Best Low-End Mobo?

[andrews777]

I am considering upgrading one or more machines to run the soon to be released Age of Empires 3 and Civilization 4. Both require a minumum of a 1.4 GHz processor, 512MB memory and 64 MB graphics card with support for hardware shading and some other such things.

I am getting lost on what my best/cheapest alternative would be. In fact, I cannot even figure out what the best deal would be even if I wanted to spend a little more.

Does anyone have any good recommendations in this area, or links to articles that really discuss this? The ones here seem to be focused on specific motherboards.

Brad

 

[Coyote]

Before recommending a mobo, what CPU are you looking at?

Intel vs AMD (I'd say AMD hands down, mostly a likley a socket 939, which one needs to know as well. Although socket 754 are perfectly good and a bit less expensive).

What's your budget? What components do you intend to keep and re-use?



Mobile XP 2600+ (11X215)
Abit NF7-S v 2.0
Maxtor 60GB ATA 133 7200RPM
1 gig Corsair XMS PC3200
eVGA 6800GT
Enermax Noisetaker 420 watts
Win2K sp4

 

[Rugger]

List your current specs and your budget and we can help you out. The mobo that Wusy listed is one of the best values for S939 boards right now, but without knowing where you are and where you're going we can't give good advice on what you need to get there.

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[andrews777]

Good point. I would like to see what I could do for under $300. I think I can reuse the case, DVD drive, hard drive and keyboard/mouse. I expect to have to buy a 512MB memory chip, processor, motherboard and a video card.

I would love under $200 even better, but I am not sure if either is doable.

Brad

 

[Rugger]

What PSU do you have - mfr/model? You can find the info on the side of the PSU.

Here are a couple of options that I researched for you. Going s939 it will be very hard to stay under $300 - the lowest CPU will cost you $146 by itself. The recommended option allows for a better all-around upgrade path - especially for video cards - and should allow you a very good OC. I recommend doing some price shopping on a site like Pricewatch.com, but be careful with who you buy from...

Recommended:
Chaintech VNF4 Ultra - $74
A64 3000+ (Venice core) - $146
Corsair ValueSelect (512MB) - $41
Sapphire X600Pro - $83
Total $344 - Prices are Newegg.com

Closer to $300:
Sempron 3000+ - $89
Epox 8KDA3+ Pro - $86
HIS 9800Pro - $99
512MB Corsair - $41
Total $315 - Newegg prices

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[andrews777]

It looked like I had to spend more than I wanted.

But it is great to have a good recommendation, thanks!

Brad

 

[Rugger]

No problem! Let us know what you decide on...

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