Motherboard help

[WinchesterLa]

Hi Guys

I am planning on updating my system, i have an open thread in the Homebuilt section but i am after a bit of specific advice regarding my motherboard choice.

Below is what i am planning:

Bold=Already Own
Italics=Upgrade item

MOBO: Asus M4A87TD EVO AMD 870 (Socket AM3) (£79.99 Novatech)
PSU: Thermaltake 600w psu
GPU: Sapphire ATI Radeon 5770 Vapor-X 1024MB GDDR5 ( £99.98 Novatech)
CPU: AMD Quad Core Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition 3.2GHz Socket AM3 ( £87.98 Novatech)
Case: AQUA Jeantech gaming development
HD: Samsung SPOINT 500gb 7200 SATAll 16mb
RAM: Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit ( £39.98 Novatech)


I chose this motherboard Asus M4A87TD EVO AMD 870 (Socket AM3) (£79.99 Novatech) because it is usb 3.0, sat 6g/b and has 2XPCIe 2.0 for future gfx upgrade. (it is also aesthetically pleasing)

So community, is there a board out there with better specs for the price? I would like to keep the price around £80 as much as possible as i am having to replace a few parts due to failing existing hardware.

Any help would be most appreciated, Thanks.

 

[jaquith]

Welcome to Tom's Forum! - this section anyway

What's the purpose of this build?
Why AMD?
What's the budget for: MOBO, GPU, & RAM?
What OS?

 

[WinchesterLa]

Hi thanks for the response and welcome,

The purpose of the build is for gaming, i rarely use any rendering software type applications so i know im not going to need a fantastic processor, and also looking for just general overall speed.

Ive always used amd and since im on a tight budget it kind of fits, i am at a total loss when it comes to intel and their processors.

I currently have Windows 7 Ultimate 32bit

My price range for Mobo, GPU, RAM and CPU was £300

Thanks


My Build up to this upgrade is:

MOBO: Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H
PSU: Thermaltake 600w psu
GPU: Nvidia Geforce XFX 9600GT 512mb DDR3
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 x2 6000+ 3ghz
Case: AQUA Jeantech gaming development
HD: Samsung SPOINT 500gb 7200 SATAll 16mb
RAM: Corsair XMS6400 4GB (2x2GB) 800mhz


My 9600gt began smoking hence the upgrade, i thought that the parts listed would suffice for an upgrade. Any other suggestions are more than welcome.

 

[jaquith]

The problems that I and other non UK people often run into are £ to $ USD and the price conversion versus your actual cost. So where ELSE do you shop, http://www.novatech.co.uk has a very limited selection!

Example the ASUS M4A87TD EVO $112.86 to £70.61, but you have £79.99.

Much better system:
MSI P67A-G43 (B3) $105 ; CF/SLI
Intel Core i3-2120 $150 or Intel Core i3-2105 $140
Corsair 2x2GB CMX4GX3M2B1600C9 $32
nVidia GTX 460 EVGA 01G-P3-1380-KR $160 after rebate

 

[WinchesterLa]

Thats the problem im finding, you guys over the pond seem to have much lower prices for components whereas in the UK they still seem to be slightly expensive, probably due to the %20 vat

i have used novatech.co.uk for a previous build and has good reviews and also scan.co.uk

Will the intel and nvidia combo posted above far outweigh my choice (ati amd)?

Will have a good look at those choices now, thanks

 

[jaquith]

RE: Intel + GTX vs AMD + AMD - Yes, I researched it first. Obviously, I knew the i5-2500K is the best Gaming CPU, but the i3-21xx I had to research before posting.

Compare - http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/289?vs=88
AMD vs i3 - http://www.anandtech.com/show/4456/sandy-bridge-buyers-guide/3
GPU - http://www.guru3d.com/article/geforce-gtx-460-review/21 {review other pages}

Also, if you do MPEG encoding then get a H67 or Z68 MOBO then the iGPU will kick-in and the MPEG-2/4 times will reduce considerably. I prefer nVidia over AMD/ATI mainly because of scaling. I own 10 HD 5770 for our pseudo Workstations because it supports 3 monitors with 1 GPU, they're fine but in gaming it can be a problem.

The Intel and nVidia will run close in most test, the Intel has the edge in gaming, and the Intel runs cooler. The only real question is the OC of the AMD 955BE and the gaming differences then. I'd love to say 3GHz vs 4GHz offers 1/3 the FPS increase, it does not.

 

[WinchesterLa]

Thanks for the links, you have swayed me with the intel and nvidia route and im liking the setup you mentioned earlier.

Ill have to go and price them up from uk stores and see if i can stay within budget

thanks again jaquith, excellent help

 

[jaquith]

Most of us on this side of the pond are family to your side of the pond, and always ready to help any way 'we' can.

Good Luck!

 

[jmills204]

Hey before you buy this board, it think you are slightly confused about the possibility of the graphics update. It does have 2 slots that run pci express 2.0 x16, but when both are populated the second runs at x4. This is not worth going SLI/Crossfire when your second gpu is running at x4. If you want the option of dual gpu's, but a mobo that says it can go x8/x8 with both slots populated.

 

[WinchesterLa]

Hey before you buy this board, it think you are slightly confused about the possibility of the graphics update. It does have 2 slots that run pci express 2.0 x16, but when both are populated the second runs at x4. This is not worth going SLI/Crossfire when your second gpu is running at x4. If you want the option of dual gpu's, but a mobo that says it can go x8/x8 with both slots populated.

Thanks for the heads up, i was just reading about populated slots in one of the links further up.

Will have a search for a X8/X8 config

Cheers

 

[jaquith]

MSI P67A-G43 (B3) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130583

PCI Express 2.0 x16: 2 (x16, x8)

edit: it means 1 GPU x16, 2 GPUS x8/x8 which is the native limit to ANY LGA 1155 MOBO. Also, even if it were which it's not an x4 on either an HD 5770 or GTX 460 isn't going to cost a frame.

Scaling, nice read -> http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/NVIDIA/GTX_480_PCI-Express_Scaling/1.html

 

[WinchesterLa]

MSI P67A-G43 (B3) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130583

PCI Express 2.0 x16: 2 (x16, x8)

Your'e a star! Cheers mate

 

[jaquith]

I edited above for more info.

Good Luck!