What do you think of this mobo?
 

I was looking at this motherboard and processor combo... http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applicatio...908&CatId=1599 . What do you think? I don't know a whole lot about mobos, so I could use some advice. I'm thinking of upgrading specifically to run SH3 (and maybe eventually SH4) better. Right now, I'm maxed out on 1G RAM. Sure would be nice to have more, but only way is to replace the mobo. Of course, having started thinking that way, I'd also have to get a new vidcard, 'cause mine is AGP, and it looks like mobos only come with PCIe slots now. I could probably swallow that on the basis that I could just plug everything else (hard drive etc) into the new mobo. I'd have overkill on the RAM capacity with this mobo, as I'd want to keep running on XP, which I gather is limited to recognizing 4G RAM (or 3-point something for some obscure reason). Anyway, what do you think of this combo?

Can't say much about this one but I am keeping an eye on the Abit IP35 Pro and a Wolfdale 3 GHz.

http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=3142

You'll get plenty of life out of this one. SH3 though is single threaded and doesn't take multiprocessor capability into consideration so it will only ever use 1/4 of the processing power you get this this rig. The price looks OK as well.

You might want to think about the HDD though. If you've got an older board chances are it will be IDE only which may mean changing up to a SATA HDD instead. What GFX card are you looking at?

Also what PSU do you have? You might want to look at upgrading that while you're at it cos you might find that your old one isn't up to driving all the new kit either.

@GlobalExplorer. Tks, I'll look at that to compare.
@TarJak. Tks also. Assume you mean the one I mentioned? Yup I can imagine it's a bit of overkill processing power wise, but at the same time I'm thinking if I upgrade I may as well look forward a ways and be ready for running Vista at some point in time or even heavier games (altho sh3 will have me going for a long time yet).
Yes, my HDD is IDE, but AFAIK it would plug in, although not be as fast on the interface. But that way I could eventually upgrade the HDD.
I think I'm good on the psu, 'cause I got a new one (450 W I think) a while ago to power a new vidcard.
I haven't thought about the vidcard yet ... beyond thinking ATI, which is just because I have one now.

BTW just for a follow-up query, I've been assuming that once everything's plugged in to the new mobo and I boot up, apart from maybe having to do some bios config, my existing Windows install on the hard drive will happily start up and aside from recognizing and installing the new vidcard like any other new hardware, all else will be warm and fuzzy. Am I right about that, or am I delusional that it should be that simple?

Theorhetically... warm and fuzzy.
In actual practice... probably delusional.

We like to hope for the best though right?

I would start with making sure you have the mobo chipset drivers working before trying to update anything else (like the GPU).

Two months after my HD crash, I'm still trying to strike that perfect balance between BIOS, Vista64, and nVidia Drivers, such that my GPU might be recognized. :damn: I think I may have it narrowed down to the nVidia Vista64 driver doesn't like the DVI cable (as opposed to VGA) for some reason... haven't tested that yet though.

You will have to reinstall the OS. Once you have done it one or two times it's not hard.

Yup, that's what I figured :D , I tend to be delusional about these things, thinking it's easier than it may actually be. I'm geared up for it now, though. If I have to reinstall the OS, that's not a big deal. Tks. I'll have to start thinking about the vidcard.

Having put this on ice for a while, I'm going ahead with new components. Here's what I have in mind, although I'm not sure that the image will be readable:

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p...ewcomppost.jpg

The mobo is the same one I had in mind before. I suppose the only thing might be that it's not PCIe 2.0, just PCIe, but is that a big deal.

Otherwise, as far as I can see, existing IDE drives would plug in ok. The new case is compatible according to form factor and some review comments. The PCIe Radeon X1650 pro is the same as the one I have now (which is AGP though, so will have to replace). But I see another Radeon card which has 1G for only $17 more.

I'd sure appreciate any comments in terms of compatibility or otherwise. I was looking at these things on the following links:
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applicatio...-680ILT-Q6600A
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applicatio...8&Sku=ULT31824
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applicatio...838&CatId=1558
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applicatio...162&CatId=2306

I've boiled this down to two questions after some more research (which sounds way fancier than it actually was).

1. The mobo is PCIe. Do I need to be fussed about PCIe 2.0? I'm thinking not really. 2pt0 is not yet standard and PCIe should be good (in terms of add-in or upgrade cards) for a good while.

2. This one just occurred to me ... I'm looking at putting an ATI vidcard on a mobo which is nVidia-particular. But is that a big deal? Not sure of the answer to that one.

I'd sure appreciate some input here. :help:

I think that you'd be better served by either a GeForce 8800 series or a GeForce 9600GT than the X1650s (which these days are outdated). It should cost about the same as well. The only thing I'd be worried about on that motherboard is the active cooling. If that fan goes, you could lose the whole board.

Unless you need the absolute latest, I wouldn't worry about PCIe 2.0. It won't matter for a good while yet, and by the time it does, you'll likely need an entirely new system anyway.

Tks, I'll look at the GeForce cards. I get a bit antsy about them seeing comments quite frequently about Nvidia card problems.

I'm not sure what the active cooling is ... the chipset fan on the mobo presumably? I'll try to look at that, but if you could add a word about why that might be a problem, sure appreciated. Is the problem the fan itself? Is the fan replaceable?

Finally, that's pretty much what I was thinking about PCIe 2.0, but tks much for confirming. :up:

That fan on the chipset is the active cooling on the motherboard, and I'd caution against it. I don't know if that model's fan is replacable or not, but inherent in having a fan on the motherboard is that if the fan dies, the chipset might not have a cutoff, which would result in overheating and motherboard failure. Personally, I'd try to find a motherboard with passive cooling (i.e. a heatsink). Not only will you not have to worry about the fan dying, it will be quieter overall.

Tks/understood, I'll have a look at some others to compare.

edit: scratch the below (>><<). I was reading Rubini's nVidia tweaking post, and it just looks like potential trouble, so I'm gonna go for an ATI card which means choosing another mobo. ... by the time I get through this, everything will be obsolete and I'll have to start over. :doh:

>>I'm looking at GeForce cards now. There's e.g. XFX GeForce, EVGA GeForce, BFG GeForce and some other "types". Presumably that's the GeForce technology being made/sold under license to various companies. ... Is one name "better" than another? I haven't been through them all, but some comparable (eg 8800) cards seem cheaper under one name than another.<<