Thoughts on motherboards?

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I'm shopping for a new motherboard and CPU, and am thinking the Athlon 64 x2 may be appropriate for my needs. I'm curious if anyone has any thoughts on various motherboards for the processor; I'm not looking for anything fancy, and am trying to stay within an affordable range. I'm doing some online research now but would welcome some input--I'm planning on using it for internet (email, videos, photos, maybe light online gaming), word processing and editing and creating artwork. I'd like something that can handle high-definition images and videos, and other programs at the same time.

Any thoughts?

Athlon 64 x2, I would go with a Intel core 2 cpu because it is more powerful at the same price, but hey, its your money

I belive the athlon 64 takes a socket 939 ?
The mother board depends on what hardware you are going to be using
What graphics card? PCIE ?
List your hardware and what price range

How come there are no father boards?

ruveyn

well, there used to be daughter boards...

I've always had pretty good luck with ASUS system boards.

have you thought about getting a laptop?
I hate to admit it but these last couple of days I've been using more the lap they gave me at work than mine, my 20" iMac versus a 14" lenovo
(same specs, 2.4Ghz with 2gb of RAM)

Well, the point is, I've put the lap trough its paces, using many heavy programs at the same time, and the damn thing is very fast and reliable (I work doing graphic stuff).
And the portability is a big plus.

Next thing on my wishlist: a laptop (a Mac of course )

I've been salivating over reviews of Core I7 motherboards for a while now. Of course, the fast processor is still too expensive, but they make most other rigs look a little bit old.

I'll check out the Intel--I've had Athlon in the past and had no problems, but if there is no difference in price then I'd just as soon get Intel anyway. (I'm still in the early stages of comparing.)

The wiki on socket AM2 is news to me, but then I haven't kept up with changes over the last 5 years or so...apparently the one I was looking at (the x2) is both AM2 and 939, and it seems AM2 is rarer. As for my graphics card, it's old and may need to be replaced--I'll have to dig out the box.

I've recently been given a little extra spending cash, which is part of my reason for wanting to fiddle with my hardware--I already have a laptop for my daily computing, I'd just like something a little more powerful for handling images and videos and stuff. I may need a new card, as I would like to play Spore, which has some stringent hardware demands. I wouldn't mind getting a new one if I had to, as my stuff has been around and is a bit worse for wear, to be honest.

I'll compare Intel and the Athlon and see what there is to see. Danke!

Actually' 939 is completely phased out in favor of AM2, AM2+ and AM3. You were probably looking at used boards. Not sure what the older Intel boards are because I am more familiar with AMD than Intel.

The only thing you'll have a problem with is HD video. For that you need a special video card (ATI Radeon HD 4850 is a good choice), but that would cost as much as your new motherboard and CPU. So if you drop the HD requirement and just get the cheapest reliable motherboard+Core 2 Duo, then your costs are quite low. If they're still too high, then i've found the AMD Phenom X3 8750 (2.4 GHz) can be had for very little money, especially now that the Phenom II is available.

I am assuming that by high definition you mean 1080p, no video card acceleration is needed for 720p...

I think almost any newer card is able to play HD. I have a Nvidia 9600 GT, was pretty cheap, plays HD just fine. Also you will need a monitor capable of HD. I got a cheap 22" Samsung monitor that works good with HD. Play blu-ray and HD movies all the time, with this

Hmm, I don't want to invest in a new monitor right now, so I will do more research into what HD really requires. If I am investing too much, I may as well just plump for a new system entirely--less fun than DIY, but less risk of frying my components too...

Bah. I wanna do it myself. More research!!

For HD pretty much all you need, if all you want to do is watch HD online or from a video camera, is a video card and monitor capable of HD. If you want to play HD movies, like blu-ray, you will also need a blu-ray player and a program that can play the movies.
Hear are the two computers I curently use, both of them play HD with no problem, and didnt cost that much to build,
If you build it yourself a very important step is to make sure the memory brand is supported by your moutherboard. 2 differnt brands could have what looks like the same numbers, but one brand not work.

$500
Intel Core 2 duo 2.4gh
4gb of a-data memory
Nvidia 7600 GT
Foxconn MB, not sure what model
2 250gb hard drives in raid

$800
Intel Core 2 Quad 2.4gh
8gb gskill memory (ddr2 800mhz)
Nvidia 9600 GT
Asus P5Q motherboard
2 500gb hard drives in raid 0