New motherboard, CPU and GPU combination - advice needed!!!

**savage** · 13-01-2006, 05:28 PM

Hi all,
As mentioned I need some advice on a good motherboard, CPU and GPU combination that will just work when I build the system. I want to just plug my existing IDE drives, monitor and mouse in and get testing the competition entries. Basic requirements are that they must support WinXP as a minimum and it would be a bonus if they work with Mandrake 10 or Suse 10 as well.

I will be buying them next week-end, so please let me know ASAP!!!

**tux** · 13-01-2006, 07:45 PM

got a manufacture preference?

**savage** · 13-01-2006, 07:59 PM

I like ATI graphics cards and AMD CPUs, not really clued up on motherboards, though I read somewhere that Asus were ok but have no real idea and not really bothered as long as it works.

Btw, does anyone know the difference between a AMD Sempron process and the the other one, also Socket 754 Motherboard and a Socket 935 Motherboard ?

Also is it better to go for AGP slot of PCIExpress?

**tux** · 13-01-2006, 08:11 PM

sempron is the budget line of cpu.

754 is not a good move. so will 939 be in a few months with the new socket.

i would recommend an amd64 3000 or better. do you want single or duel core? (duel core is 2 cpu on 1 die)

im not too clued up on the latest ati cards. but i have an x800 standard and that performs nicely (so i would recommend that as a minimum)

also i have this motherboard: http://www.sapphiretech.com/en/produ...s.php?gpid=129

crossfire ready (just get a master card and you have duel graphics)

also you want a pci express

**WILL** · 13-01-2006, 08:33 PM

:lol: Dom you're gonna hate me. I prefer Intel CPUs and nVidia GPUs. :lol:

Seriously nVidia generally makes chipsets for gaming mostly with media 2nd, but ATI I find is the other way around. Then again... I may have fallen a tad behind over time, but I still see them that way.

And the Intel thing... well common, it's Intel man!

They invented the 80x86 series who better to know the architecture and make it stable. AMD, sure they did some nity things and they know their stuff by now. Heck making crappy K-series, Athlon and Athlon XP chips helped them learn lessons, but there is a reason that Intel still leads the market.

Just my thoughts on the hardware. Not gosple, but also may be dated.

If you getting a new CPU I'd recommend Intel P4 /w HT 2-3 GHz if not Intel board, VIA very is nice(for both Intel and AMD actually). for GPU... I'm not current, but GeForce is great for gaming... this I know. I can only imagine that they would have nicer support for OpenGL than D3D.

**tux** · 13-01-2006, 08:55 PM

intel are possibly at least 1 year behind amd in processor development and ati are the only manufacture i know that releases monthly driver updates for all their cards (going back to the 7x00 series!)

**Robert Kosek** · 13-01-2006, 08:57 PM

Dated? Yeah... Hyperthreading actually decreases performance and has security flaws. AMD's Barton core allows 4 threads, instead of 2, and is faster. I've not heard a single security problem with the AMD barton's. Besides, AMD is using slower clockspeeds and still matching performance with Intel ... so who's better? Brute force or finesse?

Though I'll admit the Pentium1 233mhz was the most sable CPU ever...

I love AMD and will be using nVidia at my next upgrade. I've had it with ATI thus far.

**JSoftware** · 13-01-2006, 09:25 PM

i've had amd as long as i can remember(this doesn't include the x86 processors i had in my unknowingly years

) however i think that no matter what cpu you buy at this time you will be robbed.. Jesus christ, they're expensive! You better grap down deep in your pockets and buy a dual core amd and be safe for the next 4 years!

Gpu: Get an NVidia gfx processor. They are far ahead of ati at the moment. My next card which will probably go in a few months will be a 7800gt(maybe x if i get the money)(i've a ati 9600pro at the moment which is really getting a bit sloppy..). Feel the power SM3.0 which will not have the startup-implementations of the new ati's.

Mobo: Do not try save money here! This can really get expensive later on. The new Via chipset for amd's would probably do it but i would go with a nVidia chipset as i have very good experiences with those.

Well that was my ramblings. Happy shopping

**Paulius** · 13-01-2006, 09:28 PM

Originally Posted by Robert Kosek

Dated? Yeah... Hyperthreading actually decreases performance and has security flaws.

That?¢_Ts strange, Any proof?
PCI Express has better bandwidth than AGP and has better speed when reading back from the card.
6600GTs seem to have the best price performance ratio at the moment.
No offence WILL, but advice from a person who hasn?¢_Tt upgraded in this millennium looks silly.

**Robert Kosek** · 13-01-2006, 10:55 PM

Yup, I got DOCUMENTED proof. Exploit info: http://www.daemonology.net/papers/htt.pdf

Long document short, there's a way to mess with the Cache and hijack admin stuff. Really serious, but I'm no deep core techie so I don't know the true depth of it. But I know it poses serious issues to servers.

Barton Core vs HT. (Google it)

Evidently the Barton Core doesn't handle 4 threads as I was told, some guy at a computer store. Grr, I ought to hit him with one of the wiffle bats... (Serves me right for not checking up on that) But the dual core stuff coming out now is good enough.

But Hyperthreading DOES slow down servers apparantly.

Moderation Process Reminder

Thread: New motherboard, CPU and GPU combination - advice needed!!!

Thread Tools

Display