Building a Computer System and need Motherboard advice....

[sefs]

Hey all.

I have these two following components...

1) AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Deneb 3.4GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor HDZ965FBGMBOX

2) G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL

Can you suggest a motherboard to pair with these babies that would be stable and work well for the next 3-5 years :)

Thanks.

[CharlesA]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131366

Best thing to do would be find a mobo with the features you want and then check their HW compatibility lists.

[sefs]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131366

Best thing to do would be find a mobo with the features you want and then check their HW compatibility lists.

Do you use this board?

[CharlesA]

No. I haven't upgraded any of my hardware in a couple years.

It's got good reviews and should work with those other parts.

[sefs]

No. I haven't upgraded any of my hardware in a couple years.

It's got good reviews and should work with those other parts.

I was reading up on it a few hours ago, and it was the first couple of reviews that gave me pause.

[Zzl1xndd]

Generally I stick with Asus for Mobos as I have had good luck with them.

Couldn't recommend a specific board as I really only look when I am building.

[CharlesA]

I stick to Asus or Gigabyte, myself.

[3Miro]

I have the same CPU, however, slower RAM. Here is my motherboard, but you will need something else to support 1600. With an Nvidia GTX260 this thing works great with Linux.

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

I have had bad experience with one EVGA and good experience on two Gigabyte motherboards.

[sefs]

I have the same CPU, however, slower RAM. Here is my motherboard, but you will need something else to support 1600. With an Nvidia GTX260 this thing works great with Linux.

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

I have had bad experience with one EVGA and good experience on two Gigabyte motherboards.

My mouth was watering over this one earlier until I realized it was only DDR2 as you pointed out. Such a shame.

BTW ... did you change the stock fan on yours or did you find it was sufficient?

[Shining Arcanine]

I stick to Asus or Gigabyte, myself.

I have built systems with motherboards from Asus, Gigabyte and XFX. I had a few problems with XFX, but they handled them well and were very professional. I do not think my experience is representative of the quality of the products and a motherboard produced by any of these companies should be good. With that said, my personal favorite for motherboards is Asus. I recommend them the highest.

[GabrielYYZ]

i have the Phenom II x4 955 and 8gb ddr3 ram, the motherboard i have is:

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5325308&CatId=5534

and i can honestly say it's a good motherboard.

if that one doesn't float your boat for whichever reason, check this ASUS out:

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=6089169&CatId=5528

[Windows Nerd]

Depends, do you want to overclock? What type of system are you planning to put this in, and do you have any special requirements? How much do you want to spend?

Can't recommend much until you could tell me a bit of specifics, other than that as others have recommended, ASUS or Gigabyte make great boards.

[LowSky]

buy newer tech if you can... usb3, sata3, amd 8xx northbridge chipset.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007625+600008296+600008420&QksAutoSuggestion=&ShowDeactivatedMark=False&Configurator=&IsNodeId=1&Subcategory=22&description=&Ntk=&CFG=&SpeTabStoreType=&srchInDesc=

personally i had great luck with gigabyte. horrible luck with asus, and so-so luck with msi but msi has some of the best tech support. as for mid range brands asrock is very nice,

[Windows Nerd]

buy newer tech if you can... usb3, sata3, amd 8xx northbridge chipset.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007625+600008296+600008420&QksAutoSuggestion=&ShowDeactivatedMark=False&Configurator=&IsNodeId=1&Subcategory=22&description=&Ntk=&CFG=&SpeTabStoreType=&srchInDesc=

personally i had great luck with gigabyte. horrible luck with asus, and so-so luck with msi but msi has some of the best tech support. as for mid range brands asrock is very nice,

GIGABYTE GA-890FXA-UD5 AM3 AMD 890FX SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard
If you plan to overclock this board should be great. If you don't overclock but are willing to spend a bit this board is still great. It's got all the new technologies, and will not hinder your upgrade path. Also has lots of features, and supports all your legacy stuff too if needed (PATA, Floppy)

[sefs]

Depends, do you want to overclock? What type of system are you planning to put this in, and do you have any special requirements? How much do you want to spend?

Can't recommend much until you could tell me a bit of specifics, other than that as others have recommended, ASUS or Gigabyte make great boards.

I am a pretty average user...so I just want something:

1) reasonably priced
2) fast (will explain later down)
3) reliable & and that has the possibility of lasting up to five years if treated well.
4) I am partial to micro atx size boards the small neat ones that are not cumbersome. (or is that a mini atx).

Currently I am using an msi board that is going onto 5 years now come may 2011. I love it because it lasted so long. Its a one core system. And my most intensive task are playing tremulous or running multiple vm's in vmware workstation.

The Board is now begging to fail. The pci and agp slots no longer work lol.

So I thought I would like to bring myself up today and get a multi core system without going overboard. The CPU and mem I chose because they were the users choice on new egg, and they do seem pretty good. Now I am trying to match a nice mother board with them.

Right now when I use my current system I am back at the inbuilt graphics card and the system drags..I can actually see the screen repainting as it does stuff...and i can't do too much at once, so this system i am building i want none of that.

USB 3.0 and the like would be nice to be on the forefont lol, but if I don't get it I won't die. Will not be overclocking anything at all and will run everything as it comes out the box.

So thats basically it, somthing to get a nice time in Tremulous, and something to run multiple vm windows at a time with out the system moving like molasses. Which is what I meant by fast.

