help buying an Athlon 64 Motherboard

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mannon

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Basically I have access to a socket 754 AMD Athlon 64 and 3 dimms of RAM and I want to build a PC around it.

I have an AGP ATI Radeon 9500 pro that I can pull from my current computer so I need AGP rather than PCI-E. I plan on getting a SATA Hard Drive for it, but would like the ability to use my old IDE drives as well, especially since it will make transferring my old data to the new computer SO much easier.

The mobo that previously held this CPU and RAM was an Asus K8V Deluxe.

My problem is, I haven't been in the market since I got my KT7A Raid that I'm using now with my 1400Mhz Duron. ;-/

I'm finding mainly a lot of Asus boards but I can't even tell which of them are the newer or older or better or worse boards, much less all the other brands.

I need some help. Basically I just want to find the best mobo I can for this CPU for under $70 and don't care where I get it so long as it works. (Though if I could get mobo, case/power supply, HD, and DVD burner all at one place and save on shipping that would be great... just unlikely that one place would have all of those cheap enough.)

To say it another way I have access to the mentioned CPU, RAM, and video card as well as IDE HD and CD burner and a PCI sound card and ethernet as well. I want to build the best computer I can using or not using any combination of the above parts that I already have, and my budget for new parts is <$250.

Any help would be great, or if you can point me in the right direction.


thank you,
-mannon
 
royalcrown

royalcrown

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they are all gonna run about the same performance wise, my only advise is to avoid via chipsets, they had all kinds of mic problems or data corruption problems when using via drivers.
 
M

mannon

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I know it's old, but I'm po. ;p

Here's about what I've been thinking:
$65 Mobo
$65 Case/Power Supply
$62 SATA HD
$30 DVD Burner

$222 Total

That is about what I want to spend and tacking on a $40 CPU means I gotta drop the burner and leaves me wondering if I can get a CPU that's a decent enough upgrade for $40 to be worthwhile considering I still need to use those same 3 dimms of RAM. Of course, for all I know even modern mobo's are compatible with the RAM, but I doubt it. (That's why I'm getting it free...)

I'll have to price out some mobo/CPU combos. Again I'm in the same boat, though. I really wish I could just find a master list that put mobo's in order of quality. I don't mean like the competative ones where it really comes down to preference. I mean the clearly better boards. Because with names like K8V-SE ect... that doesn't mean a lot to me. I can't even tell which asus boards are the newer ones. hmmm...
 
sailer

sailer

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For $250, you should be able to pick up a 939 board, a CPU, and a cheap graphics card, though you may have to look through some used parts. The ram from a 754 will fit right in without a problem. Trying to build anything using a 754 chip is a waste of time and money, provided you can find a mobo at all.
 
O

o1die

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Check computer geeks or smksuperstore for 754 boards. I found one for under $25 shipped in the closeout section. It works, and came with all accessories. Beware that all of these boards only have 2 memory slots. I'm not a gamer, so performance doesn't have to be top notch.
 
royalcrown

royalcrown

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Look, they are all about the same "quality" and one isn't magically noticeably faster than any other one it's not like with the socket 7's and socket a's and slot a's where the motherboard made a difference. after that, most boards are within a hair of each other, just get what you can find that you can afford.
 
M

mannon

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nnn.... Sorry death, that's way outside my budget. I can't spend $100 on a mobo that will require me to buy a new CPU and video card and still hope to get the HD and DVD burner for anywhere close to $250.

I guess I should save more money, but even if I wait a month I'll only be able to scrape up about $300.
 
IH8U

IH8U

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MB: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813135086
$50 (socket AM2+, can upgrade CPU later if you wish, has onboard graphics for now)
CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103221
$55 (AMD Skt AM2 X2 4400+ 2.3GHz)
RAM: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820161229
$40 (2GB Wintec AMPX DDR2 800)

Total: $145 + S&H

HDD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136113
$58 (250GB WD SATA 3.0)
DVD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827118012
$27 (20x DVD-R, SATA 3.0)

Total for all: $230 + S&H
 
halcyon

halcyon

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That'd mean he'd have to buy RAM, and though RAM is nearly free nowadays, it is quite...and he said he's "po".
 
IH8U

IH8U

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Or a complete Lowbie build

Case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811164073
$28 (cheap case w/ power supply)
MB: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813135086
$50 (built in Vid, Skt AM2+)
CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103221
$55 (Skt AM2, X2 4400+)
RAM: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820161229
$40 (Wintec AMPX 2GB DDR2 800)
HDD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136075
$45 (160GB WD SATA 3.0)
DVD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106079
$24 (Lite-On 20x DVD-R, IDE retail)

Total, no OS: $242 + S&H (not counting MIR, or Sale)
Later pick up a 16x PCI-E video card , and a better Power Supply (at your convinence).
 
royalcrown

royalcrown

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sorry, but the 3200 is slow, I know, I own one, he'd want to buy one if he plays any modern game at all.
 
sailer

sailer

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The single channel verses dual channel doesn't make a bit of difference. The ram in both cases is simple DDR ram. My kid used to have a 754 socket based HP and he used the old ram from my old 939 socket motherboard. Worked just fine. His HP with a 754 also ran using dual channel, so that wasn't a problem either.
 
M

mannon

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NICE advice! I'll have to dig into these and see what I can do. hmm... Slow video sux, but then my card is old. AGP 4x ATI Radeon 9500 Pro. It was good in it's day but way past obsolete now. I doubt the 3200 gpu is any worse.

Thanks SO much, everyone!

(fixed typo)
 
M

mannon

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Sorry, your links didn't work, Knotknut.

I'm now getting a power supply as well so I've decided to just get a cheap 754 motherboard for now, but also get the SATA HD and a DVD Burner. This will be a temporary solution while I save up a little extra cash and then I'll basically buy a bare bones system or the parts to build it myself and that's when all this advice will really pay off.

Hopefully I will be able to save up enough to grab a video card along with it that way too.

Thanks a ton!
 
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