A 785 chipset with DDR3 is the way to go, Gigabyte, Asus, MSI are the top 3, ECS, Biostar, ASRock are more budget mobos. The 770 chipset isn't bad and about $20 cheaper than the 785 though, but you should definitely go for DDR3.
DDR2 or 3 is a tough question. DDR3 is of course better but if you use the money to buy a SSD instead the computer will actually be faster. The old harddrive is the biggest bottleneck today in a modern computer and the SSD is both a lot faster, cool and completely silent (I run 4 in raid 5 myself).
A good graphics-card is also very important, and I rather have a good GFX card and DDR2 than a cheap one and DDR3.
If you can afford all 3 those things, just go for it. If you can't, just get DDR2 instead and use the money for a GFX card or a faster harddrive.
Intel makes the fastest SSD BTW, or did at least last time I checked a few months ago. Check Toms harddrive for more info: www.tomshardware.com/reviews/ssd-memoright,1926.html The article is a year old but gives you the info you need.
As for brands of motherboard, A-Bit is best (the Taiwanese cards, not the Chinese) but both MSI and Gigabyte are making cheap cards that are rather good. ASUS is ok also but MSI and Gigabyte is using the same components for less money. I would go for one of those 2 if I were you.
DDR2 and DDR3 ram cost the same now, the only cost difference is in the mobo, a DDR2 mobo costs about $20 less than a DDR3 mobo but there's no reason to buy an outdated mobo for $20 less.
DDR2 and DDR3 ram cost the same now, the only cost difference is in the mobo, a DDR2 mobo costs about $20 less than a DDR3 mobo but there's no reason to buy an outdated mobo for $20 less.
Wow, you don't go to the store for 3 months and that happens.
Then i agree with you, last time I checked was the difference still a lot.
DDR2 and DDR3 ram cost the same now, the only cost difference is in the mobo, a DDR2 mobo costs about $20 less than a DDR3 mobo but there's no reason to buy an outdated mobo for $20 less.
Wow, you don't go to the store for 3 months and that happens. Then i agree with you, last time I checked was the difference still a lot.
Yea prices have been changing a lot on everything the last couple months, RAM prices all around shot up, which drove up video card prices too, and DDR3 is basically cheaper than DDR2 now but it's like $80 for 4GB
Get the AM3 motherboard with DDR3, will mean you can upgrade to a hexacore and the extra cost for DDR3 is getting smaller all the time.
"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience"
Comments
A 785 chipset with DDR3 is the way to go, Gigabyte, Asus, MSI are the top 3, ECS, Biostar, ASRock are more budget mobos. The 770 chipset isn't bad and about $20 cheaper than the 785 though, but you should definitely go for DDR3.
DDR2 or 3 is a tough question. DDR3 is of course better but if you use the money to buy a SSD instead the computer will actually be faster. The old harddrive is the biggest bottleneck today in a modern computer and the SSD is both a lot faster, cool and completely silent (I run 4 in raid 5 myself).
A good graphics-card is also very important, and I rather have a good GFX card and DDR2 than a cheap one and DDR3.
If you can afford all 3 those things, just go for it. If you can't, just get DDR2 instead and use the money for a GFX card or a faster harddrive.
Intel makes the fastest SSD BTW, or did at least last time I checked a few months ago. Check Toms harddrive for more info: www.tomshardware.com/reviews/ssd-memoright,1926.html The article is a year old but gives you the info you need.
As for brands of motherboard, A-Bit is best (the Taiwanese cards, not the Chinese) but both MSI and Gigabyte are making cheap cards that are rather good. ASUS is ok also but MSI and Gigabyte is using the same components for less money. I would go for one of those 2 if I were you.
DDR2 and DDR3 ram cost the same now, the only cost difference is in the mobo, a DDR2 mobo costs about $20 less than a DDR3 mobo but there's no reason to buy an outdated mobo for $20 less.
Wow, you don't go to the store for 3 months and that happens.
Then i agree with you, last time I checked was the difference still a lot.
Yea prices have been changing a lot on everything the last couple months, RAM prices all around shot up, which drove up video card prices too, and DDR3 is basically cheaper than DDR2 now but it's like $80 for 4GB
Get the AM3 motherboard with DDR3, will mean you can upgrade to a hexacore and the extra cost for DDR3 is getting smaller all the time.
"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience"
CS Lewis