Cheap AM2 Overclocking motherboard?

[quantumsheep]

I'm making a very cheap gaming system (£300ish) for a mate and so far i've decided upon 1GB Value DDR2-667, x1950pro, x2 3800+, cheap case with 500W PSU and a 160GB SATA HDD. But, unlucky for me, i know next to nothing about AM2 boards (Haven't used AMD since 754).

I'd like to overclock this machine a little for my aforementioned mate (2.5-2.6ghz) so i'm giving him my old Zalman 9500. But, i don't quite know which motherboard to get! The budget for the motherboard is ~£50-60.

Links to UK sites only please!

Thanks in advance,

Quantum Sheep.

 

[quantumsheep]

Noone has any suggestions?

 

[miro84]

Gigabyte GA M57SLI-S4 for £55(thats with google checkout)
http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?rb=28180021531&action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X3Jldmlld3M=&product_uid=113844

 

[quantumsheep]

Gigabyte GA M57SLI-S4 for £55(thats with google checkout)
http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?rb=28180021531&action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X3Jldmlld3M=&product_uid=113844

Cheers mate! I'll have a look at a few of them boards, see what's the best.

 

[ryanthesav]

try this: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Asus-M2NPV-VM-Motherboard-GeForce-Gigabit/dp/B000FVPSBA

 

[nachowarrior]

none that are for over there buddy.... but i know you could save yourself some dough if you wanna go with a lan case... look up the apevia xq-pack 2 or just go to apevia.com or whatever and look at it, it's a sweet case has a 500w psu in it, and is small and would fit the profile of the type of pc you're trying to make. it's 100 bones US dollars.... so what's that like 60lbs? or somthing over there?

http://www.apevia.com/category.php?cid=101

there's a link to their site, just MAKE SURE YOU GET THE SECOND RELEASE! that's the one with the GOOD power supply... the first version of this case apparantly had a faulty power supply... but so far it seems this case should do ok.

oh yeah, 3d gamer man has a video review of it up here on toms.
good luck parts hunting!

 

[nachowarrior]

one more thing... if you wanna go with that board that ryanthesav posted... i just so happen to be running that right now. and wintec ampx ddr2 800 1.9volt ram is like 80 american bones for 2 gigs of it and it runs well enough... some say they can get it to 4-4-4-12 timings, but i'm stickin with the stock 5-5-5-15, havn't tried to oc it yet.

 

[elbert]

I'm making a very cheap gaming system (£300ish) for a mate and so far i've decided upon 1GB Value DDR2-667, x1950pro, x2 3800+, cheap case with 500W PSU and a 160GB SATA HDD. But, unlucky for me, i know next to nothing about AM2 boards (Haven't used AMD since 754).

I'd like to overclock this machine a little for my aforementioned mate (2.5-2.6ghz) so i'm giving him my old Zalman 9500. But, i don't quite know which motherboard to get! The budget for the motherboard is ~£50-60.

Links to UK sites only please!

Thanks in advance,

Quantum Sheep.

First dont waste your time with the old 90nm x2 3800+ get the much cheaper 65nm X2 3600+. With a $10 heatsink fan I can get 300FSB at just under 60c. The X2 3600+ is priced about $59 in the USA.

This mobo is an ok OC'er for $55 just update the bios first thing. I can hit its max of 300FSB.
http://www.ecs.com.tw/ECSWebSite/Products/ProductsDetail.aspx?DetailID=675&CategoryID=1&DetailName=Feature&MenuID=46&LanID=9
Your RAM should be ddr2 800 not 667 and for from what i save you on the mobo and CPU get 2GB's. If you go with ECS mobo make sure your RAM works at 1.8v.

I would suggest this PSU and ive seen it priced at $48. Just dont push the amps and at max only a none OC'ed 8800GTS should be used. If you want to go higher and get the 550w its a good deal.
http://www.rosewill.com/product/product.aspx?productId=485
My case kind of sucks but for $13 its a nice deal.
http://www.rosewill.com/product/product.aspx?productId=735
Finally if you can find 1 get the Western Digital Caviar RE WD1600YS 160GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive. In the US I can get it for $59 oem.

