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Need suggestions for CPU and GPU for older motherboard

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  • Components
  • CPUs
  • Motherboards
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June 19, 2014 10:18:58 PM

Hello all,

I've been a lurker for sometime, so I trust most replies on the forums here. That said I have an older motherboard, the: Gigabyte "GA-MA790GP-UD4H", that is laying around unused. I'd like to get my little brother into building computers, maybe a low to mid end gaming rig. I feel like although its an older board it can still be used.

This said does anyone have suggestions on a CPU and video card that would be compatible? I'm confused about the AM2+ series of AMD CPU sockets and just what is compatible with them, and (if i remember correctly) video cards are not only limited by port type but by CPU as well.

Names or links are greatly appreciated. Thank you for your time and help in advanced.

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June 19, 2014 10:57:55 PM

The only 'new' CPUs newegg list which are compatible with that AM2+ are fairly dire Sempron CPUs: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Do you have RAM in that mobo? 'Cause it only supports DDR2 RAM too, which can be a pain to get the appropriate kits and (in my experience) is overpriced now because it's only for older-legacy system upgrades.

That motherboard can take has a PCI 2.0 x16 slot (or two slots in x8 x8), so you can chuck any new graphics card in there just fine.

If you need to buy a CPU, GPU and RAM, I honestly think you'd be better off grabbing a cheap new motherboard for an Intel pentium or AMD X4 750K processor. That way you can just buy DDR3 RAM, it should all just work. Newegg have an ASRock H97 mobo for $70 after MIR, you can chuck a cheap Pentium in there and if you brother decides to save his pennies he could even chuck an i5 (or heck i7) in there down the track, a good GPU and he'll have a mid-high end gaming rig all from a perfectly decent $70 investment. AMD FM2 Mobos can be had for closer to $40 if you're not interested in future upgrade options too.

If you already have the RAM & Mobo, you could make an argument for using them, especially if you've already got the PSU, HDD, etc and you're literally looking at ~$100-$200 for a CPU and Graphics card. But if you're starting to invest several hundred dollars in RAM, case, PSU, you may as well spend an extra $50-$100 and get much better performance now with much much more future upgrade potential IMHO.
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June 20, 2014 6:26:34 AM

rhysiam said:
The only 'new' CPUs newegg list which are compatible with that AM2+ are fairly dire Sempron CPUs: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Do you have RAM in that mobo? 'Cause it only supports DDR2 RAM too, which can be a pain to get the appropriate kits and (in my experience) is overpriced now because it's only for older-legacy system upgrades.

That motherboard can take has a PCI 2.0 x16 slot (or two slots in x8 x8), so you can chuck any new graphics card in there just fine.

If you need to buy a CPU, GPU and RAM, I honestly think you'd be better off grabbing a cheap new motherboard for an Intel pentium or AMD X4 750K processor. That way you can just buy DDR3 RAM, it should all just work. Newegg have an ASRock H97 mobo for $70 after MIR, you can chuck a cheap Pentium in there and if you brother decides to save his pennies he could even chuck an i5 (or heck i7) in there down the track, a good GPU and he'll have a mid-high end gaming rig all from a perfectly decent $70 investment. AMD FM2 Mobos can be had for closer to $40 if you're not interested in future upgrade options too.

If you already have the RAM & Mobo, you could make an argument for using them, especially if you've already got the PSU, HDD, etc and you're literally looking at ~$100-$200 for a CPU and Graphics card. But if you're starting to invest several hundred dollars in RAM, case, PSU, you may as well spend an extra $50-$100 and get much better performance now with much much more future upgrade potential IMHO.



Funny enough I do actually have 16gb of ddr2 PC2-6400 ram cards sitting around, old case, 750W PSU, and 500gb HDD that can be wiped sitting around that is compatible with the motherboard. What line of CPU's should i specifically consider if we were going to go that route?
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June 20, 2014 8:00:46 AM

If I'm not mistaken phenom II X4 cpus are supported on am2+ sockets. They are pretty decent CPUs still. You might be able to get a used one cheap. As for graphics cards you could grab an AMD R7 260X or R9 270. I'd go with a 260X though, and if he wants more power later on he can crossfire another 260X for cheap.
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June 20, 2014 7:14:18 PM

You can't get those Phenom II X4s new from stores like Newegg anymore, but that's actually a very good suggestion. They're very capable.
I've just had a look on ebay and there are a bunch of them around.
To save yourself having to check specs/read reviews on every Phenon II X4 model that appears on ebay, just refer to the Toms Gaming CPU hierarchy chart: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-cpu-review-o...
It's a really quick and easy way to get a sense of where each CPU sits in the pack and make a decision about the best price/performer of the many models on Ebay. Just check 'cause a number seem to ship with CPU only, i.e. no cooler. So you'd need to factor the price of an aftermarket cooler (which is often a good idea anyway). Hyper EVO 212 is a good, cheap option.
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June 20, 2014 8:11:48 PM

Excellant! thanks for the info and tip on the CPU's guys! I will most definitely do that.

My last question is this: It was suggested that I could use a R7 260x or a R9 270x, however those are PCI-E 3.0 cards, I've heard that they can be plugged into a PCI-E 2.0 slot, but there be a loss in performance?
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June 20, 2014 8:32:38 PM

Murasake said:
Excellant! thanks for the info and tip on the CPU's guys! I will most definitely do that.

My last question is this: It was suggested that I could use a R7 260x or a R9 270x, however those are PCI-E 3.0 cards, I've heard that they can be plugged into a PCI-E 2.0 slot, but there be a loss in performance?


PCIe cards are all backwards compatible. Those PCIe 3.0 cards work just fine in 2.0 slots, but you just get 4Gbps per lane instead of 7.8Gbps per lane.
The good news is that 64Gbps you get from a 16 lane PCIe 2.0 slot is more than enough for just about graphics card in just about any situation. Even ultra high end cards don't show any reduction in performance.
For cards of that level, they'll even run totally unimpeded with the 32Gbps you get from PCIe 2.0 x8, which means, as has been suggested, your brother could add a second card for Crossfire down the track and they wouldn't be held back at all. When you start getting down to 16Gbps (PCIe 2.0 x4) is where things start to slow down on mid range cards. Crossfire/SLI cards at ultra high resolutions are a different story, but for mid range cards on 1080p, PCIe 2.0 x8 is perfectly fine.
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