Motherboard for migrating AGP->PCIe

[psyko_chewbacca]

Hi, I'm looking to update my computer. I'm a casual gamer on PC but I want to build a PC that will be able to play games in 2 years at least, I don't really care about price(although I won't pay 1000$ for a CPU).I just want to have a free PCIe 16x port so when I get more money after upgrading I can buy one. So currently I have a

Athlon 3000+ (Barton) on a A7V8X-X
512MB ram DDR333
Powercolor Radeon 9800pro 128MB DDR, 256 bit
Old ATA Maxtor 80GB 2mb cache, 7200rpm

So I wish to update all of those but keeping my Radeon9800pro as it can still serve for some time.

I know ASrock 939Dual SATAII both support AGP8x and PCIe16x really well but I would really like to move to Intel Pentium processors. Also I would like to have Dual DDRII and SATA150 at least. So, is there any motherboard that suits my needs? Thanks in advance for replies!

 

[Rugger]

If your primary purpose is gaming, then why in the world would you want to switch to Intel? AMD SPANKS Intel at gaming - just go look at some reviews.

On the mobo side, look for a mobo with the ULI 1695 northbridge - it is the only chipset that fully supports AGP8X and PCIe.

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[marneus]

Intel, there are only 3 thing they have over AMD,
1. DDR-2 Support
2. Quicker in apps that require high ghz
3. if u are stuck, u can cook an egg quicker on a pentium core

err thats all i can think of...

Trust me I know what I'm doing... ooops, grab the cat...

 

[Rugger]

And DDR2 isn't really an advantage at this point...

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[Crashman]

The AGP port is actually on the M1597 southbridge, but acts like it's on a northbridge because the southbridge is ported directly to the CPU through the HT bus.

Given that, I'd like to see a Crossfire board with the M1697 Southbridge. Three graphics cards at the highest possible performance...sweet!

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[Rugger]

LOL - You'd have to be one hell of a gamer to take advantage of three cards at once unless you could C/F the setup....that possible or even feasible?

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[Rugger]

But you're definitely right - Fcking SWEET!

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[Crashman]

Three cards, that means 1 wide screen running off the main card, two standard screens running off the second card for corners, and two standard screens off to the sides for your peripheral vision. True surround gaming.

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[Rugger]

Talk about high-end immersion! Hadn't thought about that option. How would games parse up the picture and display all of that?

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[Crashman]

You'd have to be using a game that supported it. I've heard of one, but I can't remember which.

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