Question re the value of a good mother board - What do you think of AM2

[Ron Cliborn]

I'm looking to put together an AMD A2 X2 Duel Core system.
When looking at the MB's I can get a plain MB for about $130 or a MB
loaded with stuff for $160.

The MB in question is a: Asus M2N-SLI-Deluxe NVIDIA Socket AM2 ATX
Motherboard / Audio / PCI Express / Dual Gigabit LAN / S/PDIF / USB
2.0 & Firewire / Serial ATA / RAID

While I'm sure I will not ever run a SLI system because by the time I
can afford 2 Vid Cards, they'll have something else better and cheaper
- BUT just in case I want the feature.

Audio - On board doesn't matter. I have an Audigy 2 I can put in.

PCI Express - a must have for me. I guess. I heard it was POTENTIALLY
about 4 times faster then an AGP port.

Dual Gigabit LAN: WTH is this? Can I run two lines from my modem and
get twice my normal speed? I somehow doubt this. What do I do with
this feature?

S/PDIF: I had to look this up. I don't think this matters. However,
I do run my sound out of my computer into a stereo system dedicated to
my computer. ( It is a $400 stereo system that has 5 speaker surround
sound. It has a tuner, CD player, tape player - but I use it 95% of
the time just for my computer)

USB 2.0 - Standard I think.
Firewire _ would like this, but I do have a firewire card.
Serial ATA - fairly standard.


Raid: I use this to mirror my drives to prevent data loss, right?
Redundant Array something something.

Now, here are some extra features:

AI NOS™
Applications such as 3D games and video editing demand a huge chunk of
system resource. Inject "nitrous oxide" into your CPU! The patented AI
NOS™ (Non-delay Overclocking System) technology intelligently detects
system load and automatically boosts performance for the most
demanding tasks. Unlike other dynamic overclocking techniques, AI NOS™
reacts much faster to satisfy your unending need for speeds.

PEG Link
This latest technology, PEG (PCI Express Graphics) Link Mode, is a
unique feature that enables users to boost graphics card performance
for superior video quality. PEG Link allows users to raise GPU and VGA
memory throughput via the motherboard BIOS the same way system bus and
memory bus are tweaked. PEG Link Mode enables powerful video
performance on DX8 and DX9 applications. ASUS engineers carefully
fine-tuned the parameters for every single PCI-Express card to provide
system stability during high-speed graphics operation.

Fanless Design
Cooling fans, though a popular thermal solution, also come with noise
and malfunction likelyhood. ASUS Motherboard's fansless concept is
specifically created to provide a cool environment without all the
baggage.

Noise Filter
This feature detects repetitive and stationary noises like computer
fans, air conditioners, and other background noises then eliminates it
in the incoming audio stream while recording.


Are these worth a flip? They sound good and I'd pay an extra $30 for
them. But, can I get a decent MB for the AM2 around $100?
It isn't that I mind spending the money for a MB so much as I don't
know what the hell to get and if I am getting my money's worth or if I
am being screwed.
I'm more than happy to listen to anyone's advice.
My last MB purchase was an Asus 440 BX for a PII 450 and I was very
happy with it.

Also, what do you think of the AM2? The price seems to be the same,
so I figured I might as well get it.

Thanks

R
o
n

 

[Mike T.]

I'm looking to put together an AMD A2 X2 Duel Core system.
When looking at the MB's I can get a plain MB for about $130 or a MB
loaded with stuff for $160.

Are you sure you want to do that? The Core duo chips from Intel are kicking
the crap out of even the -most expensive- AMD chips at the moment. And, the
least expensive of the core duo is definitely in reach, for a new build.
But assuming you want to go ahead with an AM2 build:

The MB in question is a: Asus M2N-SLI-Deluxe NVIDIA Socket AM2 ATX
Motherboard / Audio / PCI Express / Dual Gigabit LAN / S/PDIF / USB
2.0 & Firewire / Serial ATA / RAID

While I'm sure I will not ever run a SLI system because by the time I
can afford 2 Vid Cards, they'll have something else better and cheaper
- BUT just in case I want the feature.

