What is the motherboard for me?(Long)

[Mr_J_]

Hi!
I'm going to change my motherboard until Xmas!
I got a recomendation to stay in 32bit and go with an Intel DualCore of some kind.
Which is freakin' expensive; to me..

I was thinking, personally, on a 64bit platform, a 939 sorta processor of some sort.

I am checking the motherboards on my own time, and even tho lacking experience in the 64bit world, I have found that linux does seem worthier of the change than windows.

So!

I was thinking of:
- 939 socket
- PCI Express

Now! I have found out some things to question the knowledge of those here in.

What amount of RAM is "normal" for these motherboards? (MB or GB)
What kind of RAM? (DDR2 * or DDR *)


Since I am heading to Ubuntu anyway, are there any sorts of things I should stay away from?
I heard this story of hardship over Nforce 4.
We all know Linux isn't as easy as pie, but I like pie!
So easy is best!

Personally I got 512MB DDR400, but I heard about 2GB being a small amount of RAM, and 8GB not being too much...
Something else about latency of the RAM, and how CAS 2.5 wasn't bad!


Links or explanations are nice!

Since this time I thank you all for you help!

[John.Michael.Kane]

You need to let us know what the machine is for. before you can get any answers. what you have listed is not enough info.At the most i can tell you from you listed

Amd=Gaming machine
Intel=non gaming depending on who you ask....
8 gig of mem is overkill 2-4gig should do you fine
Harddrive= seagate or westerndigital
videocard=Nvidia based
motherboard= 939 pci-e
Cpu=amd is 64bit and 32bit compatable

again more info will lead to more answer's..

[Kvark]

"Dual core", "PCI Express" "8GB ram"... That sounds like a high end video editing machine.

About memory... 1 GB ram should be enough, you'll never use more then 2 GB ram for any kind of normal desktop or gaming useage (With today's games and apps, maybe Windows Vista would take 8 GB ). It's always good to have extra room to plug in more a couple years from now though.

Low CAS latency or high clock speed ("or" 'cause if a memory is good at one, then it is usually bad at the other) on your ram memory will not even be noticeable in any real life scenario. At most it gets you a few extra points at synthetic benchmarks.

[Teroedni]

Yes Amd 939 socket will be a smart choice and i think Nforce 4 boards should work fine
You also should be sure to get an Nvidia board

But what are you gonna use your machine on??


AMD 64 3200
Nforce 4
Nvidia 6600 Gt
120 gig Hardrive(or more
2*512mb (1gb)

This machine will be very powerfull and will last a long time

[tseliot]

I've got some recommendations for you:

1) Please, DON'T BUY a MSI RS480 if you want to use Linux. I had to change it (and I hardly give in when I'm in front of a challenge). It just DOESN'T WORK (even if you fix most of the issues the computer freezes sometimes).

2) If you don't need PCI-EXPRESS strictly you can buy Asus A8V DELUXE. it doesn't support PCI-E but IT JUST WORKS in Linux, it's amazing , I can assure you as I bought it yesterday for my new computer and I'm very happy with it.

3) I've got 2GB RAM (DDR PC3200) and the system goes GREAT. (I also have an AMD 3500+ socket 939)

4) Search in Google so as to see if your graphic card is supported by Linux. Nvidia is a MUST. I use an nvidia Geforce FX 5500 AGP (and it works with both nvidia opensource drivers and proprietary ones).

Nvidia PCI-Express Geforce 6200 with Turbocache (I have it on another computer) doesn't work with the opensource drivers (the ones that come with Ubuntu) as it shows some graphical corruptions that make the screen unusable (you MUST install nvidia proprietary drivers).

[Mr_J_]

First of all!
Thanks for all the replies, please continue.

Now!

I have a XFX Nvidia 6600GT 128MB DDR3 Gamers Edition PCI-E just sitting there waiting for that motherboard.
I got 512MB DDR 400 from Kingston.

The machine is going to be a desktop, just music, internet and a few games!
Probably Neverwinter Nights and it's expansions, and when it comes out Neverwinter Nights 2. Some DVD playback, and downloads off of LimeWire most likely.

It's not going to be a 3D redering engine, or any really heavy duty stuff...
Maybe Cedega or something of that sort... Nothing much more heavy than a couple of games and music at the same time!

The processor I'm refering to is the 3000+ Venice.

There are others with other names, but I haven't a clue as to what that means!
Maybe some simplistic explanations could suffice my thirst of knowledge!

BTW... Could a system like this run Windows XP (32 bit version)?

Would it be better if I bought another 512MB DDR400 to make Dual Channel?
or 1024MB DDR400?

Or... I buy 2x 512MB DDR400, make 1 Dual Channel and another not...
Just thinking out loud...

[tseliot]

First of all!
Thanks for all the replies, please continue.

Now!

I have a XFX Nvidia 6600GT 128MB DDR3 Gamers Edition PCI-E just sitting there waiting for that motherboard.
I got 512MB DDR 400 from Kingston.

The machine is going to be a desktop, just music, internet and a few games!
Probably Neverwinter Nights and it's expansions, and when it comes out Neverwinter Nights 2. Some DVD playback, and downloads off of LimeWire most likely.

It's not going to be a 3D redering engine, or any really heavy duty stuff...
Maybe Cedega or something of that sort... Nothing much more heavy than a couple of games and music at the same time!

The processor I'm refering to is the 3000+ Venice.

There are others with other names, but I haven't a clue as to what that means!
Maybe some simplistic explanations could suffice my thirst of knowledge!

BTW... Could a system like this run Windows XP (32 bit version)?

Would it be better if I bought another 512MB DDR400 to make Dual Channel?
or 1024MB DDR400?

Or... I buy 2x 512MB DDR400, make 1 Dual Channel and another not...
Just thinking out loud...

I don't know if this helps you:

I've got 4x512mb DDR 400 RAM modules (=2GB).

And yes I think it will run Windows xp 32bit (remember that AMD64 support both 32 and 64bit operative systems).

[Teroedni]

Yea buy another ddr400 512 mb chip and you have dual

What others name
Do you mean the pr rating 3000+ 3200+ etc
or the name on the core Newcastle san-diego,venice etc?

[Mr_J_]

This is the name they supply at the online store:
AMD Athlon 64BIT 3000+ SK939 Venice BOX

Dunno if it helps...
Got to search some more about AMD's on their site!
Got to find out for sure!

[Lord Illidan]

AMD's 64 bit processors will work with 32 bit XP too...

You definitely don't need over 1.5 gigs of memory..
8 gigs is over kill... at the most 2 gigs is enough. You are not going to be editing heavy video, after all.