New system build

Hi all-

I haven't built anything for a while (last system just died, it was an
AMD750 on an ASUS K7 something).

While I'm drooling over the latest technology, I just started looking at
prices and got a kick in the pants. Rather than going quad core, I probably
need to be looking at a decent dual core CPU and MB.

My primary concern is stability and ease of setup; overclocking is nice but
not necessary.

If you have any recommendations for a good price/performance ASUS MB,
please reply.

Thanks,
Keith

Keith wrote:
> Hi all-
>
> I haven't built anything for a while (last system just died, it was an
> AMD750 on an ASUS K7 something).
>
> While I'm drooling over the latest technology, I just started looking at
> prices and got a kick in the pants. Rather than going quad core, I probably
> need to be looking at a decent dual core CPU and MB.
>
> My primary concern is stability and ease of setup; overclocking is nice but
> not necessary.
>
> If you have any recommendations for a good price/performance ASUS MB,
> please reply.
>
> Thanks,
> Keith

If Asus, then P5B (or P5K); otherwise Gigabyte GA-965P-DSR (or
P35-DS3) - together with Intel E2160 or E4400.

Roy

I would not limit my selection to Asus (not that there is anything wrong
with Asus).

For example, it turned out (and I say this with the benefit of
hindsight) that had you been doing this about a year ago, the Gigabyte
GA-965P-DS3 was probably a better choice than the similar Asus P5B.

[And, actually, is STILL a good choice if your needs are basic and
straightforward .... e.g. no RAID, no WiFi on the motherboard, no dual
video cards.]

You can get something in that class for about $100 for the motherboard
(maybe less). And a Core 2 Duo dual core CPU can be had in the range of
$150 to about $225. I paid almost $500 for a combination of GA-965P-DS3
motherboard and Core 2 Duo E6600 about a year ago. I think that today,
that same combination .... still very good .... would be in the $320
range, give or take (and there are viable Core 2 Duo CPU choices for at
least $50 to $75 less). It's not a quad core, and it's not an "Extreme
edition", but it's probably hugely better than anything you have ever
had, and it's still very respectable. The equivalent Asus motherboard
was the P5B, then the P5B-E, and I'm not sure what it is now, but they
have something similar. As I indicated, the 965 chipset is kind of
basic, but lots of people don't need (or even want) RAID, motherboard
WiFi or dual video. If that's you, it's a reasonable choice and will
get you a motherboard in the $100 range.

Add 2GB of memory for about $70 to $90, and a 250 to 500GB SATA hard
drive for $60-$120, and you should be all set.


Keith wrote:
> Hi all-
>
> I haven't built anything for a while (last system just died, it was an
> AMD750 on an ASUS K7 something).
>
> While I'm drooling over the latest technology, I just started looking at
> prices and got a kick in the pants. Rather than going quad core, I probably
> need to be looking at a decent dual core CPU and MB.
>
> My primary concern is stability and ease of setup; overclocking is nice but
> not necessary.
>
> If you have any recommendations for a good price/performance ASUS MB,
> please reply.
>
> Thanks,
> Keith

Great minds think alike. [Although I think you meant GA-965P-DS3 rather
than -DSR].

The P35 series of motherboards is later, higher end. Arguably better,
but it probably doesn't matter unless you are going to run a "Santa
Rosa" CPU, and it's going to be more expensive.

I'd go higher end on the CPU; the E6550 (2.33GHz) is $178; the E6750
(2.66GHz) is $204, but those are both 1333MHz FSB (not supported by all
lower end motherboards & chipsets). The E6600 (2.4GHz, 1066MHz FSB) is
$227. These all have 4MB cache and are "Conroe" processors.

The E4000 series are "Allendale", a lower grade CPU, although they are a
lot less; the E4400 (2.0GHz), for example, is about $126. But it's only
2MB cache, and it also doesn't have the full instruction set (including
virtualization) of the E6000 series products. (The E2160 is only $95 or
so, but it's WAY down in terms of performance).



