

I like to overclock my computers, so for my next PC I'm going to be getting a motherboard costing around £100. I could get a decent motherboard for half the price, but then overclocking wouldn't be as good.
As for graphics I want as much speed a possible out of my motherboard to enable full speed from my graphics card, hence if I get a 939 processor I'll be getting the Asus A8R32-MVP, which is a Crossfire board, for Nvidia, you would want the Asus A8N32-Sli-Deluxe.
If you are going to be getting AM2 then I'd say the Asus M2N-SLi Deluxe.

I presonally am only recomending Asus as I like them as they seemt to be very good motherboards. I currently have a Foxconn motherboard which is amazing for it's price, it's a cheap and partially overclockable moterboard.

So yeah, give a little more info on what you want and people can give you more info on what you could get. Something to consider is the price you are willing to spend on a motherboard.

[marcster]

sorry about the lackof detail.

Basically its a computer i am going to take to uni. I will be playing games, music/video editing and watching movies on it. Maximum i am willing to spend is probably £1500 and that will include monitors, printer keyboard etc. More than likely i wont overclock but i would like a mobo that will allow me to. I am probably going to stay away from AM2 at the moment just to see what happens with it as its just appeared. Hope this helps. again sorry about the lack of detail. Marc

[aidanjt]

In terms of bang for buck, Intel's new Conroe chip is better value.. you should be able to throw together a Conroe rig for just under £1,000.. Leaving you another £500 for peripherals.

[marcster]

what is better about this chip?

[FInalD]

No worries mate, it seems we are both looking along the same lines...

If you check my post here you'll see what I have scraped together for around £1500 (was aiming for £1000 ), the latter pages start getting into the more refined and cheaper options available to me.

I too will be going to university in September and need a new pc for it...this one will fall apart in the car getting there . I'm after a sleek, stylish PC with looks to kill but also to hide the power within. I'm trying to avoid all lights inside the case aswell as keep the noise as low as possible.

As aidanjt says Conroe is probably the way forwards and will give you the bang for your proverbial buck. The only reason I am not going that route is I'm like a grumpy/stubborn old man (a 19yearold old man ) and will not let Intel into my life, it's AMD or nothing for me.

[marcster]

my pc at present is amd and i dont know why but i seem to prefer them! thankyou for responding to my post though. i will check out your thread and see where i end up! Expect to hear from me soon as no school means i have plenty of time to reseach!

[FInalD]

Well if you want to see some stats for the Conroe....

http://xtreview.com/review108.htm
http://www.hexus.net/content/item.php?item=5692&page=1
http://tomshardware.co.uk/2006/06/05...e_vs_fx-62_uk/

As you can see AMD got truely spanked by the pre-release of the Conroe. They will be released at the end of July, so you have plently of time to work out what system you want to run on.

[marcster]

with regards to price, will the conroe be affordable for my budget or will it be majorly overpriced until amd bring a new cpu out?

[FInalD]

Well this is the scary part...it's going to be cheaper than the dual core AMDs

Here is a linky to the Conroes, and the AMD's 939 is here and the AM2 is here. The prices for the newer CPUs from both Intel and AMD are very low compared to the prices of current/previous gear, which I find strange, but quite nice .

The motherboards for the Intel's chips confuses the hell out of me. AMD is simple, new chip, new pin layout, new motherboards...Intel on the otherhand run their chipson otherboards...I guess this allows for easy upgrades.

[marcster]

thats good then!! I thought they would be really expensive so lucky everyone! What do you think i should go for the amd x2 4800 or one of the intel ones and if so which one. The amd i have found at scan.co.uk for £410 inc VAT.

[aidanjt]

You'll be able to pick up an Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 for £250 and it'll spank an AMD FX-62 which costs £730. nuff said?

[FInalD]

*cluches his nuts*

That's a kick in the knackers that is (to me £200 is expensive)

The top Intel Conroe can out spank the top AMD FX-60 and FX-62, so by process of simple logic the next one down the line should spank the next one down the line...

The 4800+ should be beaten by the Intel Core 2 DUO E6700 "LGA775 Conroe" 2.67GHz (1066FSB) as that is Intel's second one down. The 4800+ has a speed of 2.4Ghz and the Conroe has a speed of 2.67Ghz which now due to Intel's new architecture seems to be better than the 2.4 from AMD (it used to be the other way round).
All this is due to Intel going back to the drawingboard for the Conroe and completely re-doing their systems so that they run effectivly without the high temps and instability.

In six months time though AMD will be releasing their 65nm chips, currently AMD only has 90nm chips and Intel's Conroe is a 65nm chip so Intel is ahead...but I recon that AMD will come out tops once again in six months time.

Forgot to mention, if you want to spend £400 on a chip, then get the E6700 as it's £411.

[BUFF]

Well you can't get decent non-SLi motherboards,

of course you can

marcster, the AMD prices are rumoured to be dropping by as much as half when Conroe launches in about 4 weeks so if you can hold off that long you can save a packet..

[aidanjt]

The 4800+ should be beaten by the Intel Core 2 DUO E6700 "LGA775 Conroe" 2.67GHz (1066FSB) as that is Intel's second one down. The 4800+ has a speed of 2.4Ghz and the Conroe has a speed of 2.67Ghz which now due to Intel's new architecture seems to be better than the 2.4 from AMD (it used to be the other way round).
All this is due to Intel going back to the drawingboard for the Conroe and completely re-doing their systems so that they run effectivly without the high temps and instability.

In six months time though AMD will be releasing their 65nm chips, currently AMD only has 90nm chips and Intel's Conroe is a 65nm chip so Intel is ahead...but I recon that AMD will come out tops once again in six months time.

Forgot to mention, if you want to spend £400 on a chip, then get the E6700 as it's £411.

Intel still has plenty more aces up their sleaves yet, they have a new fabrication process which they aren't imploying yet, a new socket design, and new chipsets to go with it, they'll probibly hold out until next year while milking out the media/enthusiast frenzy.

[FInalD]

Intel still has plenty more aces up their sleaves yet, they have a new fabrication process which they aren't imploying yet, a new socket design, and new chipsets to go with it, they'll probibly hold out until next year while milking out the media/enthusiast frenzy.

Doesn't suprise me, so does AMD (he says hopefuly ), from what I had read recently there was not going to be much competition between AMD and Intel as Intel was going to be taking top spot, but after reading up more it seems that they are just going to be more level-pegging it these days.

I'll be staying with AMD as I like them and have never liked Intel, and will not use them.