Audio - On board doesn't matter. I have an Audigy 2 I can put in.

PCI Express - a must have for me. I guess. I heard it was POTENTIALLY
about 4 times faster then an AGP port.

Potentially, yes. You won't see a speed increase before your next build
(after this one), though.

Dual Gigabit LAN: WTH is this? Can I run two lines from my modem and
get twice my normal speed? I somehow doubt this. What do I do with
this feature?

If you have to ask, you probably won't need it. One line to run to a cable
modem or dsl modem will come in handy. You could use the other one for
Internet Connection sharing. But if you haven't thought of that already . .
..

S/PDIF: I had to look this up. I don't think this matters. However,
I do run my sound out of my computer into a stereo system dedicated to
my computer. ( It is a $400 stereo system that has 5 speaker surround
sound. It has a tuner, CD player, tape player - but I use it 95% of
the time just for my computer)

If you care that much about sound, you should have a digital connection of
some kind between the sound card and the stereo, and s/pdif would work great
for that. But, it sounds like you are going to use a different sound card
anyway, so THIS particular connector won't be of much use.

USB 2.0 - Standard I think.
Firewire _ would like this, but I do have a firewire card.
Serial ATA - fairly standard.


Raid: I use this to mirror my drives to prevent data loss, right?
Redundant Array something something.

Yup. Be aware that this will slow down the system, slightly. But it's a
great idea. Just buy faster hard drives to compensate. (higher RPM, larger
cache)

Now, here are some extra features:

AI NOST
Applications such as 3D games and video editing demand a huge chunk of
system resource. Inject "nitrous oxide" into your CPU! The patented AI
NOST (Non-delay Overclocking System) technology intelligently detects
system load and automatically boosts performance for the most
demanding tasks. Unlike other dynamic overclocking techniques, AI NOST
reacts much faster to satisfy your unending need for speeds.

PEG Link
This latest technology, PEG (PCI Express Graphics) Link Mode, is a
unique feature that enables users to boost graphics card performance
for superior video quality. PEG Link allows users to raise GPU and VGA
memory throughput via the motherboard BIOS the same way system bus and
memory bus are tweaked. PEG Link Mode enables powerful video
performance on DX8 and DX9 applications. ASUS engineers carefully
fine-tuned the parameters for every single PCI-Express card to provide
system stability during high-speed graphics operation.

Fanless Design
Cooling fans, though a popular thermal solution, also come with noise
and malfunction likelyhood. ASUS Motherboard's fansless concept is
specifically created to provide a cool environment without all the
baggage.

Noise Filter
This feature detects repetitive and stationary noises like computer
fans, air conditioners, and other background noises then eliminates it
in the incoming audio stream while recording.


Are these worth a flip? They sound good and I'd pay an extra $30 for

Well I like the fanless feature. I'd pay extra for that. Not sure if I'd
pay THIRTY BUCKS extra for it.

them. But, can I get a decent MB for the AM2 around $100?
It isn't that I mind spending the money for a MB so much as I don't
know what the hell to get and if I am getting my money's worth or if I
am being screwed.

Yeah, there are several decent motherboards for AM2 for $100 or even less.
Although this first example is just over a hundred bucks, I'd probably build
with the following, if I was building AM2. It will be better quality than
the asus board you write about:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813130049

But if money was tight (like if it had to come in under a hundred bucks), I
wouldn't hesitate to build with the following, either. Biostar is probably
the most under-rated mainboard brand on the market. Their quality is much
better than asus*, just a notch below AOpen, and on par with MSI. The
following board will be fast and stable and likely last much longer than you
need it to:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813138026

Neither one of those boards support SLI, but I think you'd be wasting your
money on an SLI board unless you are more than 80% sure that you will ever
use that feature. -Dave

*Asus is poor quality, in spite of expert reviews. Most experts only test
boards for a week or so at most, and asus does fine then. But long-term
reliability is not good with this brand.