Question regarding the (dated) amd quad fx platform

[Guest]

hi, i currently have the amd quad fx motherboard witch is the asus l1n64-sli-ws witch supports the athlon fx-7 series.

i have an athlon fx 70 witch is the lower end of the configuration and only one is installed.

well its time to upgrade, i do alot of video editing and some gaming like oblivion, empire total war, wow, half life, etc

i have searched the farthest corners of the world wide web and come to find that the board i have supports the opteron 2200 series, witch is the santa rosa without a bios update, also rumors that the bios can be flashed over to the ws/b varient and support dual quads or the barcelonas/ shanghais.

from what i gathered the asus l1n64-sli ws/b is just the ws boards that were not selling or were overstock and asus altered the bios to allow opterons of the 2000 series , aka dual quads.

would i be able to flash my bios over to the ws/b varient? i also know that new egg had a combo deal with athlon fx-74 and the asus ws/b so there must be some compatibility. how would i flash my bios, do i go to asus website and download the ws/b bios?

if not i found some places selling the board for 400 dollars, compared to the 150 i got mine for on ebay.

so for gaming and video should i just get a matching set of fx-74 off ebay and get say a ati 5890 for gaming,

as far as the opterons go would the santa rosas give me an increase in performance, or if i can get the bios go with a quad and then add another quad in?

if not then what mobo would you reccomend for opteron dual quad

i found an msi speedster for 190

 

[o1die]

The dual opteron cpu boards are very expensive; not worth the money unless you have a business that needs a reliable board 24/7. I would go with an am2+/am3 board if you want to use ddr2; if you buy ram, go ddr3 and an am3 board with at least a propus 620 or phenom II. The 785 and 790 chipset boards work well. Some of the gigabyte boards will work with old opteron am2 cpus, but I would try selling yours and do a complete upgrade. Craigslist is a great way to sell your old stuff.