Help with Choice of Mobo

[XChamp]

I am building a new computer and I really don't know much about mother boards and processors. The main use of my computer will be for internet poker playing and for that I need many applications running simultaneously. I already have a 23" apple display to accomodate that. I also play games and plan on picking up half life 2. I suppose i'm looking for a motherboard and chipset that is one tier below top of the line and will be easily upgradable in a 2 years or so. Should I worry about PCI express? I dont plan on overcloaking or anything like that.

thanks for the help.

 

[ChipDeath]

How much can you spend?

Why does internet poker playing require many applications at once? I would assume that doesn't require much in the way of power, but half-life 2 will require a half-decent gaming rig.

I'd probably suggest a A64 system, but your call for many apps running simultaneously might warrant a P4 (hyperthreading is good for that sort of stuff and only comes on P4 chips)

Post a budget and ppl will probably suggest stuff.

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Epox 8RDA+ V1.1 w/ Custom NB HS
XP1700+ @200x10 (~2Ghz), 1.4 Vcore
2x256Mb Corsair PC3200LL/1x512Mb Corsair XMS PC4000 2.5-3-3-7
Sapphire 9800Pro (VGA Silencer Rev3) @418/742

 

[XChamp]

Well playing poker on the internet requires many apps because I am a serious player. For example, I will have 3-5 tables running at once, a database program running that will keep track of every hand played (sometimes I need to look through the database as I play), excel to keep track of finances, a program that calculates odds, an email program to recieve hand histories, winamp so I can listen to music, internet explorer so I can do daily chores or surf as I play, AIM so i can talk to family/friends...I think you see my point.

My budget is pretty high. I was looking at monarchcomputer.com and I am willing to spend about $2,000 (hopefully less). I figure that is a lot since I already have a monitor, speakers, and a graphics card (may need upgrade). If someone can convince me that spending more money will help me play poker better, then of course I will spend it since I see this as an investment. It is very frustrating to lose money when my comp starts dragging and slows down during a hand causing me to make a mistake. So, basically I believe this computer will pay for itself in a few months.

Someone else suggested "Socket 939 Athlon 64 or Athlon 64 FX system," on another site. How is this different than a P4, or where can I go to read about the differences? Like I said, I don't really know what I'm doing, but I am literate enough that I can understand if it is explained well.


Once again, thanks for the help.

 

[RichPLS]

Plenty of info on this site.
I would choose a P4 3.2ghz (prices just dropped) with an 875 chipset with 1-gig DDR ram. Graphics would be an ATI Radeon X800.

 

[Crashman]

Even if a P4 is better for his apps (which I'm not going to debate, not enough info), a 2.8C would be fine, and the Abit IS7 (865PE) is in the same performance league as the best 875P boards for 1/2 the price. 1/2 priced CPU, 1/2 priced board, can't go wrong with that concept.

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