Motherboard for Athlon II X4 620

[arumba]

I have question:

1. I want to buy AMD Athlon II X4 620. I want to know if there's any good ECS motherboard that can support it, since its prices is half of ASUS one.

2. Should I buy a DDR 3 RAM or stick to DDR 2? How long will DDR2 lasts? If I re-use my DDR2 right now, must I buy another motherboard if I want to upgrade it later to DDR3?

Thanks

 

[enzo matrix]

1. You will want to go on the ECS site and look up their CPU support list for various motherboards but generally, all AM2+ and AM3 boards support the Athlon II.
Half prices of Asus one? My good asus board was $85. I've never seen a motherboard for half that price. Maybe for $55-60 but that was a cheap motherboard.

2. Up to you. It makes little difference.
It will last until it breaks. Which is most likely more than 20 years. I have yet to see an older working computer since most people replace theirs within that time. Unless I misunderstand your question?
Yes. DDR2 and DDR3 do not fit in the same slot and motherboards only support one or the other.

 

[arumba]

Wel I mean by Q #2 is... how long would DDR2 RAM last until the the factory decides not to produce them anymore, some kind like DDR1 which now is almost out of the market.

I prefer to pick some thing that could last for 6-8 years and I still can find the parts easily if it breaks or something. I still have a PC with DDR RAM and it almost impossible for me to find the parts in reasonable price.

 

[shortstuff_mt]

ECS doesn't make very good boards. Where are you buying your components from? I'll post Newegg links for now.

You'll definitely want DDR3 if you want to be able to upgrade components for a long time. Here's a few nice combo deals from Newegg:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.375960 $167.98 (AMD Athlon II X4 620 + ASUS M4A785TD-M EVO AM3 motherboard combo)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.365940 $147.98 - $10 MIR (AMD Athlon II X4 620 + ECS IC780M-A2 (V1.0A) AM3 AMD 770 motherboard combo)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.362821 $147.98 ( AMD Athlon II X4 620 + Biostar A770E3 AM3 AMD 770 motherboard combo)

The Asus is actually a better deal IMO. Not only are you getting a much higher-quality motherboard, but you're also getting an on-board GPU for only an extra $20.

 

[enzo matrix]

Wel I mean by Q #2 is... how long would DDR2 RAM last until the the factory decides not to produce them anymore, some kind like DDR1 which now is almost out of the market.

I prefer to pick some thing that could last for 6-8 years and I still can find the parts easily if it breaks or something. I still have a PC with DDR RAM and it almost impossible for me to find the parts in reasonable price.

A very long time. You can still buy even SD-RAM. DDR ram won't stop being sold for a while, it will just be not high end. I think SD-RAM is almost out of the market, not DDR. But at this point also, SD-RAM is easy to get from all the computers people are getting rid of. I have 1 256mb stick and like 5 128mb sticks.
However, I don't think they will make DDR2 past 4GB chips. Maybe 8GB if they randomly decide to. So I think you'd be limited to 16GB assuming you have 4 slots. That most good motherboad's support anyway, with the lower end ones supporting up to 8GB.

I like shortstuff's first combo. Definitely a good deal.

 

[user 18]

I bought this processor from Newegg with a Gigabyte mobo (GA-MA785GM-US2H) which is the cheapest in that line. It is a very good board for ~$90 (on sale right now for $80). It uses DDR2 RAM, and will support up to 16 GB.

I would definitely go for an Asus or Gigabyte motherboard, since they are good quality brands, and will likely last a long time.

Unless you are a serious gamer (which I assume you are not, based on your CPU choice), this board and 2x2gb DDR2 (800 or 667 mhz) will do just fine. Even with the onboard graphics, it plays older games well (2-3 years old) and can handle video capture and editing quite well for a home user's purposes. If you are a more serious gamer, buy a good video card, as this is the most impoartant component of any gaming experience.

 

[user 18]

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128394&Tpk=ga-ma785gm-us2h

sry, forgot to post a link for the motherboard (newegg.ca)

 

[arumba]

Well... I am not a gamer, in any sort of way... well, maybe I play diablo or somthing like that.

No, I need my computer to do some designs and I love to do multitasking, and that's way I want to use a multi-core procie.

I like to use Photoshop, Illustrator, Indesign, and CorelDRAW in the same time, or at least they run at the same time. My friends keep telling me to use Mac and it is 4 sure ideal choice, my the price is out of my range.

I'm coming from Asia, but anyhow ayn Newegg links I would always appreciate since that's way I can compare the price in my local shop, or at least to ship it from China or Singapore.

 

[randomkid]

I have question:

1. I want to buy AMD Athlon II X4 620. I want to know if there's any good ECS motherboard that can support it, since its prices is half of ASUS one.

2. Should I buy a DDR 3 RAM or stick to DDR 2? How long will DDR2 lasts? If I re-use my DDR2 right now, must I buy another motherboard if I want to upgrade it later to DDR3?

Thanks

What is your current motherboard and CPU? It is possible that your motherboard maybe able to support X4 620 thru a BIOS update.

 

[user 18]

Well... I am not a gamer, in any sort of way... well, maybe I play diablo or somthing like that.

No, I need my computer to do some designs and I love to do multitasking, and that's way I want to use a multi-core procie.

I like to use Photoshop, Illustrator, Indesign, and CorelDRAW in the same time, or at least they run at the same time. My friends keep telling me to use Mac and it is 4 sure ideal choice, my the price is out of my range.

I'm coming from Asia, but anyhow ayn Newegg links I would always appreciate since that's way I can compare the price in my local shop, or at least to ship it from China or Singapore.

I agree that Macs are equipped with some very nice hardware, but it will definitely be cheaper to build your own PC.

Those programs use a lot of system resources, or at least the newer versions do. Depending on the intensity with which you are using them, you might want to go with a better processor, maybe a Phenom, although I've heard the 620s can overclock quite well.

RAM is also a factor, and faster RAM will usually have better performance than slower RAM, assuming your board can support it. Perhaps for a situation like that DDR3 would be better - and all of the deals on Newegg have been on DDR3 lately.