Roy Coorne wrote:
> Keith wrote:
>> Hi all-
>>
>> I haven't built anything for a while (last system just died, it was an
>> AMD750 on an ASUS K7 something).
>>
>> While I'm drooling over the latest technology, I just started looking
>> at prices and got a kick in the pants. Rather than going quad core, I
>> probably need to be looking at a decent dual core CPU and MB.
>>
>> My primary concern is stability and ease of setup; overclocking is
>> nice but not necessary.
>>
>> If you have any recommendations for a good price/performance ASUS MB,
>> please reply.
>>
>> Thanks,
>> Keith
>
> If Asus, then P5B (or P5K); otherwise Gigabyte GA-965P-DSR (or P35-DS3)
> - together with Intel E2160 or E4400.
>
> Roy

Barry Watzman wrote:
> Great minds think alike. [Although I think you meant GA-965P-DS3 rather
> than -DSR].
Yes - please, excuse my typo:-)

> The P35 series of motherboards is later, higher end. Arguably better,
> but it probably doesn't matter unless you are going to run a "Santa
> Rosa" CPU, and it's going to be more expensive.
>
> I'd go higher end on the CPU; the E6550 (2.33GHz) is $178; the E6750
> (2.66GHz) is $204, but those are both 1333MHz FSB (not supported by all
> lower end motherboards & chipsets). The E6600 (2.4GHz, 1066MHz FSB) is
> $227. These all have 4MB cache and are "Conroe" processors.
>
> The E4000 series are "Allendale", a lower grade CPU, although they are a
> lot less; the E4400 (2.0GHz), for example, is about $126. But it's only
> 2MB cache, and it also doesn't have the full instruction set (including
> virtualization) of the E6000 series products. (The E2160 is only $95 or
> so, but it's WAY down in terms of performance).

As Keith looks for "a decent dual core CPU and MB" with "a good
price/performance", I looked for the value line, taking into
consideration contributions like
<http://www.insidehw.com/content/view/190/9/>.

Of course, if there is no interest in overclocking, the AMD line ought
to be considered, too: An Athlon 64 x2 3800+ (or more) with a Gigabyte
or Asus board, with a Nvidia_GeForce_7050_and_nForce_430a chipset or
an AMD 690G chipset is a value line alternative!

At present, the Allendale E4400 or E4500 appears to me as a value
allround CPU for general purpose computing (not hardcore gaming etc.)
- and is open to easy moderate overclocking.

Roy


> Roy Coorne wrote:
>> Keith wrote:
>>> Hi all-
>>>
>>> I haven't built anything for a while (last system just died, it was
>>> an AMD750 on an ASUS K7 something).
>>>
>>> While I'm drooling over the latest technology, I just started looking
>>> at prices and got a kick in the pants. Rather than going quad core, I
>>> probably need to be looking at a decent dual core CPU and MB.
>>>
>>> My primary concern is stability and ease of setup; overclocking is
>>> nice but not necessary.
>>>
>>> If you have any recommendations for a good price/performance ASUS MB,
>>> please reply.
>>>
>>> Thanks,
>>> Keith
>>
>> If Asus, then P5B (or P5K); otherwise Gigabyte GA-965P-DSR (or
>> P35-DS3) - together with Intel E2160 or E4400.
>>
>> Roy

I decided it was time to upgrade from my trusty by now considered slow
ASUS based P3 system to something that was better suited to rendering
DVD's produced from 8mm and VHS tapes of family events. Talking with
friends in the business and data mining the Internet suggested for my
situation more cores were better, so I went with the 6600 quad core on
a P5k-C with 2gb of DDR2 (for now, maybe DDR3 for the future).
What took 10 hours to render on the P3 takes 2 to 3 hours on the quad
core. My only issue was the high temps displayed for the motherboard,
partly to blame is an ancient sever case in which everything is bolted
into from the P2 days, but if the wife sees the same old case it
doesn't look like I overspent past budget restrictions.
I got temps in control this morning by attaching an old CPU cooler mini
fan to a passive heat sink on the MB, and everything is stable and
happy.