 

[miro84]

Links to UK sites only please!

Thanks in advance,

:roll:

 

[quantumsheep]

Thanks for the suggestions guys, it's given me a good idea of what i need to look for.

 

[nachowarrior]

oh yeah, and a condom dispenser at the vatican... might be usefull after all... keeps evidence contained...

 

[chowner]

Purchasing an Apple computer will be the greatest experience of your life! Not only will you help save our environment in making this smart choice. You will also solve world hunger and be helping to prevent unjust wars.

Remember all good humans buy Apples.

 

[nachowarrior]

i want to be able to make some pie out of it...

 

[beelzebub]

How about another ECS board, the ECS AMD690GM-M2... Is this board also a good overclocker? :?:

I am also looking for a cheap overclockable AM2 board :twisted: , but since I am working on another project (which is prioritized over this one) I want to do with onboard grafix first before upgrading later to a dedicated grafix card....

The ECS AMD690GM-M2 Mainboard retails for around USD70 over here...

 

[nachowarrior]

I have an asus m2npv-vm... I can get my single core cpu from about 2.4 to 2.6 easily... could prolly do 2.8... only problem with this board is that i don't think you can really oc memory... no overvolt, but you can change the timings... i have no clue about the board you mentioned... but the asus i noted does have a 6150 (most powerful onboard thus far) but you can't really play s**t on it anymore... i think my 150 dollar (way back in the day) geforce ti4200 from asus is still better (but doesn't have the tech's to make it play new games.. sad really that any help?


EDIT: ddr2 800 runs best at cirtain speeds... so make sure to check the chart (here on toms) before you go and oc to the max... cuz you may be better off with a slightly lower speed... or even one slightly higher...who knows.

 

[elbert]

How about another ECS board, the ECS AMD690GM-M2... Is this board also a good overclocker? :?:

I am also looking for a cheap overclockable AM2 board :twisted: , but since I am working on another project (which is prioritized over this one) I want to do with onboard grafix first before upgrading later to a dedicated grafix card....

The ECS AMD690GM-M2 Mainboard retails for around USD70 over here...

I wouldnt suggest something I havent used. The onboard GPU with OCing is a major no go as you'll be OCing the GPU. for the extra $10 you save on my suggest you could buy a better stand alone GPU. This standalone would run circles around any onboard GPU.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127273

 

[elbert]

I have an asus m2npv-vm... I can get my single core cpu from about 2.4 to 2.6 easily... could prolly do 2.8... only problem with this board is that i don't think you can really oc memory... no overvolt, but you can change the timings... i have no clue about the board you mentioned... but the asus i noted does have a 6150 (most powerful onboard thus far) but you can't really play s**t on it anymore... i think my 150 dollar (way back in the day) geforce ti4200 from asus is still better (but doesn't have the tech's to make it play new games.. sad really that any help?


EDIT: ddr2 800 runs best at cirtain speeds... so make sure to check the chart (here on toms) before you go and oc to the max... cuz you may be better off with a slightly lower speed... or even one slightly higher...who knows.

Not bad but I can go from 1.9 to 2.85GHz with my dual core brisbane. I dont like running my dual core at 59c but its totally stable at 2.85 59c. This mobo has no over voltage either and the timing is easy to change. Note my memory settings.

At current prices of DDR800 and knowing in the near future DDR800 will be lower priced than slower RAM its kind of the best choice. I see you have a single core CPU and they work great with DDR667 but dual cores need DDR800 for optimal operation.

