AMD motherboard recommendations

[ross_aveling 0]

Hi All,

 

I'm looking to upgrade my system and have decided to jump ship and go with an AMD Athlon 64 CPU.

 

Why AMD? Basically because I'd like to stick with my current AGP video card (a Radeon 9800XT, and still pretty decent IMO) and use my current 1GB of PC3200 (DDR400) memory. The AMD route is my only option as the current high-end P4 motherboards don't have the precious AGP slot and many use DDR2 memory.

 

I'd like to go for at least a Socket 939 3500+ chip and have so far looked at the ABIT AV8 mainboard. I know that there are issues with this board when used with certain Antec power supplies (including mine ;(), so if anyone can recommend another brand/model and perhaps highlight any problems I may face, I'd really appreciate it.

 

TIA.

 

BTW - Would I see a real speed improvement going from a Pentium 4 2.4GHz?

[jmmijo 1]

How about the Asus A8V Deluxe as a suitable sub

 

As for a speed improvement, well yes, probably a damn huge one too. Remember that the Athlon 64/FX/Opteron have that lovely memory controller on the CPU die, it's like havine a memory turbo booster with about 15lbs. of pressure and an added NOS bottle to boot

[ross_aveling 0]

Excellent suggestion; just checked out the specs and the Asus board looks brilliant. Comes in at a very good price too (65 pounds).

 

As for the speed increase, I'm really hoping to get a real difference with games. I'm sure my P4 is holding my 9800XT back a little.

 

Nice one jmmijo

[Sampson 0]

You might also consider the processor you are going to put in your board as a start. Check out: http://techreport.com/reviews/2005q2/athlon64-venice/index.x?pg=1 and then see what board will support it, if games are what you are interested in.

[ross_aveling 0]

Man oh man this Athlon 64 lark is utterly confusing.

 

I'd like to have at least a 3500+ chip but I see that some have 512kb cache and others, 1mb (even though they have the same speed rating!).

 

As for cores, I've noticed some that are Venice based, whilst I've also seen Winchester, San Diego and even Clawhammer mentioned. :x.

 

Is it safe to say, that if I go for one that has the Venice core and as much cache as possible, it'll be the latest (and greatest) version?

 

Cheers guys.

[jmmijo 1]

Originally posted by ross_aveling:

Quote:

Is it safe to say, that if I go for one that has the Venice core and as much cache as possible, it'll be the latest (and greatest) version?

 

Yes it is

 

[Shadow64Bt 0]

lol for 64-bit Athlons, ignore the clockspeed, and even, in some cases, ignore the internal cache, focus on it's Hyper-Transport speed, some are 533MHz (s754) some are 1000MHz (3000+ s939), and others are 1600Mhz (3200+-3500+ s939) and the biggies are 2000MHz (3600+ s939 and up). That is one of the real factors for speed, also, even a simple s939 Athlon 64 3000+ will destroy a P4 in terms of speed. For motherboards, I run an A8V Deluxe myself, beautiful board, and the DFI boards (if you can find the rare one with an AGP slot) are no slouches either. Abit has been shaky lately though, and stay away from MSI, Gigabyte, and the other smaller companies. They are evil . *Fried RAM nightmare w/ MSI K7M*