For those who have read http://forums.massassi.net/vb/showthread.php?threadid=29450
it looks like I'm going to need a new mobo and possibly a PSU aswell.

Right now I'm looking at http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=13-131-478&depa=0
And later I'll want to get
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=17-103-922&depa=0
but I want to save up money for that. Right now I can cover most of the mobo and parents pay for the rest of it.



Good mobo / PSU choice?

That is a great motherboard, and the PSU as well, although you could probably get a decent PSU for a bit less money than that.

Hmm... just looking at the specs for your old mobo, and it doesn't support AGP 8x. I wouldn't really know, but could that be the problem?

I don't know... I've had lots of trouble with my nForce 2 chipset... But I haven't been around the block enough with different mobos to make any specific reccomendations..

Recommendations on PSU? And the card supports both 8X and 4X

I'm definitely not the resident expert on PSU's, but I'm sure that Antec must make some under $100.

I have an Ultra 450W in mine (Barton 2500+, Radeon 9600XT, 1gb ram, 200gb HD, DVD-RW and CD-RW, Audigy 2 external drive, lots of stuff to power :p). It does its job perfectly fine, but I don't really know Ultra's track record so I couldn't really recommend or condemn them.

This is what I have. It is extremely nice, Antec makes some of the best PSU's.

This is my MOBO


I likes it.

Updated the original thread. Kinda ruling out the PSU problem.

Super Flower (TTGI in Europe) make excellent power supplys for not much money. Power supplies have huge markups on them, this is one company that doesn't rip you off and has high efficiency PSUs. Look for them on Directron.com

If you are going to get an nforce 2 board, this is pretty much the best one out there: Abit NF7-S

Especially for overclocking.

ABit is indeed quite good.

]


*buzzer sound* wrong!

This is the absolute best nforce 2 board availabe:

http://usa.asus.com/products/mb/socketa/a7n8x-e-d/overview.htm

(Newegg link): http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=13-131-478&depa=0

Has more features, and is only $8 more than the ABIT board.

Includes a second ethernet port, AGP Pro capability, better SPDIF outs, 2 of each IDE and SATA cable instead of one (useful for when you don't have any. Abit only gives you one of each), has a heatsink on the northbridge (as any good motherboard has today), and a nice 3 year warranty.

The Asus board isn't the greatest for overclocking. Some people have had good mileage with it, others little or none at all. I have on myself and I love it, but not for the avid overclocker.

Also if you haven't decided on a soundcard...don't get the latest and greatest Audigy. The Audigy 2 ZS is exactly the same as the Audigy 2 as far as I can tell, and the Audigy 4 is probably the same chipset anyway. If you want a gaming soundcard, get the Audigy 2. Or the Chaintech AV-710, but it has limited (if any) EAX support.

The onboard nForce Soundstorm is absolute garbage. Anyone who tells you it has good sound quality probably shoved a pencil in their ear. They have better digital outs than the Audigys (which don't apply to very many people) but the sound quality is rubbish. It's some Realtek POS.

And for those who don't know better, both the abit and the asus have the same audio soundsystem, asus just has better spdif connections. But for general usage, the system is really not "absolute garbage". Although a good sound card will beat it, that applies to anything onboard.

I know the Asus and Abit both have the same sound system. Yeah, some people won't know better, but if you spent even a decent amount of money on headphones or speakers, you'll notice the difference. The source matters a lot. A lot.

*snickers* All right. I think I'm gonna go for that motherboard then.

Don't think I'll be needing a PSU for a while. And I already have a soundcard. Its not an Audigy but its better then onboard sound. A nice soundblaster Live! 5.1

All I really need is a mobo and I don't really do any overclocking.

Thanks, though.