Chipsets effect vid card choice?

[tnankie]

greetings all,
I am thinking about building a new computer based on an AMD x2 3800+ (mb 4200+). and I am stuck on two things; whether I should get 939 or AM2, and which chipset to get.

Does using the nvidia chipsets preclude using ati vid cards? and does it preclude you using crossfire? and finaly if it doesn't preclude either is their a benifit to matching chipset to vid card? (I want to go ati for a change, and would like to later buy a second vid card and go to a cross fire setup)

Finally are there any advantages to getting AM2 over 939 for current model processors? (unlikely that the processor will get upgraded)

Thanks in advance.

Tom

 

[Katzhuu]

...
Does using the nvidia chipsets preclude using ati vid cards? and does it preclude you using crossfire? and finaly if it doesn't preclude either is their a benifit to matching chipset to vid card? (I want to go ati for a change, and would like to later buy a second vid card and go to a cross fire setup)
...

Good questions, I'd like to know that too

...
Finally are there any advantages to getting AM2 over 939 for current model processors? (unlikely that the processor will get upgraded)
...

939:
Pros:
1. Cheaper (cheaper memory, DDR only)
Cons:
1. DDR only (no DDR2), not as fast as DDR2.
2. upgradeabilty bad (no new processors coming up) and current ones are not produced as much anymore

AM2:
Pros:
1. DDR2 Capability -> faster
2. probably better upgradeability, new processors should be coming up in the future, productin of current (faster) CPUs should continue much longer than with 939
Cons:
1. More expensive

That's what I can say about those. Please feel free to correct my mistakes and add to the list.

 

[rodney_ws]

As far as video cards go... any board with a 16X PCIe slot can use any Nvidia or ATI single card solution (there are a few exceptions dealing with that dual GPU Nvidia card I believe) ... so as long as you're not planning on using multiple GPUs, any board will work... if you want to do SLI, well, that'll need (but not necessarily REQUIRE) an SLI enabled board... as for Crossfire... don't expect that to work on an Nvidia based motherboard.

 

[commanderspockep]

For building a new system AM2 is the only choice for these reasons:

1. AM2 has a future. You will have the option to upgrade. With 939 you'll be stuck wishing you had spent a few dollars extra.
2. Its not that much more expensive. In fact the only thing that might be more expensive is the DDR2 memory. (This depends on what Memory speed you buy)


Just my 2 cents.

 

[trinitron64]

even AM2 will be phased out with AM2+ and then after that XTV41x followed by XTV42x+ (2nd revision) which will be followed by T2000 followed by GIGA90 followed by BLAH-BLAH-X10 followed by WASTE-o-CASH-Upgrade-FOREVERRRRR

:\

Don't let someone talk you out of 939 with cheap mem, I still say dual cores are a little ahead of their time. Spend the bulk of your cash on a beefy GPU. Id suggest waiting till the current line of GPUs are outdated with the arrival of DX10. Then grab a 19XX XTX or a 7950 from Nvidia. (i suggest ATI)

Booerns to AM2

 

[tnankie]

well I have done a bit of reading and it seems that to run either sli or crossfire you need the particular chipset for the corresponding thingy ... as for chipsets working better with cards of the same type i cant find any info yet.

So its looking like AM2 and mb a single core 3800+

argh...its so easy to talk youself into another £20/$50 here and there an sudenly its a £800 upgrade instead of £300

 

[trinitron64]

SLI / Crossfire aren't worth the money...

you crab grab two kickass cards.. SLI them... but then the very next card out will likely beat BOTH of those cards together...


1 > 2