Which motherboard would be good?

[Toy4x4]

I have an AMD 64 X2 5600+ chip.

Which MB would you computer gurus get for this? ASUS, Gigabyte, & MSI seem to be the "chosen" good manufacturers so I'd like to stick with them. This will be for a gamer only. Full ATX, too.

I have 2 gigs of memory @ 800mhz. Can a board made for 1066 be used?

Any other tidbits of knowledge are appreciated!
Thanks,
Hugh

 

[EricF]

I would go with the Asus or Gigabyte. Intel boards don't run AMD's that I've seen.
You can never go wrong with an Asus.
you have ddr2-800, the board you get needs to support DDR2-800 to utilize that speed. If you get a mobo that can handle 1066, great! You can expand to that speed later.
However you can't mix ram speeds. so if you're running ddr2-800 now, and later buy another 2 gigs that are 1066, the mobo will only run up to 800.

Get a good fan and a high quality heat sink grease.

 

[SLCraig]

Check some of the good hardware sites around the internet for reviews.

Im probably going with a Giga-byte for my next upgrade (Socket AM3)

I'm currently on an Asus Socket 939 and its been rock solid, but Giga-bytes are such good values, its hard to go wrong.

Regarding your memory comment.

Memory is not really the main issue, you just have to make sure your board is the same socket type, and if the memory (DDR2 or DDR3 thesedays) is compatible with your CPU's speed.

For reference, check out sites like:

firingsquad.com
anandtech.com
hardocp.com
sharkyextreme.com

 

[NJC]

I think this board would run that CPU

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131324

I almost bought it but elected to go Intel instead. Apparently the Asus M3A78-EM is a decent board, at least according to folks here.

 

[MysticGold04]

I bought this Gigabyte board for my recent build, and am pretty happy with it. It took some configuring to get the ram to run at 1066, but has been pretty solid. My previous Mobo was an MSI running an Athlon Thunderbird 1.1Ghz cpu. I ran that combo for 5+ years, and it still runs great. I have heard that MSI's newer boards are not that great though.. I'd go Asus or Gigabyte.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128394

 

[Toy4x4]

I think I might go with this one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128387



My chip is supported along with the memory I have and it can be upgraded to current AMD chips and also to 1333 memory in the future.



Its more than another I was looking at, but it seem more worthwhile in the long run.



I checked with this site to make sure it is compatible: http://ee.giga-byte.com/products/mb/cpulist/ga-ma790x-ud4p_10.html



Thanks for your input!

 

[OVERKILL]

ASUS for sure.

 

[CivicFan]

Looks like the motherboard in my desktop croaked today and this thread became very useful to me.

I see motherboard recommendations. Any MoBo + processor recommendations? It's been a while since I have bought a processor (last time it was 2001).

What AMD processor would one recommend - I need something to run XP and stream movies from netflix and hook it up to the TV. I have the HDMI video card and the Athlon used to work OK.

 

[OVERKILL]

What's your budget? A Core i5 on an ASUS board is a pretty inexpensive way to get in on the latest tech without spending a fortune.

 

[CivicFan]

Originally Posted By: OVERK1LL
What's your budget? A Core i5 on an ASUS board is a pretty inexpensive way to get in on the latest tech without spending a fortune.


$100-200

 

[OVERKILL]

Start looking at Intel stuff on Newegg for an idea.

 

[ToyotaNSaturn]

The M3A78 and M4A78 Asus boards have worked well for me. Can't complain about the performance at all. And the 3.0ghz Callisto AMD CPU is REALLY nice!