Req suggestions for a new MB....requirements listed.

[Brett Miller]

I plan on upgrading one of my systems this month. I will get a duel
core AMD 4800+ cpu, but I have NO idea of what type mother board to
get. Built in LAN would be nice but not a deal breaker, as would
built in audio. I'd like SATA support and old IDE Drive support.
The ability to hold 4 gigs ram.
What else do I need??
I plan to do gaming and video processing. With a big chunk of money
going to the CPU I don't know when I'll be able to upgrade the video
card, but I'd like to mother board to handle whatever is the most
current. So SLI (??) (Two Vid Cards) would be nice but not a deal
breaker.

I don't know jack about MBs. The last one I researched was an Asus
440 BX. All the others since came as a bundle.

Any suggestions or advice??

Thanks
M,B

 

[KC Computers]

I plan on upgrading one of my systems this month. I will get a duel

core AMD 4800+ cpu, but I have NO idea of what type mother board to
get. Built in LAN would be nice but not a deal breaker, as would
built in audio. I'd like SATA support and old IDE Drive support.
The ability to hold 4 gigs ram.
What else do I need??
I plan to do gaming and video processing. With a big chunk of money
going to the CPU I don't know when I'll be able to upgrade the video
card, but I'd like to mother board to handle whatever is the most
current. So SLI (??) (Two Vid Cards) would be nice but not a deal
breaker. Any suggestions or advice??

We are a system builder and have had great success with ASUS motherboards
over the years. The best choices for what you are looking for are the
A8N-SLI
Premium and the A8N32-SLI DX. The former supports dual SLI video cards in
x8
mode while the latter supports x16. That doesn't make much difference in
any
games at this time but the price difference has come down. See a review
at http://www.neoseeker.com/Articles/Hardware/Reviews/asus_a8n32-sli/.

A8N-SLI PREM:
http://usa.asus.com/products4.aspx?l1=3&l2=15&l3=0&model=539&modelmenu=1
A8N32-SLI DX:
http://usa.asus.com/products4.aspx?l1=3&l2=15&l3=0&model=744&modelmenu=1

 

[Dave]

I plan on upgrading one of my systems this month. I will get a duel
core AMD 4800+ cpu, but I have NO idea of what type mother board to
get. Built in LAN would be nice but not a deal breaker, as would
built in audio. I'd like SATA support and old IDE Drive support.
The ability to hold 4 gigs ram.
What else do I need??
I plan to do gaming and video processing. With a big chunk of money
going to the CPU I don't know when I'll be able to upgrade the video
card, but I'd like to mother board to handle whatever is the most
current. So SLI (??) (Two Vid Cards) would be nice but not a deal
breaker.

I don't know jack about MBs. The last one I researched was an Asus
440 BX. All the others since came as a bundle.

Any suggestions or advice??

Thanks
M,B

Check out the following.

BTW, I strongly disagree with the other poster. Asus has severe
quality-control problems, and they don't deserve the good rep. that they
have. -Dave

http://www.mwave.com/mwave/viewspec.hmx?scriteria=BA21275

 

[Carl]

ref the above post- i have always heard that DFI boards can be picky about
what memory is installed. Hearsay? Let me know!

 

[rapscallion]

I built a system using the ASUS A8N-Sli Premium and have had zer
problems with it in the 4 months since. I know four months is not
long time, but that's how long it took for my previous Abit AV8 t
stop working
Consider also that I use it for 3d animation with sometimes 3-4 hour
of rendering at a time for days straight, and it's been about as roc
solid as I had hoped
Before this ASUS and the bad Abit, I had an AMD 2800 and a Pentium II
both on ASUS boards. I gave those two away to family members and the
are still running strong
I've heard good things about DFI as far as performance is concerned
They are the board to get if you like to overclock, but I too hav
heard that they can be finicky to set up.
How much are you planning on spending on the motherboard? This can g
a long way towards determing what to get

 

[Andy Jeffries]

BTW, I strongly disagree with the other poster. Asus has severe
quality-control problems, and they don't deserve the good rep. that they
have. -Dave

I've got an Asus A8N-SLI SE and a friend has the same board both been
fine. Both bought them after looking at a variety of hardware review
sites and seeing which boards they use in the review systems.

So, I'll disagree with you

I also had an MSI board before and that was fine.

Cheers,


Andy