what motherboard to buy for this RAM & CPU?

[d3v]

Hi all.

I was casually browsing a favorite forum of mine when I suddenly came accross a thread in the "member classifieds" in which vairous PC components were being sold.

I quickly snapped up the CPU and RAM so I can finally have a desktop PC like old times.

The thread is here - http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=47320

Here is what I bought off him..

Hynix DDR2 PC2 4200 (2x1GB) Matched Pair (serial number: HYMP512U64CP8-C4 AB)

&

AMD Athlon 64x2, 3.8 GHz dual core, Socket AM2 CPU and HSF

... all for £43 ($70) - pretty good deal I know!

so my question is, what motherboard do you guys reccomend for that particular RAM? I'm not after an amazing board and I'm happy to be confined to 4 RAM DIMM's and I'm not bothered about on-board audio as I have an Audigy card.

My budget is £50 max ($80).

thanks in advance.

[RadioActive]

Hi all.

I was casually browsing a favorite forum of mine when I suddenly came accross a thread in the "member classifieds" in which vairous PC components were being sold.

I quickly snapped up the CPU and RAM so I can finally have a desktop PC like old times.

The thread is here - http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=47320

Here is what I bought off him..

Hynix DDR2 PC2 4200 (2x1GB) Matched Pair (serial number: HYMP512U64CP8-C4 AB)

&

AMD Athlon 64x2, 3.8 GHz dual core, Socket AM2 CPU and HSF

... all for £43 ($70) - pretty good deal I know!

so my question is, what motherboard do you guys reccomend for that particular RAM? I'm not after an amazing board and I'm happy to be confined to 4 RAM DIMM's and I'm not bothered about on-board audio as I have an Audigy card.

My budget is £50 max ($80).

thanks in advance.

Are you sure it's AM2 not AM2+?

If it's AM2+ then you should consider the Biostar TA760G M2+, it's reasonably priced and pretty decent I use it a lot for client who wanna buy a budget system.

It costs exactly $80 amazon, but it might be different where you live

http://www.amazon.com/Biostar-TA760G-M2-Motherboard/dp/B001THNAK0/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=pc&qid=1259068863&sr=1-3

[d3v]

damm my computer knowledge is completely obsolete these days, since I've never really "kept up" .

It turns out this CPU is the old circa 2005 or 2006 AMD Athlon x2 3800+ AM2 and from the barely legible serial number in the poor photo reads, I'm pretty certain it is this particular chip http://products.amd.com/en-us/DesktopCPUDetail.aspx?id=64&f1=AMD+Athlon%e2%84%a2+X2&f2=&f3=&f4=&f5=AM2&f6=&f7=&f8=&f9=2000&f10=False&f11=&f12=

so to clarify, yes it is AM2 socket, but from what I read from wiki, AM2+ motherboards can fit AM2 chips?

So not as awesome as I originally thought, but still a decent deal I got!

I wonder if this chip could run Dragon Rising, Armed Assault 2, and Empire: Total War - all of which I've been dying to play since my gaming rig died!

So again, reccomendations on a rock solid stable motherboard would be of great use at the moment!

also what chipset is best?

[LeetPirate]

Any AM2 or AM2+ motherboard will work fine.

[RadioActive]

damm my computer knowledge is completely obsolete these days, since I've never really "kept up" .

It turns out this CPU is the old circa 2005 or 2006 AMD Athlon x2 3800+ AM2 and from the barely legible serial number in the poor photo reads, I'm pretty certain it is this particular chip http://products.amd.com/en-us/DesktopCPUDetail.aspx?id=64&f1=AMD+Athlon%e2%84%a2+X2&f2=&f3=&f4=&f5=AM2&f6=&f7=&f8=&f9=2000&f10=False&f11=&f12=

so to clarify, yes it is AM2 socket, but from what I read from wiki, AM2+ motherboards can fit AM2 chips?

So not as awesome as I originally thought, but still a decent deal I got!

I wonder if this chip could run Dragon Rising, Armed Assault 2, and Empire: Total War - all of which I've been dying to play since my gaming rig died!

So again, reccomendations on a rock solid stable motherboard would be of great use at the moment!

also what chipset is best?

