Members ExplodingBoy Posted January 12, 2005 Members Share Posted January 12, 2005 So, I've pretty much decided on the following CPU/Mobo combo: Gigabyte - GA-K8NS-939 WITH AMD 64 3500 CPU Gigabyte K8NS-939 nFORCE3 Ultra Chipset DDR400 SATA AGP 8X Gigabit Lan Audio ATX Retail Box - Athlon 64 3500+ 90nm 939pin with cpu fan & heatsink. I costs $368. I know that musical equipment prices drop after NAMM, but would I get a better deal on this combo possibly after NAMM or does it have nothing to do with other types of technology? Any better motherboard recommendations? Tomshardware ranks the MSI boards better than the Gigabytes, but since I plan on getting an NVidia 6800 video card, EVERYONE has told me to go with this Gigabyte mobo and it's Nforce 3 chipset. Thoughts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mike51 Posted January 12, 2005 Members Share Posted January 12, 2005 Explody there is no sense in buying a non PCI-X motherboard in 2005. You will regrett it. Everything is going PCI-x shortly. Most of the video cards will be PCI-X shortly. You say you want to play games as well. Well, do yourself a favor and get the nforce motherboard with SLI. Gigabyte maye have one now if I remember correctly. Why SLI? SLI allows you to take two video cards and run them at the same time to increase performance. Why is this important? Well, if you want to add life to your system it's easy. Say you have the 6800 gt AGP 8x and the MB you showed me. When that starts running things slow, you have to buy a new card or a new system. Will that new card be compatable with AGP 8x? I doubt it. Say you have a nforce SLI motherboard and PCI-e 6800 GT. Whe n that starts running things slow, guess what? Add another 6800 GT pci-e(which will have plummetted in price by the time the 6800 gt gets slow). Both of those cards will drasticaly increase performance over 1. Not only that, but if you dont want to do that you can get the latest and greatest video card and not worry about compatability. Go the route of future proofing your system. While it may cost slightly more now, you will save i nthe long run and you will *save yourself compatability hassles*. You were right on with your choice of cpu. Grab a mobo with pci-X and SLI and your good to go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ExplodingBoy Posted January 12, 2005 Author Members Share Posted January 12, 2005 Can you point me to the specific mobo you're talking about? Pricewatch doesn't seem to specify whether they have that SLI or PCI-x capability you're referring to. If you can find the exact model name of that mobo you're talking about, I'd appreciate the help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mike51 Posted January 12, 2005 Members Share Posted January 12, 2005 http://www.tbreak.com/reviews/article.php?id=341 http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=2285&p=2 two thorough reviews on features, etc. These boards are stacked. buying new computer technology is about future proofing your system performance at a cost/performance factor + reliability. You dont want tp put yourself in a corner, and want to be flexible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Contrast Posted January 12, 2005 Members Share Posted January 12, 2005 Gigabyte does not have much of a reputation for reliability or high quality control standards, I always avoid their boards. I would go with a MSI (their nForce3 board is highly rated) or EpoX (my personal favorite, always stable and of good quality, above average but rarely spectacular performance) board personally. They both make nforce3 based boards if that's what you want. For audio nforce3 is fine for the forseeable future. For gaming you could consider a nforce4 with the PCIexpress stuff and all that, but those boards, especially the SLI versions, are very new and rather expensive. Go to newegg, click the motherboards - amd link on the left side, pick nForce4 SLI in the chipset box, and search. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mike51 Posted January 12, 2005 Members Share Posted January 12, 2005 ""Gigabyte does not have much of a reputation for reliability or high quality control standards, I always avoid their boards. "" Are you serious? Gigabyte has a rep in the industry for being one of the most rock solid board makers. They have easily eclipsed Asus in this regard. I wouldnt have a problem with any Gigabyte or MSI motherboard. ""For audio nforce3 is fine for the forseeable future. For gaming you could consider a nforce4 with the PCIexpress stuff and all that, but those boards, especially the SLI versions, are very new and rather expensive. Go to newegg, click the motherboards - amd link on the left side, pick nForce4 SLI in the chipset box, and search."" You get what you pay for. Not only that, but when audio cards, etc start coming out in PCI-e, Explody will have an edge, while those who dont have PCI-e will have to upgrade. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mildbill Posted January 12, 2005 Members Share Posted January 12, 2005 is pci-x the same as the pci express buss? does it just look like a usb or firewire connection? all our current pci audio cards will be unusable under this new spec, correct? or do you think maybe someone will come out with some kind of adapter/connector? any idea when the changeover will occur? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mike51 Posted January 12, 2005 Members Share Posted January 12, 2005 Mildbill - the changeover is happening now. Thankfully, good board makers like Ggiabyte and MSI are putting old pci slots in wit hthe new PCI-e, o your card will never be outdated or phased out unti al long, long time from now. Check out the links I posted - you will see slots for pci-e and regular old pci. As for the terms, pci-e is just basically new faster pci, and pci-x /was designed jointly by IBM, HP to increase performance of high bandwith devices. The good baords will also have IDE losts and SATA slots. Check out the reviews I posted. You will find lots of good info. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ExplodingBoy Posted January 13, 2005 Author Members Share Posted January 13, 2005 I cannot afford more than $420 or so for a CPU/Mobo combination though. If that SLI stuff is THAT much more, I'll pass. I don't need THAT much power. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mike51 Posted January 13, 2005 Members Share Posted January 13, 2005 "" cannot afford more than $420 or so for a CPU/Mobo combination though. If that SLI stuff is THAT much more, I'll pass. I don't need THAT much power."" http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductDesc.asp?description=13-128-269&depa=0 255$ at Newegg for the mobo. Compare an extra 50$ now with an extra 400-600$ down the road for another upgrade Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members midi Posted January 13, 2005 Members Share Posted January 13, 2005 I remember when drum machines came out the drummers were pissed, i remember when VCRs came out the movie industry was pissed, i remember when cassettes came out the record companies wre pissed, and i remember when samplers came out session players were pissed. "From now on, Sire, nothing is Sacred!" Sample away and let the lawyers sort it out, screw the RIAA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members midi Posted January 13, 2005 Members Share Posted January 13, 2005 Sorry wrong thread, please go here: http://acapella.harmony-central.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=10345199#post10345199 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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