Chipset Recomendations Please

[sbrylski06]

I'm buying a new motherboard and I don't know much about chipsets.

I'm planning on buying this one:

$64.99
Biostar GeForce 6100-M7 NVIDIA Socket 754 MicroATX Motherboard / Audio / PCI Express / 10/100 Ethernet LAN / USB 2.0 / Serial ATA / RAID

Then adding a Athlon 64 (3700+)

Here is what they say about the chipset:

Chipset
The GeForce 6100-M7 motherboard is based on the NVIDIA GeForce 6100 Northbridge chipset and the NVIDIA nForce 410 Southbridge chipset. It supports AMD Athlon 64 (up to 3700+) and Sempron Processors, with Hyper-Transport Technology and 800MHz Front Side Bus support.

Is that decent? I don't need anything top of the line, but I don't want to regret my purchase in 6 months.

Any thoughts?

 

[sbrylski06]

Oh, then also a XFX GeForce 6600LE 256 MB video card in the PCI express slot.

Thoughts?

 

[Zydor]

Above you anticipated budget but .... have a think on this one

http://stores.tomshardware.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=5361437
http://www.asus.com/products4.aspx?l1=3&l2=15&l3=0&model=382&modelmenu=1

The one you have above has socket 754 and no SLI (SLI - run dual graphics cards).

SLI may seem over the top at the moment, but you would then have the ability to improve graphics capacity by 70% just by slotting in another card. An easy useful upgrade path.

If the budget will streatch go above the LE version, its just a cut down 6600 - a 6600 in name only, marketing gimmic. Look at the 6600gt 128mb a good choice @ $99 ...
(256 nice to have but far from essential, spend the dosh on a good 128 card,not a low(ish) 256 card)

XFX good choice, excellent cards

Regards
Zy

 

[sbrylski06]

Thanks Zydor...

I'll consider the SLI, sounds like a good option. If I were to consider going without it though, which is the better chipset - the GeForce 6 or the nForce 4 (without SLI)? And how big is the difference?

If you know of a good guide that helps me out with chipsets and processors and motherboards that I could look at instead of always asking here (you - Zydor - are usually the one to respond) feel free to let me know.

Thanks.

 

[Zelpo]

The CPU you picked is a socket 939 btw, I don't think it'll work with that mobo.

 

[Zydor]

These will get you started. With all Articles / Guides take the time to look at the date it was written to place it context. From these Sites you will also be able to "Branch Out" on related links. There's hundreds out there ... hopefully others will post their own slant on good sites on these kind of topics.

The 3D world is one of having to pay close attention to hardware, Heating & internal PC "Housekeeping" - and ignoring hype. You cant do the latter without a bit of background research. In the 2D world you could get away with being "lazy" - not so in the 3D world .... Dont be put off by terminology, "read over" terms you dont initially understand, it will all drop in place in the end. Many of these kinds of Sites also have attached forums - be selective, Lurk them for a while, some better than others as always.

View the links as a start point only, there's hundreds out there ....

AMD Athlon FX-60
http://www.tomshardware.com/2006/01/10/amd_athlon_fx_60_dual_core_assault/

The Intel side of the Story
http://www.tomshardware.com/2006/01/05/the_65_nm_pentium_d_900s_coming_out_party/


Graphics
SLI Hardware Guide
http://www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=Njk2 (note the HardIOCP Site - a good one)

http://www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=NzEx (another view of SLI )

Latest Card news - Incl the GeForce 7900 GTX
http://www.guru3d.com/news.html

Dual Graphics Part 1
http://www.tomshardware.com/2005/11/29/ati_and_nvidia/

Dual Graphics PartII
http://www.tomshardware.com/2005/12/15/dual_graphics_platforms/

Squeezing Value Out of Lower-End Cards
http://www.tomshardware.com/2006/01/05/squeezing_value_out_of_lower_end_cards/


Bios A to Z
http://www.tomshardware.com/2006/01/04/bios_from_a_to_z/

Motherboards
http://www.motherboards.org/
http://www.tomshardware.com/motherboard/motherboards/index.html (lots of reviews bottom of page)

General
Each one of the lines on this page is a link
http://www.guru3d.com/index.php?page=article

Another General Guide Page - again most lines are links
http://www.guru3d.com/index.php?page=review

PC Buyer Guide
http://www.guru3d.com/article/pcbuyguide/289/

Major Geeks - Useful resource as a start point finding things/finding out what you dont know ...
http://www.majorgeeks.com/download2195.html

Piece Part Buyer Guide
http://www.overclockers.com/

General Hardware Analysis / Guides
http://www.hardwareanalysis.com/

Fun Reads
Junk Cooked PC, The Ultimate Cooling ?
http://www.tomshardware.com/2006/01/09/strip_out_the_fans/

The Utterly Insane Quad SLI Graphics Behemouth - but veeeeeery Nice
http://www.tomshardware.com/2005/12/14/sneak_preview_of_the_nvidia_quad_gpu_setup/

Keep The Wife/Partner/Girlfriend Happy while you Dominate Sid's Planet
http://www.twitchguru.com/2005/10/08/games_women_can_enjoy/
http://www.twitchguru.com/2005/10/07/these_women_aren/

Good Forums
http://forumz.tomshardware.com/
http://forums.guru3d.com/index.php?

Regards
Zy

 

[sbrylski06]

Wow.

Thanks a crap load.