Considering your budget, the board I suggested earlier should suite your needs, but to play high end games you'll need a decent dedicated graphics card/adapter which unfortunately means extra cash...

nVIDIA 9600GT or AMD(ATi) HD4830 are decent cards, both cost around $100 each though :s

[d3v]

Slight change of intensions guys!

The CPU & RAM arrived this morning in good condition, but obviously, I need a motherboard hence this thread.

After reading about the current pleathora and state of computer technologies, of which I used to be very well educated on, I am pretty annoyed about how ridiculously complicated it has all become, or maybe I just don't have the time and willigness to read as much about it all as I once did!

Anyways I've decided it would be best to buy a high-end AM2+ motherboard rather than a cheapo, with the future intention of replacing the 3800+ CPU with something much quicker.

That way I am future proofed!

@Lohengrin, I am well aware of the need for a GPU, but thanks all the same! I shall be buying the GPU when, and only when, I have a lot of spare cash, as gaming is not my number one priority anymore, but I would really like to play those games I mentioned above ASAP! Fuck*n price of GPU's arghhhhhh!!!!

My motherboard budget has now doubled to £100 ! Recommendations PLEASE!!

Oh and most importantly that I neary forgot to ask you guys is if any of you know of a website that can search for your RAM's module serial number and tell you what motherboards are definately 100% compatible with?!?!?

Is RAM/motherboard compatibility a little overated? Is it as sensitive as people make out?

EDIT: Actually, I should outline my needs and non-needs for motherboards!

I do not need any special HDTV connections/ports.

No Need for more than 6GB RAM

Absolutely no need for SLI

No need for serial ports or PS2 mouse/keyboard ports

Must have good south/north bridge cooling, passive if possible

Proven long-term stability

[d3v]

Hey all can you guys explain to me how this board says it is AM2+/AM3 compatible? Just how can that be possible?

If it's true though, then that is pretty damm awesome as it allows me to get an AM3 chip later on!

The boards description also says it has a durable copper plate backing for increased heat dissipation which sounds pretty damm awesome as we all know heat is a real bastard when it comes to stability so anyone to ocunter it is good!

Board here - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-199-GI&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=1482

edit: what is best - AMD or nForce chipset?

[LeetPirate]

Hey all can you guys explain to me how this board says it is AM2+/AM3 compatible? Just how can that be possible?

If it's true though, then that is pretty damm awesome as it allows me to get an AM3 chip later on!

The boards description also says it has a durable copper plate backing for increased heat dissipation which sounds pretty damm awesome as we all know heat is a real bastard when it comes to stability so anyone to ocunter it is good!

Board here - http://www.overclock...d=5&subcat=1482

edit: what is best - AMD or nForce chipset?

You don't need that board, you would be wasting money. The only difference between the 790 chipset and the 770 is the crossfire capabilities which you won't be using so why waste the money. Better to get a cheaper 7 series chipset from AMD.

Also your idea of future proof is flawed, by the time you are ready to buy a new cpu you would need a new motherboard as well. Gigabyte stops BIOS updates pretty quick and therefore the old board will not have 100% support for the new cpu you plan to get in future.

If power usage and heat dissipation is your concern then I recommend you get AMD chipsets. nVidia is the company that brings you global warming friendly chipsets so stay away from them at all cost if you have any regard for the Earth and trees etc. Except recently they have made a leap in progress with their geforce 8200 motherboard that actually uses a few watts less than AMD chipsets.

The best board for you is the ASRock A780LM AM2+/AM2 AMD RS780L (760G) Micro ATX AMD Motherboard. Great price, excellent reviews, and excellent performance using the latest chipsets. I believe the southbridge is SB710 which allows you to buy a Sargas core AMD sempron 140 cpu for like $40 and unlock it to a full dual core for free. Not 100% sure because the specs say SB700/SB710 so I don't know which it is.

As for AM2+ and AM3, well AM3 cpu can work on AM2/AM2+ socket but AM2/AM2+ cpu cannot work in AM3 socket. AM/AM2+ processors have 940 pins, compared to just 938 on an AM3. Aside from the pin differences, the main reason AM2/AM2+ cpu cannot work on AM3 socket is because those cpu lack DDR3 controller in them.