 

[nachowarrior]

sombody must have been paying attnention in class...

yeah, the dual cores really do need the ddr2 800. i just bought the single core at the time cuz it was fast and cheap as hell and oc'ed well... untill i buy a wicked vid card and some more memeory (ram is this weekend!!!) then i won't really need to update my cpu... if i ever do... I mean, i just bought this one and it's pretty sweet... i'll see how it performs.. running it under an x64 os with mostly x64 programs REALLY HELPS the performance. that and i can get away with low memory cuz i'm not running windows! haha. anyway. the dual cores run best at factors of 8.. i think it's mostly factors of 8...or somthing close to that, i forget... i know 2.4 is on the list,

and I really don't like paying over 100 bucks for any single pc part (cept graphics card, i'll go 150 for that) because if i spend double it's just gonna be down in price in 6 months anyway... haha. eg. 2 gigs of ram 90 bones, x2 2.4 100 bones, mobo 90 bones, 2 320 gig stata 2 hd's 120 bones (there's two of em to run in raid so 120 is acceptible. ) and either an 8600gts (when they finally hit 150) or a new hd 2600 (when they come out) would be good... if not an x1950 pro would saffice.

that's like what? 450 bucks, and that's a decent pc... (not inluding opticals and psu and fans all half the crap most people already own)

 

[beelzebub]

About the ECS AMD690GM-M2 board I was asking about, actually it uses the ATI Radeon X1250 IGP, which is the best IGP in the market right now. But you're right, a dedicated GPU will always run circles around an integrated grafix processor. The thing is, I expect currently available GPU's to drop in price once the new DX10-capable GPUs start arriving, which I estimate will happen around October this year. That's why I prefer IGP for this rig....

By the way, I dont intend to overclock it on the IGP- I'll be waiting until I purchase the dedicated GPU before I overclock it....

 

[f61]

my signature new build will cost $1k US delivered FedEx 2-day
note the GigaByte GA-MA69G-S3H... about $85-90 US
Its reviewed here. Lotsa O/C stuff.

BUT THE ETHERNET is PCI not PCIe x1 !!!

This will hold me over until the X2800GTO gets cheap.
f61

 

[f61]

I don't care for the sataII positioning on the ECS board, long cards such as x1950 or NV8xxx WILL block them!
Only the GigaByte MA69G-S3h is a FULL ATX board with plenty of room.
All mATX cards suffer from shabby O/C designs due to small board. If using a shorter card, no complaint... its a good cheap board.

But time marches forward, and bigger is here to stay, along with his evil, power-hungry friend faster.

f61

 

[elbert]

I don't care for the sataII positioning on the ECS board, long cards such as x1950 or NV8xxx WILL block them!
Only the GigaByte MA69G-S3h is a FULL ATX board with plenty of room.
All mATX cards suffer from shabby O/C designs due to small board. If using a shorter card, no complaint... its a good cheap board.

But time marches forward, and bigger is here to stay, along with his evil, power-hungry friend faster.

f61

Thats easy just use a 90degree sata connector.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=&Subcategory=1&description=&Ntk=&srchInDesc=90

 

[elbert]

I don't care for the sataII positioning on the ECS board, long cards such as x1950 or NV8xxx WILL block them!
Only the GigaByte MA69G-S3h is a FULL ATX board with plenty of room.
All mATX cards suffer from shabby O/C designs due to small board. If using a shorter card, no complaint... its a good cheap board.

But time marches forward, and bigger is here to stay, along with his evil, power-hungry friend faster.

f61

Thats an ok mobo but may I suggest waiting a month or so for the AM2+ mobos. Gigabyte is already demo some of the new mobo's. I wouldn't suggest this but the price is kind of high for a mobo soon to be discontinued. Added bonus of PCI-E 2.0 for the AM2+ so its highly advised to wait.

 

[nachowarrior]

did you see thoes 500 dollar cables at the bottom? who is that nuts?

 

[elbert]

About the ECS AMD690GM-M2 board I was asking about, actually it uses the ATI Radeon X1250 IGP, which is the best IGP in the market right now. But you're right, a dedicated GPU will always run circles around an integrated grafix processor. The thing is, I expect currently available GPU's to drop in price once the new DX10-capable GPUs start arriving, which I estimate will happen around October this year. That's why I prefer IGP for this rig....

By the way, I dont intend to overclock it on the IGP- I'll be waiting until I purchase the dedicated GPU before I overclock it....

The SATA2 is in a bad place but a 90 degree cable would work. The chipset heatsink is a bigger cause of problems as it will dissipate heat right under your GPU. The chipsets placement means no way to fit a fan for better OCing.

Only 2 memory slots may be the worst part of the whole mobo.