AM2+ Chipset Choices

[KrisInFla]

Hi everyone. Its time to upgrade again, and so soon too. Seems like its only been 3 years since the last one

First of all I'm on a tight budget. If it was any tighter I would be homeless. I would love to go with the newest and best but its just not in the cards till I win the lottery.

So I try to find the absolute best bang for teh buck system components to build with. This time around its going to be a Toliman core AM2+ cpu on a stable and trusty motherboard, 4Gb DDR 1066, & nVidia 260. I just want to play some games not duel it out in benchmark wars.

I'm having trouble deciding on a chipset though and I like to make my choices based on empirical data instead of opinions. I just spent the last 3 hours searching the net for comparison data on AM2+ chipsets and can find only reviews of one or the other.

Does anyone know of a source for comparisons of chipset performance... something similar to the VGA charts here on Tom's? Something that compares AMD to nVidia chipsets for stability, compatability and/or speed?

If all else fails I would happily welcome information about your similar builds.

Thanks in advance for any and all help or assistance.

 

[apache_lives]

Hi everyone. Its time to upgrade again, and so soon too. Seems like its only been 3 years since the last one

First of all I'm on a tight budget. If it was any tighter I would be homeless. I would love to go with the newest and best but its just not in the cards till I win the lottery.

So I try to find the absolute best bang for teh buck system components to build with. This time around its going to be a Toliman core AM2+ cpu on a stable and trusty motherboard, 4Gb DDR 1066, & nVidia 260. I just want to play some games not duel it out in benchmark wars.

I'm having trouble deciding on a chipset though and I like to make my choices based on empirical data instead of opinions. I just spent the last 3 hours searching the net for comparison data on AM2+ chipsets and can find only reviews of one or the other.

Does anyone know of a source for comparisons of chipset performance... something similar to the VGA charts here on Tom's? Something that compares AMD to nVidia chipsets for stability, compatability and/or speed?

If all else fails I would happily welcome information about your similar builds.

Thanks in advance for any and all help or assistance.

I lost my trust in nvidia products lately, take a look at AMD's high end offerings but it all comes down to "are you going to use dual video cards?" - if not, id go for an ATi chipset.

Taken a look at Intels offerings? they are the better bang for the buck offering, but dont take my word for it, just dont limit your self to an AMD only system when theres other stuff on the market.

 

[KrisInFla]

Thanks for the reply apache. My apologies, I should have made it clear that I plan to go with a single video card.

Also in place of "...the absolute best bang for teh buck system components to build with..." perhaps "...the absolute cheapest upgrade that will keep me gaming for a bit..." would have been a better choice. I promise to work on my presentation.

And yes I have looked at (and drooled over) the Intel offerings but the complete upgrade I have in mind will cost less than a nice Intel motherboard and provide an upgrade path for the CPU without replacing the motherboard and RAM. This is what has kept me onboard with AMD for many years now, since I first upgraded from my old 486 (ahhh those good 'ole Duke Nukem 3D days) to a 1333Mhz Athlon with that newfangled DDR 266 RAM and a gForce 2 (bye-bye Duke...hello Mr Freeman )

The chipset choice for my last upgrade, Athlon 64 3400 Venice, was extremely simple... nvidia. But i guess things have changed a bit since then. I'll take a closer look at the AMD offerings. Is there a reason you have 'lost your trust in nvidia lately'?
Once again, Thank You.

 

[chunkymonster]

I'm having trouble deciding on a chipset though and I like to make my choices based on empirical data instead of opinions. I just spent the last 3 hours searching the net for comparison data on AM2+ chipsets and can find only reviews of one or the other.

I don't know of any chipset comparison reviews, but I do know that the best chipset out for the AM2+ is the 790GX and SB750 southbridge. There are a number of quality affordable mobos with this chipset pairing, like the BioStar TFORCE TA790GX3 A2+ for $125USD off Newegg.com.

Good luck!

 

[KrisInFla]

Thanks for the reply chunky. I investigated the 700 series chipsets and the 770 is looking like a front-running choice. I'm afraid I won't have the money to invest in the GX's and probably wouldn't use the on-board graphics anyways, and since i wont need the multi GPU support the 770 looks like a great candidate. My previous 2 boards have been BioStars and I've been very satisfied with them. There's a Gigabyte with all solid caps that looks interesting too... all for about 80 bucks at Newegg. That's right in line for this poor boy's budget

Oh BTW I have been reading some comments about nVidia's comparable chipsets running much hotter and requiring active cooling. Anyone know if this is true?

Thanks again for all the input guys

 

[apache_lives]

Thanks for the reply chunky. I investigated the 700 series chipsets and the 770 is looking like a front-running choice. I'm afraid I won't have the money to invest in the GX's and probably wouldn't use the on-board graphics anyways, and since i wont need the multi GPU support the 770 looks like a great candidate. My previous 2 boards have been BioStars and I've been very satisfied with them. There's a Gigabyte with all solid caps that looks interesting too... all for about 80 bucks at Newegg. That's right in line for this poor boy's budget

Oh BTW I have been reading some comments about nVidia's comparable chipsets running much hotter and requiring active cooling. Anyone know if this is true?

Thanks again for all the input guys

From what iv seen, most nvidia chipsets run super hot while most of ATi's offerings run super cool etc - i personally like things running at 50ºc and under, i cant see a nvidia motherboard having a long 3+ year lifespan etc.

 

[Amg]

I m not sure about the AMD SLI boreds but I know for intel with SLI chipsets they well are a waste of money, if they work than nice but mostly they don't.

I would go for AMD/ATI all so a 790GX (whatever it is lol haven't looked at AMD mobos much) with a HD4850 or 70 depends on oyur needs

 

[apache_lives]

I m not sure about the AMD SLI boreds but I know for intel with SLI chipsets they well are a waste of money, if they work than nice but mostly they don't.

I would go for AMD/ATI all so a 790GX (whatever it is lol haven't looked at AMD mobos much) with a HD4850 or 70 depends on oyur needs

WTF you on about? and can you even spell?