Legit Reviews

I'm looking into getting a barebone kit, and want to make sure I can upgrade to DDR2 memory, the motherboard's don't really say they are compatible with it, they say
You can install DDR 266/333/400MHz Memory.

looking at something like this

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications ... 5-2112%20I

Anyone help?

That setup uses an "Asus A8N SLI Deluxe Socket 939 " board which is DDR1
Socket 939 is DDR1
Socket AM2 is DDR2

Welcome BTW

AMD
Socket 939 uses DDR
Socket AM2 uses DDR2

Intel
Socket 478 uses DDR
Socket T (LGA775) uses DDR/DDR2

Chipsets
915 uses DDR
925,945,955,965,975 use DDR2

Also that bundle has 512MB of ram, I'd get @ least 1GB if your into gaming

yeah and build your own its not that hard. We all can help you if you run into any troubles as well

thanks, yeah I am looking forward to building my first computer, so obviously I will probably have tons of questions and what not. I guess I am also wondering if there is any other NEEDED parts that I would have to get for that to run everything (network card, usb etc etc.) I'm not sure whether it has these things or not..

the board has two network cards and plenty of usb ports
the only thing you might be lackinig is a PCIe graphics card!!

alright a basic quicky primer.

For the most part you need the following

Motherboard
PSU
Case
Optical Drives (DVD Burner, etc)
Memory
CPU
Assorted Cables
Mouse/Keyboard
OS
Monitor
Video Card(s)
Hard Drives

For the most part your motherboards has 4+ USB Ports, built in NIC. Your main concern in the planning stage should be what do I want this computer to do. Do I want gaming power, benching power, do I want a quiet rig, loud but great performance. You want to look at benchs in those areas, and taylor it to that. Lets take me for example. The rig in my sig was built for okay gaming performance, and quiet, hence the watercooling.

Just take your time, ask a lot of questions and enjoy it

jesus what is this the kenc and dicecca show? kenc man can I get a first post in next time? And wtf you doing up at 3am go to bed man

cool. Well this is what I'm going for, I'm going to school for video game design, and I don't have the cash or need currently for a top rig which I will need for the class, but I want to get something now that I can play around with and upgrade to later.

Here's what I will need in a year

Processor: AMD Athlon 64 bit family (eg. X2 4200) with hyper-transport and dual core

Graphics processor: NVIDIA GeForce 7900 GTX with 512MB memory

Memory: 2GB RAM

and then all the other basics..

but I don't want to have to totally get a new system if I want to upgrade higher after that, so I'm really looking for something fully upgradeable, but lower power for now. And personally I don't care about noise at all.

I'd get a single core lower end Athlon 64 for now, and then upgrade to an X2 later. All on the Socket AM2, of course, which means DDR2 memory.

But's that's assuming you definitely want AMD. The new Conroes from Intel are worth looking into. Someone else correct me if I'm wrong, but you can get a Conroe ready mobo and pop an already P4 in there until you upgrade big.

I'd advise a Conroe system, but on a tight budget that isn't possible. An AMD AM2 system would be the best price versus performance system on the market... how much money are you looking to spend? I don't want to go into detail unless I know the $$$.

I'm really planning on going for the AMD right now, I don't have to get the full 2 gb memory yet.. (or more for that matter), and I don't need to get the video card yet. I'm defiently going to get something that takes DDR2. I also want to get that processor I listed. I'm trying to do this at around $700 or less. But I can be flexible as well. I haven't really experimented with this yet so I'm trying to get a handle on the price that I can get and what not. So for starters, I'm looking for the right motherboard.

fenriswolfr wrote: Here's what I will need in a year

Processor: AMD Athlon 64 bit family (eg. X2 4200) with hyper-transport and dual core

Graphics processor: NVIDIA GeForce 7900 GTX with 512MB memory

Memory: 2GB RAM

If you want to upgrade into a quicker dual-core later, I'd probably say stick with a AM2 X2 3800 (or 3600). They will be cheap but still preppy. The actual difference from the AM2 3800 and 4200 is like 30$, so it actually might be better to grab the 4200 now.... since it might not come down too much more anyway...

Most memory nowdays works best in pairs... so I'm not sure you'd be able to buy 1GB of Corsair DDR 667 or 800 for instance, and be able to get another 1GB stick to pair up (I dont know if they are tested together or what... although going from 1x 1GB stick to 2x 1GB is only like 40$ more at the moment).

Videocard... for now if you just want a basic PCI-E card until sometime next year... I'd reccomend the nVidia 6600/6800GT. Its like 80$ or less and runs current games rather well... of course it wont run the newer games as well, but if your thinking cheap now. Later on upgrade to your 7900GTX or 7950GTX, or 7950X2, they'd be lower then.

Edit: Well, crud. They are still kinda expensive as hell... like 100$ or more, lol. May as well pay another 30-40$ and get a 7600GT like I currently have, then get your dream card later on when DX10 cards release or something (Thats what I plan on doing at least. Getting a 7950X2 or something when they come down to a more reasonable price).