Taking a look at the 3 posted above now.

At this moment ... http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131366 is looking kinda good, although some of the feedback on it makes me edgy. With the amount of expansion slots I should be able to slot in a usb3 pci card I think to keep me in the run of things. Although the northbridge (whatever that is :)) is 7xx and not 8xx like was suggested above. What I like about it though is the onboard video with its own set of 128mb memory, although 256/512 would have been nicer.

[Windows Nerd]

I am a pretty average user...so I just want something:

1) reasonably priced
2) fast (will explain later down)
3) reliable & and that has the possibility of lasting up to five years if treated well.
4) I am partial to micro atx size boards the small neat ones that are not cumbersome. (or is that a mini atx).

Currently I am using an msi board that is going onto 5 years now come may 2011. I love it because it lasted so long. Its a one core system. And my most intensive task are playing tremulous or running multiple vm's in vmware workstation.

The Board is now begging to fail. The pci and agp slots no longer work lol.

So I thought I would like to bring myself up today and get a multi core system without going overboard. The CPU and mem I chose because they were the users choice on new egg, and they do seem pretty good. Now I am trying to match a nice mother board with them.

Right now when I use my current system I am back at the inbuilt graphics card and the system drags..I can actually see the screen repainting as it does stuff...and i can't do too much at once, so this system i am building i want none of that.

USB 3.0 and the like would be nice to be on the forefont lol, but if I don't get it I won't die. Will not be overclocking anything at all and will run everything as it comes out the box.

So thats basically it, somthing to get a nice time in Tremulous, and something to run multiple vm windows at a time with out the system moving like molasses. Which is what I meant by fast.

Taking a look at the 3 posted above now.

At this moment ... http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131366 is looking kinda good, although some of the feedback on it makes me edgy. With the amount of expansion slots I should be able to slot in a usb3 pci card I think to keep me in the run of things. Although the northbridge (whatever that is :)) is 7xx and not 8xx like was suggested above. What I like about it though is the onboard video with its own set of 128mb memory, although 256/512 would have been nicer.

If the most intensive thing you are doing is running multipule VM's, get a multi-core CPU. It will help VM performance a lot. Also, multiple VMs might necessitate more than 4GB of ram, but that depends what is running in the VMs. Unless you game, onboard video should be fine.

That motherboard you suggested is great. However, if you want it to last longer, I suggest getting one with an 8xx chipset. They are newer, and are close in price if you don't buy the "uber performance" chipsets like the 890GX and FX. Also, motherboards with solid caps will last longer, I can't tell if that one has them.

[Matthewthegreat]

I have that same CPU and RAM you have. I got this mobo because it was on sale at the time.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131398

I would go with any ASUS mobo that has the features you want. I've had great success with ASUS. They make great mobo's that are 100% linux compatible.

I have also heard Gigabyte is good too but I personally haven't had any experience with them.

[chris200x9]

Building a Computer

are you a wizard?

[sefs]

What level of power supply should i get.

500W/600W/700W?

In the system will basically be the mother board, the cpu, and memory mentioned above, plus to HDDs, 1 dvd, 1 floppy, a usb or parallel printer, a usb wireless dongle, and i usually charge my phone via the computer. That's basically it.

P.S. Should I invest in a brand name fan aside from the stock fan?

[CharlesA]

I use this (http://extreme.outervision.com/psucalculatorlite.jsp) to get a rough estimate of what size PSU I need for a system.

Do you have a case in mind already?

[sefs]

I use this (http://extreme.outervision.com/psucalculatorlite.jsp) to get a rough estimate of what size PSU I need for a system.

Do you have a case in mind already?

That is the most amazing website I have seen for the year!

And I thought I was building a hi-fi loaded system that needed lots of juice. It told me I only needed about 364W. That means a 500W should be good for me again.

Now the case I am using is an old case I had that I never used. Someone told me it looks like batman. It's a no name brand, but very well built and sturdy. It's called a Jet Shop P4 ATX Mid Tower gm-05 (pic attached). The one I have is yellow and black though.

[CharlesA]

Depending on how the airflow in the case is (and how many fans it has) you might run into heat problems with a quad core in it.

I say might, since you can never be sure until you start using the box and monitor the temps.

[sefs]

Depending on how the airflow in the case is (and how many fans it has) you might run into heat problems with a quad core in it.

I say might, since you can never be sure until you start using the box and monitor the temps.

My plan was to suck it in from the front with one fan and jet it out the back with another. It is a spacey case inside. I'll have to see how it goes.

[CharlesA]

Should work ok. I've got a dual core in a tiny case (with pathetic airflow due to ribbon cables) that runs decently cool with 2 fans.

My other two machines - desktop and server are in high airflow cases (Coolermaster HAF 922 and Antec 900).

[sefs]

My other two machines - desktop and server are in high airflow cases (Coolermaster HAF 922 and Antec 900).

That Antec 900 looks like a wind tunnel lol. I would like that one.

What PSU are you using on the workstation?

[CharlesA]

That Antec 900 looks like a wind tunnel lol. I would like that one.
It pushes a ton of air, which is handy, since it keeps the hard drives (and the rest of the machine) realitively cool. :)

Unfortunately it can get a little bit loud, but that's not a problem, as it's in the other room.