Author Topic: Building a RIG 101 (Read 40204 times)

woodyear99 · « **Reply #80 on:** July 26, 2010, 02:07:04 PM »

Hehe thanks for the input, Arc made a mistake he was actually referring to this board. MSI 790GX-G65 Radeon HD 3300 Motherboard A bit more pricey and I wondering if it will be overkill now that you show me this cheaper Biostar board. That Biostar board has me a lil concerned though, this review "It was only after contacting "BioStar" that I found out this motherboard only accepts either Windows "XP" or Windows "Vista" as a Operating System!! " I assume Windows 7 will work with no problems?

As far as memory goes wouldn't I be better off going with a DDR3 board vs. a DDR2 one?

Oh and as for a CPU, a "low end" dual core should be good enough for playin HD Vids right?
AMD Athlon II X2 250 Regor 3.0 GHz 2x1 MB L2 Cache Socket AM3 65W Dual-Core Desktop Processor - Retail ADX250OCGQBOX

Carigamers · « **Reply #80 on:** July 26, 2010, 02:07:04 PM »

Crixx_Creww · « **Reply #81 on:** July 26, 2010, 02:16:36 PM »

if you building a cheap machine, for non gaming non hardcoreness
you certainly dont need ddr3, a big ole grop of ddr2 on the cheap is more than sufficient

woodyear99 · « **Reply #82 on:** July 26, 2010, 02:18:20 PM »

Ah ok well leaning towards the Biostar then, will post the results when I get the parts. Who have bess price on cases locally? Circuit Zone?

Spazosaurus · « **Reply #83 on:** July 26, 2010, 03:29:36 PM »

Nah them boards definitely working with windows 7. Saddist probably mean that it doesnt support 98/me which 90% of today's boards dont anyway. Windows 7 is a definite yes.

And as stale crix say, ddr2 is more than sufficient. Dual core is fine as well.

Arcmanov · « **Reply #84 on:** July 26, 2010, 04:54:44 PM »

...but you see, I always think 'future proof'. I am sure this PC won't be upgraded often (if at all),
so why not bite the bullet a lil bit and use some newer stuff. Biostar good and cheap, but they don't last.
You really do get what you pay for...and yeah, I meant 790/890GX, the ones with the video on-board,
but get an Asus or Gigabyte board, or even MSI, before you look at Biostar.

You have been 'warned'.

Carigamers · « **Reply #84 on:** July 26, 2010, 04:54:44 PM »

woodyear99 · « **Reply #85 on:** July 26, 2010, 05:16:18 PM »

Actually I had bad experiences with Biostar boards years ago, thought they were vastly improved nowadays, looks like that's a negative? lol

Spazosaurus · « **Reply #86 on:** July 26, 2010, 05:30:21 PM »

Yeah dying biostars is a thing of the past. The new generation using solid caps and better quality components. Check the newegg reviews too.

As for 'newer' tech, both are am3 compatible, the main difference is the biostar using ddr2 instead of ddr3 on the msi. Also remember ddr3 is more expensive. I suggested this board to keep overall costs down eh.

Ultimately, the choice is yours which should be based on price/performance/need. I hear arc's longevity concern but I that isnt an issue anymore.

phoenix31tt · « **Reply #87 on:** July 26, 2010, 05:52:30 PM »

i would agree with cap on this one... you looking for something robust that's also cheap...
from what you saying this guy doesn't need future proofing cuz he not gonna be gaming neways... which is the main reason for future proofing...

i cant vouch personally for biostar.. but definitely stick to ddr2 to keep costs down

Arcmanov · « **Reply #88 on:** July 26, 2010, 07:27:02 PM »

I am at pains to find fault with those arguments. Go with the Biostar then, but keep the Gigabyte in your cart
just in case.

TriniXaeno · « **Reply #89 on:** July 26, 2010, 07:35:53 PM »

biostar and gigabyte get my $$ without second thought. both brands have been very reliable over the ages.

woodyear99 · « **Reply #90 on:** July 26, 2010, 11:17:41 PM »

Hmm yeah it would be nice to keep price down indeed, just hadda keep my fingers crossed with the Biostar lol. You are right about the DDR2, once it can play HD movie files properly, use office and browse net he will be good.

Spazosaurus · « **Reply #91 on:** July 26, 2010, 11:24:20 PM »

Well the biostar is just one of the choices u can go with. If u really dont trust the name go with what feels right.

There's no sarcasm there. There are certain brands I dont feel like taking a chance with...like Kia or Apple. mhahaha

woodyear99 · « **Reply #92 on:** July 26, 2010, 11:46:00 PM »

Yeah will make a decision tomorrow, thanks for all the advice peeps!

woodyear99 · « **Reply #93 on:** July 30, 2010, 12:35:28 PM »

Ended up going with the pricier DDR3, found this board on sale, Asus M4A78T-E Socket AM3/ AMD 790GX/ Hybrid CrossFireX/ HDMI/ A&V&GbE/ ATX Motherboard, for $115 with a further $20 rebate available.

I haven't been keeping up with benches, was surprised to see how well on board graphics can hold up with games these days...

http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/hardware-canucks-reviews/16698-asus-m4a78t-e-790gx-am3-motherboard-review-14.html

woodyear99 · « **Reply #94 on:** July 30, 2010, 07:49:04 PM »

Oh ho, ah didn't even see that when I was searching. Ah well hope the one I order works ok.

woodyear99 · « **Reply #95 on:** July 30, 2010, 08:15:42 PM »

Small thing, once this working properly I can't see my friend upgrading anything for years...

amd-dude · « **Reply #96 on:** February 17, 2011, 03:17:46 PM »

I would also like to make a contribution here in terms of motherboards.

Most people would usually look at a motherboard for the chipsets whether it be the amd 770 or 870 chipsets or the nvidia's and buy according to that. But one major oversight people tend to overlook is the power phase their board provides e.g there are 4+1 power phases and 8+2 power phases these can usually mean disaster or wawww look at my overclock!.

I say this cause i had a bad experience with a 4+1 power phase board the msi 770-c45. Now not all 4+1 boards are bad but in terms of MSI especially with their 2009 -2010 offerings the mosfets on these boards were for lack of a better word...utter shixx.

Let me paint the picture...i was a happy boy overclocking one day and then sniff sniff..what the hell is that smell "ah what ever" i said maybe its just hot exhaust air because i was on the boarder line fore safe overclocking i.e. 1.6v on a c2 945 pushing 4ghz...ah i was a happy child when all of a sudden, black screen and then what followed was the election of a new pope..white smoke coming from my top exhaust fan from my nice cm 690 case. OMG WTF WTMC were some of many internet abbreviations that were uttered.

As i began doing research on the topic, turns out that msi mosfets are of low quality and to make it worse they were un-heat sinked which means that they got very hot very fast and eventually lead to the election of the new pope.

This is just a warning to those who are buying these boards, don't do any crazy overclocks like it did i got head strong and went past the safe limit for air which is 1.5v I ignored this and went to 1.6v without proper mosfet cooling. If you know your doing overclocking like me buy a board with good mosfets and VRM's to ensure that your chip is getting good power and that your oc will be stable.

Preferably you should go with boards that have 8+2 power phases or atleast 4+1 heatsinked mosfets.

I did not write this to bash MSI or anything take a look at my sig i did go back with MSI they are a good board manufacturer...but as with everything, you get what you pay for. i just pushed the boundaries and overstepped them a little to far.

So to break it down...

1) 4+1 power phase is good just not for overclocking (in the extreme)

2) if you are going 4+1 phase please ensure it is with a high quality board and that they have heatsinks.

3) 8+2 phase if you are planning on overclocking with out mosfet heatsinks.

Now some of u will say...buh amd-dude wa kinda contradictory thing is this you currently have a 4+1 phase board and it is un-heatsinked...amd-dude says yes this is true but i am not running high voltages through my board/cpu again notice the phenom II x2 555 chip, it only uses 80watts TDP the board is safe till 140watt TDP. For my current overclock on my msi 870-g45 board the cpu is at 4.2ghz BUT my voltage is at 1.4v and i have a temperature probe from my fan controller on one of the mosfets so i can keep an eye on the temps...underload i get to 45c...they say the safe mosfet temp is below 60c

Arcmanov · « **Reply #97 on:** February 17, 2011, 03:48:43 PM »

You self...most likely those boards with less phases are the el-cheapo ones.
To OC them (or even try to) is foolhardy at best. Essentially, you look for that.

Still, good points expressed there. Take a +1 for that.

amd-dude · « **Reply #98 on:** February 17, 2011, 04:26:04 PM »

Yea for real i look for that lulz, 1.6v on air...i know now this is why i share my experience

LQDSNK · « **Reply #99 on:** June 17, 2011, 09:48:57 PM »

Hey guys, i dunno if this thread is still checked but i need some advice on some parts.

My mainboard and cpu died :crybaby2:so i'm looking to "upgrade", would like to find out what i should get or look for and if they can be acquired locally. I'm looking for equal or rather better specs, they should be in my sig, on a budget. I'm thinking $2000 is about where i want to go.

I dont think the other parts need to change, i would like to use the DDR2 RAM again so a DDR2 board will be necessary. I doesn't matter to me, yet, whether it's AMD or Intel just a great chipset with a great working reputation.

Any insights offered i'll be grateful for.

Carigamers · « **Reply #99 on:** June 17, 2011, 09:48:57 PM »

Author Topic: Building a RIG 101 (Read 40204 times)

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