Best CPU/Mobo Combo Under $150!

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Blinkme323

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Feb 8, 2005
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Hi guys I am looking for a nice cpu/mobo combo for under $150 shipped that will be good for gaming. I am upgrading from an Athlon 1800 which i really liked. I have a P4 2.8/133 at work and don't like it much. Anyway, I was about to buy a Athlon Mobile 2500 and Abit NF7-S for $80 off some guy. However, I found out he had it overclocked REALLY high at 250 bus and abused it. I decided against buying used becuase of that. I am just trying to get the best value for under $150. Outpost has an A64 2800 and cheap ECS SIS755 motherboard combo for $150. It can't overclock though. Tiger Direct has an Athlon 2900 and ABIT via motherboard for $100, but after rebate and I have heard nothing but problems about it. There is also Karaktu's setup. I can get a Celeron-M 3.2/200 for $140 shipped. Any other ideas?
 
Chaintech's VNF3-250 and an Athlon 64 2800+ would serve you well. Avoid SiS and VIA chipsets which have severe stability issues. But I'd really save up and go with a Socket 939 board and a 3000+ Winchester A64, as you will be able to upgrade for 2 or more years, while with 754, you won't. You also get better performance on Socket 939 due to the support for dual channel memory mode, and a faster hypertransport bus. Plus PCI-Express support, absent on most Socket 754 boards.
 
I could have sworn on my very life, that I just posted in this thread... that had 2 pages of replies, and with arguments over the SIS chipset... hmm...

Anyway, they said Socket A wouldnt be upgradeble a year or so ago when S754 came out. Seems the plusses moved up a bit since then.

Maybe I can see into the future? 5 hours ago I recommended a 2800+ S754 with a cheap gigabyte board (they are awesome boards), and I will do it now.
 
Epicenter said:
...You also get better performance on Socket 939 due to the support for dual channel memory mode, and a faster hypertransport bus...
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Hypertransport bus speed doesnt make any noticeable differences in performance, any way you cut it. Read some things about it at toms hardware. My computer doesnt change at all from slowest all the way up to 1Ghz under benchmarks, which reflects what the pro's say.

Also, whats the point of dual channel on something like a winchester?
 
You could get an NF7-S & Barton 2500, which would be good if you dont plan on upgrading it again & OCing. Otherwise, you should save up some more for a 939 mob & processor, I think monarch has/had a deal for HL2, Far Cry, 3000+ & a Foxcomm board for $200.
 
bob said:
Hypertransport bus speed doesnt make any noticeable differences in performance, any way you cut it. Read some things about it at toms hardware. My computer doesnt change at all from slowest all the way up to 1Ghz under benchmarks, which reflects what the pro's say.

Also, whats the point of dual channel on something like a winchester?
Click to expand...

Tom's Hardware is far from the Pros, their tests are unscientific and usually biased to whomever is paying them the most money this month. Real sources of scientific product testing and technology news are of course, HardOCP, Anandtech.com, and SilentPCreview.com.

As for Dual Channel .. it provides about a 15-50% RAM bandwidth increase. It'll make a difference on any CPU, and combined with the on-die memory controller in the A64, you're looking at blazingly fast RAM access at absurd clockrates, an any more bandwidth you add, the better.
 
You can also look if you have a Fry's near you at the cpu/mobo combos they have every week, sometimes theres some pretty good ones.
 
Semprons arent too bad, they arent the best in games, but they do OC like mad, and right now Fry's has a Sempron 2800 w/ mobo for $99, leaving with money to save for your next upgrade/other stuff to get. Just do some research on the mobo some more, I dont know what mobo it is exactly.
 
Is the socket 754 much faster than the socket a. Does it overclock any better. What could I get out of a socket A Sempron with pc3200.
 
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