[d3v]

bloody heck this is getting more and more confusing.

Thanks for the suggestions LeetPirate. That board does seem to be a good choice. I've found plenty of UK places that sell it. Average price is £45. Not bad at all!

Is this the CPU you mentioned briefly? http://www.advancetec.co.uk/acatalog/AMD_Sempron_140_Sargas_Core_Socket_AM3_processor_.html

Is that actually better than the CPU I just bought? This is it's official informaiton page - http://products.amd.com/en-us/DesktopCPUDetail.aspx?id=64

If so, then I made a stupid mistake, as I could of bought the Sargos for the same price.

WTF!

Also, thanks for the information on chipsets. I had no bloody idea nVIDIA for so SHITE! NO WONDER my old nForce 3 system had so many god damm heat issues - horrendous times.

Looking at AMD's official website, it seems the ASROCK motherboard you reccomend uses the old AMD 760G which is far from the "latest" chipset as you stated. Was you're reasoning due to the more recent AMD chipsets like the 780 and 790GX being superflous to my needs, maybe?

[LeetPirate]

bloody heck this is getting more and more confusing.

Thanks for the suggestions LeetPirate. That board does seem to be a good choice. I've found plenty of UK places that sell it. Average price is £45. Not bad at all!

Is this the CPU you mentioned briefly? http://www.advancete...processor_.html

Is that actually better than the CPU I just bought? This is it's official informaiton page - http://products.amd....tail.aspx?id=64

If so, then I made a stupid mistake, as I could of bought the Sargos for the same price.

WTF!

I think you mixed up the links. :P

Anyway yea the Sargas core sempron 140 is in fact an Athlon II 45nm cpu with AMD K10 architecture with 1 core disabled. All previous generations of Semprons were actually dumbed down versions of Athlons but the Sempron 140 is a full Athlon II just with 1 core disabled, it even supports virtualization. It will blow away that 3800+ you bought by far. :whistle:

Maybe you could sell it back? :hehe:

You can check out the Sempron 140 unlocking here, it's pretty simple, you just need the board with SB710 southbridge and then you enable 2 options in the BIOS I think.

Looking at AMD's official website, it seems the ASROCK motherboard you reccomend uses the old AMD 760G which is far from the "latest" chipset as you stated. Was you're reasoning due to the more recent AMD chipsets like the 780 and 790GX being superflous to my needs, maybe?

No the idea and conceptual design is probably old but the chip production is latest. The 760 chipset uses 55nm process while the older 790 use 65nm process. Hence the 760 chipset uses less power as well. You see normally what happens is they make the highest end chips first, then later on they brand the faulty ones as lower end models and when that runs out they make new refined lower end models. Note that there are newer 780 and 790 chipsets being built at 55nm as well to replace the previous 65nm versions.

[d3v]

Good lord this the amount of information is overwhelming.

By the way I've searched google for the A780LM board you reccomended, and also searched various forums like Neowin and Tom's Hardware and both returned nothing! Should I be worried? Where's the abundant acclaim for this boards performance and long-term stability?

Also by the way that Sargos CPU does sound tempting, but don't you realise it's a socket AM3 while the A780LM motherboard you reccomend is socket AM2+

[LeetPirate]

Good lord this the amount of information is overwhelming.

By the way I've searched google for the A780LM board you reccomended, and also searched various forums like Neowin and Tom's Hardware and both returned nothing! Should I be worried? Where's the abundant acclaim for this boards performance and long-term stability?

Also by the way that Sargos CPU does sound tempting, but don't you realise it's a socket AM3 while the A780LM motherboard you reccomend is socket AM2+

The A780LM is AM3 capable, just that it uses DDR2 memory so they won't call it AM3 socket because to be called AM3 means ddr3. Check the official specs. Good deal since there is no significant improvement from ddr3 over ddr2.

As for performance and long term stability, just read the reviews, so many good reviews everywhere it is hard to pass up. If you are worried about reliability then Asrock is the best there is because Asrock is ASUS. :D Same company, same elite hardware, just different brand names to target different markets. I see the board uses Solid capacitors by the VRM (voltage regulation module) next to the cpu and it's those capacitors that mainly affect the reliability of a board. Solid capacitors for the VRM is an automatic indicator for high quality. Aside from the rare instance of receiving a faulty board, (which can happen with any electronic), this board is highly reliable and super fast.

