first off, i should apologize in advance if i am posting this in the wrong forum. my goal here is not to look for a fix to a technical issue- rather, it is to gain information on my new build. that being said...
i am starting to build a new computer and have decided on most of the components already. the one thing i havent decided on is the motherboard and to some extent the processor. i am building it to do a number of different tasks (the usual school/work research, music downloads) ontop of some gaming (mostly STO, CIV 5, Sim City, and maybe a few other RTS games). given that information, i havent found a motherboard that i feel comfortable with and was looking for some input from people who have built before (ive done it once, but had a friend put it together for me. this time around, i am going to try it by myself with some guidance from some friends)
cpu: amd phenom II x4 955/965 (not sure which yet)
video card: MSI N460GTX CYCLONE GeForce GTX 460
RAM: 2 x 2 GB (4GB) Crucial Ballistix ddr3 (not sure if i need more to run on max settings or not)
since i figure those are the most important parts, if i need to provide any other specs, let me know. as before, im not entirely sure which motherboard to go with, so any input (especially from those of you with the 955/965 cpu) as to what would be a good route to go would be greatly appreciated. thanks in advance.
This should be in this board > PC & Technical Issues
But will try to answer your questions on upcoming build.
I see you are going with a nVidia card and if so will you eventually want to do SLI. If so then there is only 1 motherboard that you should look at. It is the Asus M4N98TD EVO AM3 NVIDIA nForce 980a SLI ATX AMD Motherboard. If you do not plan on going SLI, then any of these boards (Asus, MSI, Gigabyte, Asrock) that has SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 abilities would do fine.
it to do a number of different tasks (the usual school/work research, music downloads) ontop of some gaming (mostly STO, CIV 5, Sim City, and maybe a few other RTS games). given that information
Plus I would increase your ram up to 8gb (2 x 4gb), which will help immensely with the tasks you wish to do with your new computer build.
I used Nvidia cards exclusively for about a decade until they decided not to make sli chipsets for AMD boards after the AMD/ATI merger. I had a choice betwen Intel/SLI with my existing triple GTX470s and AMD/ATI with a single HD6970. I went with the latter and don't think I will be looking back.
Nvidia makes great hardware but they tend to run very hot, great in a northern climate where it can save on heating bills using your triple SLI rig to augment thefurnace but the ATI cards seem to actually run better and they seem to have actually sorted out the driver issues.
The long and short of it is, if you want flexibility, you need to go with an Intel chip, if you want to run AMD, Nvidia isn't supporting them anymore sadly so you might want to look into an ATI video card and a board with an AMD chipset.
ATI cards seem to actually run better and they seem to have actually sorted out the driver issues.
When I built my computer, I put an NVidia card in it simply due to the amount of discussion regarding issues with ATI cards. Hopefully they do have them sorted, but before you invest in a card I'd check the PC & Technical Issues forums to talk to others and make sure everything is working as intended.
The only issue I have with my NVidia card (a 460GTX btw) is I have to have the shadows off. I get some bad stuttering when they are enabled. Everything else I run at max or near max.
Comments
But will try to answer your questions on upcoming build.
I see you are going with a nVidia card and if so will you eventually want to do SLI. If so then there is only 1 motherboard that you should look at. It is the Asus M4N98TD EVO AM3 NVIDIA nForce 980a SLI ATX AMD Motherboard. If you do not plan on going SLI, then any of these boards (Asus, MSI, Gigabyte, Asrock) that has SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 abilities would do fine.
Plus I would increase your ram up to 8gb (2 x 4gb), which will help immensely with the tasks you wish to do with your new computer build.
Hope this helps you out some.
Nvidia makes great hardware but they tend to run very hot, great in a northern climate where it can save on heating bills using your triple SLI rig to augment thefurnace but the ATI cards seem to actually run better and they seem to have actually sorted out the driver issues.
The long and short of it is, if you want flexibility, you need to go with an Intel chip, if you want to run AMD, Nvidia isn't supporting them anymore sadly so you might want to look into an ATI video card and a board with an AMD chipset.
When I built my computer, I put an NVidia card in it simply due to the amount of discussion regarding issues with ATI cards. Hopefully they do have them sorted, but before you invest in a card I'd check the PC & Technical Issues forums to talk to others and make sure everything is working as intended.
The only issue I have with my NVidia card (a 460GTX btw) is I have to have the shadows off. I get some bad stuttering when they are enabled. Everything else I run at max or near max.