View Full Version : Shifting to 64bit...
...maybe.
Haven't done much reading yet but can anyone point me in the right direction as to which motherboard/cpu to go for. Here's what i want:
Motherboard (AMD)
- onboard lan, (audio a plus)
- good for overclocking
- nVidia SLI-ready (although initially i'll just have one 7800gtx on it)
- support for dual core if possible
- good memory voltage spread (perhaps to 3.4+)
- good clearance for watercooling blocks
- ATX
- STABLE!!!
CPU
- obviously an AMD - but which one? What's good for price/performance
when taking overclockability into account (on water)?
Many thanks for any pointers, i'm still just researching given my current system (6800ultra/2.5ghz athlon mobile) is still fast enough for modern gaming. The 'push' factor is actually the new graphics card - PCI-X only of course!
- good memory voltage spread (perhaps to 3.4+)
Only 2 mfrs that I know of will give you that - ABIT & DFI.
I think that EPoX give you 3.1 or 3.2V.
Worth checking out the Ultra to SLi conversion on DFI boards too.
I heard DFI are for overclockers, and that some issues they have are because they should not appeal to mainstream or mildly overclocking gaming peoples...
Or i may of heard wrong. The issues i think i heard of were BIOs problems, which was a while ago though on there 756 board :D
stdRaichu
13-07-2005, 16:13
Gotta have to recommend the Asus SLI Platinum. Much more reliable (not to mention quieter) than the Neo2 it replaced, and if overclocking is your thing it's apparently a noticeable improvement on the older lower SLI Deluxe (e.g. you can get over 250MHz memory at 1T command rate).
X2 support out of the box, dual gigabit LAN, BIOS-switchable SLI selector (only use one GFX card meself), PCI3 1x and 4x connectors and seems to have plenty of clearance around the CPU. Not had a look at what the max mem voltage is though.
Don't get confused with the version that was never released with the carppy chipset fan - the released version has a very cool (arf) heatpipe cooler for the chipset.
What CPU you want depends a great deal on what you want the computer to do; personally I'd go for an X2 4400 but if games are your thing then you might prefer a single-core chip with a higher clock.
The Asus has been chonking away as a render node for the past few days (and turning my room into a furnace in the process :D), so I guess it's stable enough.
If its overclocking you're into then there should only be one board on your list
DFI Lanparty NF4 SLI
It has everything you asked for. I have had no issues with it and I've had planety of Asus and Abit boards over the years. Currently using bios 510-2. With the right cooling it will go to incredible speeds.
Gotta have to recommend the Asus SLI Platinum. Much more reliable (not to mention quieter) than the Neo2 it replaced, and if overclocking is your thing it's apparently a noticeable improvement on the older lower SLI Deluxe (e.g. you can get over 250MHz memory at 1T command rate).
X2 support out of the box, dual gigabit LAN, BIOS-switchable SLI selector (only use one GFX card meself), PCI3 1x and 4x connectors and seems to have plenty of clearance around the CPU. Not had a look at what the max mem voltage is though.
Don't get confused with the version that was never released with the carppy chipset fan - the released version has a very cool (arf) heatpipe cooler for the chipset.
What CPU you want depends a great deal on what you want the computer to do; personally I'd go for an X2 4400 but if games are your thing then you might prefer a single-core chip with a higher clock.
The Asus has been chonking away as a render node for the past few days (and turning my room into a furnace in the process :D), so I guess it's stable enough.
TBH mostly for gaming - so X2 processors will probably wait until they're priced more agressively. I'd be putting a waterblock on the chipset, so cooling shouldn't be an issue. As is, i'm defintely going to have to get another cpu block as i had to mod my asetek block to fit by Abit NF7-S motherboard due to clearance issues. Sounds like a really good board - thanks for the recommendation, much reading will be done :)
So which single core A64 represents the most overclockable-value-for-money point? I'm looking to build a machine that runs rings around my 2.5ghz Athlon-M for example..
If its overclocking you're into then there should only be one board on your list
DFI Lanparty NF4 SLI
It has everything you asked for. I have had no issues with it and I've had planety of Asus and Abit boards over the years. Currently using bios 510-2. With the right cooling it will go to incredible speeds.
Hmm another for the list - my only experience with DFI was back in the K6-2 days and i didn't much like them. However, i hear good things about them of late, so time to have another look! I've historically gone for Asus and Abit boards for the past few years just because I liked the stability, the layout and the quality.
Hmmm what might swing it is the asus having a parallel port... i've just got me a lcd display that uses it ;)
Both look really impressive tho - bags of features and pricing is about the same too..
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