[d3v]

I have always hated Asus and regarded their boards as complete crap after I had two die on me in a row years back.

But I am willing to buy this board. Japanese capacitors have a guaranteed 5 year life span apparantly!

Back to this unlockable Sargos CPU you speak of. Is it guranteed to unlock just as long as the motherboard has the SB710 southbridge? Isn't it possible that they disabled the ability to do this unlock trick with more recently-manufactured Sargos chips? Regardless, I'll be using the chip I've already bought for the time being. Money is tight!!!

p.s LeetPirate I thank you for teaching me all this stuff. I feel like I'm getting "back in the loop" of thing as it were.

[LeetPirate]

I have always hated Asus and regarded their boards as complete crap after I had two die on me in a row years back.

But I am willing to buy this board. Japanese capacitors have a guaranteed 5 year life span apparantly!

Back to this unlockable Sargos CPU you speak of. Is it guranteed to unlock just as long as the motherboard has the SB710 southbridge? Isn't it possible that they disabled the ability to do this unlock trick with more recently-manufactured Sargos chips? Regardless, I'll be using the chip I've already bought for the time being. Money is tight!!!

p.s LeetPirate I thank you for teaching me all this stuff. I feel like I'm getting "back in the loop" of thing as it were.

Don't worry it is guaranteed to unlock. AMD put that feature in there on purpose, they will never admit it but that's what they did to boost popularity and motherboard sales. There is also an AM2+ Athlon 5000+ 2.2Ghz dual core out there that unlocks to a quad core with L3 cache. :D

So yea basically it is guaranteed to unlock once you have the required chipsets.

[d3v]

Wow this is excellent. I'm relieved to have settled on a motherboard finally. I just need to decide on a PSU now as my old Antec modular Neo Power PSU died - piece of SH*T or what? I have 2 or 3 generic PSU's but I wouldn't touch them with a barge pole!

I'm leaning towards OCZ since they seem to always get good remarks. Corsair PSU's seem to get raved about, too. What you'r opinion about the silent passive cooled PSU's? I'm dead set on a quiet PC as my previous builds always pissed me off with their ambient whirling and whizzing sounds.

I wonder what brand actually creates the PSU's from scratch as I have a feeling that most of these brands buy the components then merely piece them together thus creating inherently unreliable and questionable 3rd party devices. Sort of like Belkin's surge protectors being total 'plasticky' junk as I hear from someone here!

[LeetPirate]

Wow this is excellent. I'm relieved to have settled on a motherboard finally. I just need to decide on a PSU now as my old Antec modular Neo Power PSU died - piece of SH*T or what? I have 2 or 3 generic PSU's but I wouldn't touch them with a barge pole!

I'm leaning towards OCZ since they seem to always get good remarks. Corsair PSU's seem to get raved about, too. What you'r opinion about the silent passive cooled PSU's? I'm dead set on a quiet PC as my previous builds always pissed me off with their ambient whirling and whizzing sounds.

I wonder what brand actually creates the PSU's from scratch as I have a feeling that most of these brands buy the components then merely piece them together thus creating inherently unreliable and questionable 3rd party devices. Sort of like Belkin's surge protectors being total 'plasticky' junk as I hear from someone here!

Heh, power supply is a large topic. To know the real brand that makes it you have to lookup the UL number written on the label. SeaSonic, PC Power & Cooling, and CoolerMaster are some of my favourites. SeaSonic makes most Corsairs and Antec, and OCZ gets theirs from Topower. Antec also gets some from Channel Well Co. who also makes for Thermaltake. Coolermaster gets most of their PSU from Acbel Polytech. PC Power & Cooling makes their own as well as Sea Sonic makes their own. Since you agree that OCZ is really good then it means Topower makes good power supplies. Toppower also supplies another brand named Scythe so they should be good as well.

Well I probably confused you enough for now, just get the cheapest 80plus certified power supply and it will be of superior built quality.