Tom's Hardware > Forum > Motherboards & Memory > General Motherboard > [Help] Fastest x8 AGP + CPU + MEM + GFX = $350? or Less?

[Help] Fastest x8 AGP + CPU + MEM + GFX = $350? or Less?

Forum Motherboards & Memory : General Motherboard - [Help] Fastest x8 AGP + CPU + MEM + GFX = $350? or Less?

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was wondering if anyone knew what would be the fastest Motherboard with a CPU Speed? Type duel core or faster? and if there is one out with PCI-E Slot also? want to stay with Intel...

maybe a asus, gigabyte, abit, or any others that compare to these's

I just need something to hold me over for 6-8 months and didn't want to speed much.

I have a tower, power supply with sata connectors

I am going to build something else around tax time...

I have:

GA-7N400 Pro2 (Rev 2.x) with a XP 3200+ (single core)

2GB 400 ram

GFX ATI 1050 - shader sucks

&

Aspire 5610-2762

1.73GHZ 1mb L2 cashe

GFX 950GMA

2GB

I don't play games on this, it's just for programming really. works great for what I need.

==============================================

I will use this after I build a newer system after tax time. it will be a test station I guess....

i plan to spend $1000-$1200 at Tax Time, so the Below system is fine for about $350

My Findings So Far: --- is there a better option for cheaper & as Fast?

ASRock socket 775 775Dual-VSTA = $33.00

Intel Core 2 Duo E6420 2.13GHz 4M Dual Core 1066MHz Socket LGA 775 - QZAL/QJNG CPU $130

E6420 = OC to 3.2Ghz

4GB (2 X 2GB) Dual Channel PC2-5300 DDR2 667Mhz 240Pin For Desktop Major Brand Name: Samsung, GoldenMars, Micron = $44.00

POWERCOLOR AG3850 512MD3-P Radeon HD
3850 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 AGP 4X/8X HDCP $120

I also might get a OC'in CPU fan for under $50.00

$327 - $375 Wanted to stay under $400... or Less...

Wanted to start to play some games that require shader 4.0 & a cpu arond 2.8 GHZ (Single Core)
So I know a Duel Core at 2.13 OC to 3.0GHZ is more then enough.

Let me know if there is a better Option here, Thanks for the input...

Message quoted 1 times
Message edited by NeoGodSpeed on 12-11-2008 at 10:17:32 AM

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I had a Asrock 4Coredual VISTA board a while ago (essentially the same board) and a E6320. You will not get a E6420 to 3.2Ghz on that board. They are generally quite rubbish for overclocking. Top FSB I ever managed with mine was 304Mhz and that was not stable. You're more likely to achieve about 290-295Mhz which will be 2.4Ghz with the E6420. You would need 400Mhz FSB to get 3.2 and more vcore than that board could supply.
Your best bet to achieve high clock speed on that board is get a E4x00 chip which has a lower starting FSB of 200, (vs 266 for the E6420), this gives you more FSB headroom to start with.
An E4600 for example would reach 3.2Ghz with 266Mhz FSB which is a much more realistic ask for that board!

Reply to MMclachlan

I've just re-read your post! Don't buy an AGP card new!
Get a PCI-E card and board, AGP is already dead! lol

Reply to MMclachlan

OP- You should consider Nvidia's IGP motherboard. Something like Nvidia based 730i. They go for about $110 starting and can support all processors in the 1333FSB range. Better name brand ones can usually overclock decently.

Something like this setup will save you a few bucks and net you a nice CPU.
Mobo Asus 9300 730i $120
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813131348

CPU - E8400 3.0ghz $165 Free Shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819115037

Mem - GSkil 4gig(2x2gig) DDR 2 800mhz $45 Free Shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820231122

In total you're looking at about $345.

The 9300 IGP can support Shader 4.0. Here is a good review to see where the 9300 sits with various games and it's overall performance.
http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/1 [...] index.html

When you are ready for a new build. You can always just add a discrete video card to boost performance. Or get a new motherboard video card combo. But your CPU should be able to handle almost anything.

Reply to flyin15sec

Hold the phone... why do you need a AGP slot?

For $350 you can build a nice PC from scratch that will be a good starting platform for future upgrades. If you don't include the monitor and such.

Reply to sinfulpotato

NeoGodSpeed wrote :

ASRock socket 775 775Dual-VSTA = $33.00
POWERCOLOR AG3850 512MD3-P Radeon HD 3850 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 AGP 4X/8X HDCP $120

At the very least, don't get the discontinued 775Dual-VSTA or AGP version of the HD 3850. There have been two newer model/revisions since the 775Dual-VSTA, the newest model is 4CoreDual-SATA2 (preceeded by 4CoreDual-VSTA) and it has PCI Express x16 slot that runs @ 4x mode. PCI-E x4 bandwidth is equivalent to AGP 8x, so there is no point in getting the HD 3850 in AGP. Get the PCI-E version.

The entire ASRock PT880 Pro/Ultra thing doesn't make any sense unless you already have an AGP card or DDR RAM that you want to re-use.

Edit: And $120.00 for AGP Radeon HD 3850? Good grief! You can get HD 3850 in PCI-E for nearly half that:

SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 3850 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 - $55.00 (after rebate)

Or HD 3870 for a little more:

SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 3870 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 - $80.00 (after rebate)

Heck, you can get HD 4650, 4670, or 4830 for less than $120. Take the money you will save on PCI-E graphics card and put it towards a better motherboard.

Message edited by tcsenter on 12-11-2008 at 08:54:15 PM

Reply to tcsenter

My $.02

Case: re-use yours
PSU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817371004
$50 Antec Basiq 500W (bare minimum for today's PC's)
MB: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813138119
$60 Biostar GF8100 M2+ (onboard is equivalent to that 3850, or better)(and is SLI with onboard)
CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819103255
$57 AMD X2 4850e Dual-Core (Retail)
RAM: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820227124
$23 OCZ Gold DDR2 800 2x1GB ($10 MIR, to $13)
HDD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6822136074
$55 WD 320GB (AAKS series)(SATA)
DVD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6827118011
$20 NEC 20x DVD burner (IDE)

Total without Vid: $265 + S&H (not counting MIR, or special/combo deals)

Add a Vid: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814150247
$70 XFX 8600 GT (not blistering, but a decent entry level card)

total with Vid: $335 + S&H (not counting MIR, or special/combo deals)

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to IH8U

flyin15sec:

Thanks for that....

I really Want to Thank everyone for there input on this but I think flyin15sec is the best deal for me. untill tax time I will build alot nicer one.

I really liked everones research it helped it can take hours of research...

Thank you guys very very Much!!!!

Reply to NeoGodSpeed

IH8U wrote :

MB: $60 Biostar GF8100 M2+ (onboard is equivalent to that 3850, or better)(and is SLI with onboard)

Umm...huh? Radeon HD 3850 is equivalent to GF 9600 GSO (a.k.a. 8800 GS). The most powerful integrated graphics currently available are NV GF9400 and AMD 790GX, neither of which come remotely close to HD 3850 and 9600 GSO performance level.

IH8U wrote :

Add a Vid: $70 XFX 8600 GT (not blistering, but a decent entry level card)

The $60.00 Radeon HD 3850 I linked would slaughter GF 8600 GT in every category. In fact, you would need 2 x GF 8600 GT in SLI to compete with a single HD 3850, and even that would be slower in almost any benchmark you could throw at it:

Radeon HD 3850 vs. 2x GF 8600 GT SLI vs. GF 8600 GT

Were you confusing HD 3850 for some lower card like HD 3450, or something?

Reply to tcsenter

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