Motherboard... thats a toughy. Decide if you want to use SLI or not, if your going to use 667/800 speed memory or not, make sure it takes socket AM2, make sure it has at least one 16X PCI-E slot (I think most if not all do nowdays), or two 16x slots for SLI. Probably a nForce 570-SLI or nForce 590 would be enough. The 570-SLI is like one 16X one 8X, the other 590, I'm pretty sure, is two 16X slots... although im not sure the actual difference in Frames-Per-Sec from 8x to 16x on the second slot anyhoo.

Maybe someone else can set you up with a better min-specd computer... seems to me like its not really worth saving 100-150$ or so now to spend more later upgrading the same parts again, heh. Kinda a waste I guess but hey, I enjoy doing this type of stuff.

Hope that helps
AJ

Honestly, I don't need to do anything major with it for now. Hell I doubt I'll even buy a video card for it (I've been gaming on a 1 ghz system for about 4 years so nothing I currently have will support it) but, I need a computer currently, so I'm thinking it's better to get what I WILL need/able to upgrade to/ now then buy a system and have to scrap it or most of it for another one. I think I found 2 motherboards that might be worth looking into, one is roughly $100 and the other $200. I don't know much about SLI or the different types so.. idk..

Here's actually some things I found

$200
CPU - AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ 2000 Mhz FSB Dual Core etc.
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications ... No=2207247

MoBo - I found 2 choices I think (if you have better suggestions that would be welcome!)
$100
ASUS M2N-E NVIDIA nForce 570 1000 mhz FSB
http://legitreviews.shopping.com/xPO-AS ... P_Centrino
$200
Gigabyte GA-M59SLI-S5 NVIDIA nForce 590 2000 Mhz FSB
http://legitreviews.shopping.com/xPO-Gi ... _M59SLI_S5

and I think I can do this for aroun 700-800
Another realm that I am unfamiliar with is PSU/case/cooling for something like this

dicecca112 wrote:
jesus what is this the kenc and dicecca show? kenc man can I get a first post in next time? And wtf you doing up at 3am go to bed man

LOL
I never go to bed before midnight

fenriswolfr wrote:I doubt I'll even buy a video card for it

Bear in mind that most performance motherboards, like the ones you were choosing, don't have integrated graphics, so some form of video card will be needed. But you could get a super cheap PCI-e card for now, say like this one and get the real card when you need it. Unless you agree with AgentJ and dont think its work spending $30+ when you'll just have to replace it again.

If you get a decent case (again, tell us what you like the look of and we will say if its a decent choice or not ) airflow shouldn't be a problem as most have fans in them.

How much money are you looking to spend when it comes to upgrading the rig for your course?

Dan

My guess for upgrading is going up to $1500.

Any feedback as to which motherboard? or why I should get the 590 or 570 or why it really doesn't matter? Or is the 590 better to get because the FSB @ 2000 mhz matches with the processor?

The case is about the least important thing to me currently, I don't care about looks, I just need something that will do the job, cheap. What PSU might I need for something like this, I was thinking 500 W?

And if I need a video card then yeah, I'll buy the cheap one.. until I need to get 7900 ..

fenriswolfr wrote:My guess for upgrading is going up to $1500.

Any feedback as to which motherboard? or why I should get the 590 or 570 or why it really doesn't matter? Or is the 590 better to get because the FSB @ 2000 mhz matches with the processor?

The case is about the least important thing to me currently, I don't care about looks, I just need something that will do the job, cheap. What PSU might I need for something like this, I was thinking 500 W?

And if I need a video card then yeah, I'll buy the cheap one.. until I need to get 7900 ..

The M2N-E (570 Ultra) does not support SLI. So if you dont intend on EVER running 2 graphics cards, this would be ok for you. Seems like it has memory problems... and some others: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6813131022


The M2N-SLI (570-SLI) can run dual videocards, and is imo the best all-around. This is actually what I will probably buy, if I do go AMD... not sure yet though.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6813131013


The M2N32-SLI (590-SLI) is a bit better, but not worth the extra cash in my opinion. From the reviews I read, the higher price vs performance isnt worth it...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6813131011

Also look at this place if your shopping in the US, I'm not sure if they have any tax in Washington, they do where I live though.

http://www.zipzoomfly.com
or
http://www.newegg.com

As for power supply... depends what your going to have. 500 Watts will get you that AMD chip, 4 Hard drives, on-board sound, 2 USBs, a Floppy, 2Gb Memory, a DVD burner, and a couple 7900GT's in SLI mode. I also added in two fans, and 1 CPU fan. Came out to 396 Watts.

I'd check out http://www.extreme.outervision.com/psucalculator.jsp first.

dicecca112 wrote: For the most part you need the following

Motherboard
PSU
Case
Optical Drives (DVD Burner, etc)
Memory
CPU
Assorted Cables
Mouse/Keyboard
OS
Monitor
Video Card(s)
Hard Drives

Okay check on all this except, cables, do I need to buy any extras or do the parts I'm buying come with all necassary hookups?

btw thanks for the mobo information, I think going for the $150 one is best as well, but it looks like don't go ocz.. w.e I probably won't anyhow.

As long as they are all RETAIL and in a box, they'll come with all the nessisary cables. If anything you buy says OEM, you'll need to buy the cables (most likley). Although, a SATA hard-drive for example... your motherboard probably comes with (2+ or more) SATA cables.