Advice on a new motherboard

[IntoTheEther]

I have a self-built system whose motherboard (an Asus A8N SLI Deluxe) just crapped out (the memory controller failed) and now I need a new one. The problem is, my CPU is an AMD Athlon X2 Socket 939 processor, for which they have all but stopped making new boards. I could get a new, as in not used, old, as in old technology, good motherboard for about $150 from NewEgg (I'm thinking of the Asus A8N32 SLI Deluxe, which seems fairly similar to my old one), or I could just splurge and get an entirely new board and processor.

So, should I go for the "new" board or splurge and get a new processor as well? I'm not all that opposed to the second idea, although I've only had my old proc for about two years and I'm not all that excited about basically throwing it out if I decide to get a new board.

[babystarbud]

difficult question in these times of change, if your just replacing the mobo, go for somthing cheap....you dont say what the rest of your system is, but it sounds like its a reasonable gaming rig for the time being...


if your looking at getting a new processor, then that opens up a can of worms lol

a new mobo in sensible terms means a core2 duo board, ddr2 (2 gig) and a new beefy GPU, quite an outlay.

my advice would be to buy a cheapo replacement, and save your money for a year or two and see where the new tech tree grows for a sensible investment....
dx10, PRAM, AMD quadcore etc.


if you "splurged" on a CPU upgrade now, it would only be a half-assed upgrade as far as gaming goes, and an expensive one at that.
the industries at a bit of a crossroads at the moment with so much new tech, it will be a good year before we see what kind of platforms are better supported.....

if you really want to spend money, the safest investment IMO is a nice 22"+ HDCP screen (samsung have just released a 22" world beater, and some big ass HDD's

[IntoTheEther]

Yeah, I was hoping I could get a new, fairly cheap mobo, but it seems like the only ones I can find are either really old and cheap (which may not be so bad as a holdover) or really expensive...

Also, I suppose I should probably wait at least until AMD moves over to the 90-nm die process to get a new proc (I'm not really a big fan of Intel -- too expensive for too little performance, I think -- and so I probably wouldn't go for the Core 2 Duo).

Additionally, I have a fairly solid, if aging, rig, i.e. 2GB of DDR RAM, Creative Audigy 4 sound card, nVidia 6800 Ultra video card, which I'm also hoping to upgrade some time soon, and, as I said before, an Athlon X2 3700+ proc. I mostly started to think about upgrading the mobo and proc in one fell swoop because, well, right now the mobo's out of the case and everything is detached from it, and it's be less of a hassle to replace it and the proc now than once there's another board in there, but whatever, I guess I'll suck it up.

Thanks for the advice! :thumbsup:

[kingjustin]

A cheap combo is and ECS mobo and a pentium D core2 duo. You can overclock the fuck out of that D, and it'll last a good while as long as you don't put immense strain on it.

[Skink]

always better to sink money in a newer stable technology... older parts like memory and processors will still sell on Ebay because there is someone out there with a good MB and a bad processor...

I got 3 Nforce 2's running so I will have these for quit a while,,,but if a Mobo goes I am just saving my parts for spares and buying new technology,,,besides,,, new is more fun...

[pabloescobar209]

I think my MOBO would work for you, its a MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum socket 939, i've had it since `05... If I was you I would find somebody who has a socket 939, and convince them to buy your processor, and then use that money on a newer better one.

[IntoTheEther]

I think my MOBO would work for you, its a MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum socket 939, i've had it since `05... If I was you I would find somebody who has a socket 939, and convince them to buy your processor, and then use that money on a newer better one.

Haha, thanks for the advice. Unfortunately, I don't (that I know of) know anyone who built their computer, let alone has an AMD processor, but if I did, I would definitely do that.

Just wondering, how do you like your mobo? I was thinking of just getting a less expensive board like babystarbud suggested to tide me over until AMD switches over more completely to the 65nm process, and I'm basically wondering how you like the VIA chipset (my old board had the more expensive, nVidia nForce chipset), i.e. how it performs and stuff.

Thanks!

[JamaicanHerbMan]

A couple questions first are you sure its the motherboard that has crapped out and not something else?How long have you had the system? is it overclocked?...when did it crap out meaning during heavy loads or normal use. Was the Error a Post Speech error or Post display error. Before running out to buy a new board i'd suggest a few home tests.Reset your CMOS chip by taking out the battery.IF problem continues, reflash your bios , that doesnt work. strip your system down, just keep you harddrive, a single chip if you have more than one and your power supply. What your error means is there is a problem with a devices which is breaking interrupts and data transferring over the I/O bus which make the memory controller in accesable by that peripheral. So it could simply be a bad peripheral why you are getting that error, or it might even be the MB. But just make sure, i've seen it happen time and time agian.

[IntoTheEther]

I'm almost 100% certain that the memory controller died; I took it into Geek Squad (yeah, they're overpriced, whatever) to find out what was wrong with it (it wouldn't boot past the BIOS), and they ran a diagnostic and apparently the memory controller failed their tests.

[JamaicanHerbMan]

Ok then good to go, well i'd say go wit just a new board for now, then save up to get a up to date system and sell this old one before something else happens....I use to upgrade PC's every year and half but now i upgrade every year to keep on top of technology:thumbsup: