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Hey Guys..

Gonna be getting an A64 setup in the next couple of months. Was wondering what motherboard for $80-$110 you guys thought I should get. Also, what is the minimum amount of RAM you'd run with it? HSF? I'm gonna be getting an A64 3200+ if I get anything, can't pull anything higher and I want the 1MB cache. LMK your thoughts..

Thanks!

eGo

Good choice on the CPU. Have one and love it. I'm using the stock fan/HS that came with the retail version CPU. I've never seen anything higher than 41C load.

Keep in mind that there are two (2) different versions of A64 3200+'s out now. This applies to other speed A64's too.

AMD64 3200+ Clawhammer core = runs at 2 GHz with 1MB L2 cache
AMD64 3200+ Newcastle core = runs at 2.2 GHz but with half the L2 cache ( 512K )

bottomline is make sure you order the proper chip if you're wanting the 1 MB L2 cache.

One thing that should be said is that these A64's are very fast right out of the box. My initial A64 setup ( A64 3200+ clawhammer / K8T Neo), before OCing, was faster than my XP Mobile 2600+ on a DFI Infinity Ultra overclocked at some pretty ungodly numbers...( 10.5 x 244 FSB , 2.56 GHz ) . When it comes to A64's, it ant about clock speed and bus speed as much as HTT ( Hyper Transport Technology ) and on-chip mem controller.

Don't let the 2 GHz number fool ya. These are fast a$$ !!

As far as mobos go, the VIA K8T800 is a nice choice if you don't mind not having an AGP/PCI lock. While that limits your OCing due to stressing the AGP/PCI busses, it's very mature at this point and most mfgrs that use the chipset have put out a few BIOS's at this point in time.

Here's both a quicky review and a hogged out review of the board I'm using, MSI K8T Neo FIS2R

http://www.modsynergy.com/Review%20129.htm


http://hardocp.com/article.html?art=NTMy

Here is a version of the same chipset by MSI...with a few less features.


http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDe ... 449&depa=0

and a review of same from some Middle Eastern site ( only review of it I could find ). Price isn't in US dollars as you can see ! :eek $635 !!!!! :laugh

http://www.dit.net/reviews/review.php?i ... uyBvoHDBHX

More like $96 I think in the USA currently.



The Nforce3 150 chipset mobos are not a big hit from what I've read about them, but the Nforce3 250's ( Just starting to trickle out now ) show some real promise with respect to having dual channel DDR, AGP/PCI lock, as well as integrated SATA. Having said that, I think you're going to be looking at more than $80-100 for those.

Here's a review of the MSI Platinum Nforce3 250 offering that should be out anyday now.

http://hardocp.com/article.html?art=NjA3

Sorry for all the MSI related stuff but they seem to be putting out some of the better mobo's for A64's. I'm sure there are some other mfgrs with some quality offerings as well. You'll just have to poke around and see what's what. I like the MSI's for their stability, price/performance ratio, feature sets and well designed, clean layouts.

If you have any specific questions feel free to PM me.

Just my $.02 which is worth about $.01

Forgot about the RAM question you asked......as in how much.

I'm running 2 x 256MB currently and am having no problems whatsoever. I have a 2 x 512MB set out for "repairs" ( reprogramming EEPROM ) but I don't find running "just" 512MB of mem with a setup like this is any kind of drawback. Maybe it takes an extra second for some photo editing software to load files and I'm sure my XP page file is used a bit more but other than that, no biggie.

If it's a budget constraint and you're worried that 512MB wouldn't be enough, that's not the case at all.

I was actually going to be posting about this same sort of stuff anytime soon, since I believe im going to be upgrading and building a new pc. I have been looking at all different kinds of mobo's for A64's. I think I may get the 3400+ but not sure yet. While looking at different mobo's I ran across a review of a Chaintech mobo which sounded outstanding, but im not yet sure.

I was gonna post and ask if anyone here has an A64 setup, and what they use, so why not kill too birds with one stone and fill us in on what YOU think is the best for the money paid.

after talking to the AMD people for a while over the last few days I would say wait for a few of the Real nf3 250's that will be comming out in force soon.

Greg