Best mobo CPU combo?

[jjbtexas]

what is the best mobo cpu combo for around $300 for gaming

will have 9800GTX that i might want to SLI in the future
i like AMD but don't really have a preference

 

[Outlander_04]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.165048

or

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.165030

neither can SLI an nVidia card , but can crossfire ATI cards

 

[aevm]

I'm voting for the first one. The second one is good too, but the MB costs more than the CPU and that just feels wrong.

Edit: of course, for multi-GPU on that board you need to get a Crossfire card, like HD 4850. It's pretty much like the 9800GTX, just a bit faster. A HD 4870 would be even better but it costs more and you'd need a PSu with 4 PCI-E connectors instead of 2 for Crossfire.

 

[Outlander_04]

The first combo has the quad core but the mb is only able to crossfire in x8/x8 mode

the second X3 720 combo is pretty close in gaming now because so few games are multi threaded , and it does have x16/x16 pci-e slots for crossfire .
Combo 2 has more upgrade potential , by sacrificing a little bit of grunt now

either will work well

 

[jjbtexas]

I have a 750w PSU so I'm not worried about that, the issue is I already have one 9800GTX so crossfire between two 4870 isn't really possible without spending even more money. would I notce the difference between an X3 and X4 if all I'm dong is gaming? would I see that big of a difference between one or two 9800GTX on a 22" 1600x1050 resolution monitor?

 

[aevm]

OK, then you need a SLI motherboard.

You would notice a difference between 3 and 4 cores in FSX and GTA4, but even those would still work pretty well. You wouldn't notice a difference in other games, because most other games only use one or two cores.

Between one and two 9800GTX+ cards: in some games there's a big difference, in others not so much. Google "9800GTX SLI review" and you'll find plenty of benchmarks. Crysis for example would benefit from SLI.

 

[jjbtexas]

didn't see that last post, so it sounds like going for the x3 won't drop performance but alittle. like I said though I would like an SLI option. what would be a good mobo, around $150, that would do SLI with the x3?

 

[aevm]

ASUS M4N72-E AM2+/AM2 NVIDIA nForce 750a SLI $135
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131367
http://usa.asus.com/products.aspx?l1=3&l2=181&l3=904&l4=0&model=2821&modelmenu=1

 

[jjbtexas]

are there any good intel options?

 

[aevm]

Kind of hard to compare, because Intel doesn't make triple-core processors.

You could get an eVGA 750i for $110 and an E8500 for $190, but you end up paying $300 instead of $282 and getting two cores instead of three.

 

[smeeon]

I'm seriously considering the second build, my budget is ~$500 for mb/cpu/ram I fell in love with the ASUS M4A79 Deluxe so that's what i want to focus the build on. I already have a
BFG BFGEGTX2851024OCE Geforce GTX 285 1GB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 (2.0v) Video Card
and
CORSAIR CMPSU-850TX 850W SLI/CrossFire Active Power Supply

which CPU/Ram combo would get the most out of that motherboard?

 

[aevm]

There's a combo for that board and a Phenom II 940, $55 off, total $370
http://secure.newegg.com/Shopping/AddToCart.aspx?Submit=ADD&ItemList=Combo.165049

That's the best CPU that works on the M4A79 Deluxe, and it comes to only $170 for the processor if you use that combo. Excellent deal IMO. Compare with the $200 Q6600 (which is slower) and the $275 Q9550 (which trades blows with the Phenom II 940 in games).

RAM:
OCZ Reaper HPC 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 $63 (actually $33 if you're lucky and get the mail rebate)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227289

 

[smeeon]

nice, I'll take the suggestion. Saved the cart and when my paypal transfer completes I'll order it. beginning of next week. thanks!

one last question.. is there any gaming performance gain from upgrading to the T version of that same mobo and using DDR3 ram?

 

[JaredAudiophileGamer]

not worth it at all man, and you cant use the phenom2 940 on am3 boards, and the performance difference at this point is little to none.

 

[smeeon]

hehe i guess i should say sorry for hijacking the post, but thanks guys for the response.

 

[jjbtexas]

hey im all done with it, its all yours

 

[smeeon]

parts ordered.... anticipation begins!