Help me chose a CPU+Mobo.

Hi friends,

I dont know whether to go in for amd athlon 64 x2 3800+ or the
pentium d 915

i cant afford a c2d pc so help me with the above question

ill be using this config only for RTS games like rise of nations and rise of legends, i will not play FPS, RPS, racing games as i have a ps2

and can the Asus M2N MX play rise of nations and rise of legends very well?
its has an IGP right? so will i be able to fix a separate graphics card?

so suggest a mobo+cpu only for RTS gaming.

[gxsaurav]

Athlon64 X2 3800+ AM2 with M2N-MX motherboard is all you need.

The onboard graphics can play games but not with much performance. You can later on buy a PCIe graphics card to install in this system

[assasin]

if u need a X2 3800+ & Asus M2N-MX then see my thread in Bazaar section.i'm selling the same bundle u want and its 5 months old.

@gx_saurav
u mentioned the onboard graphics is not very good,
but can it play rise of nations very well?-(important!!!)
will rise of legends be playable?
i know abt the overheating, but why not a PD 915 instead of an athlon x2 3800+?

[assasin]

onboard gfx solutions r never good.they r simiply not meant for playing games.for gaming u sud consider buying a cheap gfx card.

ya i know onboard gfx aint good,
but i already said im not playing fps, rps and racing,
i'll be using this board only for rts like rise of nations,
i just wanna know if rise of nations will play very well on the asus m2n mx or the intel D102 GGC2 (Radeon)

[assasin]

RON sud run without probs on M2N-MX

will this config will be better only for RTS games like rise of nations and rise of legends?

Pentium D 915
Intel D102 GGC2 (Radeon) or Intel 945 Chipset(which one?)
RAM 512MB DDR2 667MHz

Or

AMD Athlon64 X2 3800+
Asus M2N MX
RAM 512MB DDR2 667MHz

Plz choose only from the above 2 configs and dont recomend anything else,
and which one is better for Vista Ultimate?

[abhipal]

Originally Posted by slash_89

will this config will be better only for RTS games like rise of nations and rise of legends?

Pentium D 915
Intel D102 GGC2 (Radeon) or Intel 945 Chipset(which one?)
RAM 512MB DDR2 667MHz

Or

AMD Athlon64 X2 3800+
Asus M2N MX
RAM 512MB DDR2 667MHz

Plz choose only from the above 2 configs and dont recomend anything else,
and which one is better for Vista Ultimate?

Please don't go for Pentium D series

[nishant_nms]

the second one is better but make the RAM 1 GB (2x512)

[assasin]

X2 3800+ by all means

is ddr2 667mhz memmory supported by the amd athlon64 x2 3800+ and the asus m2n mx board?
and which socket type does the above mentioned cpu have (am2 or 939)
which is better?
and does the asus m2n mx support the am2 socket?
finally is this a pretty decent config for video encoding, rts gaming, vista, multitasking?

[assasin]

X2 3800+ -> Socket AM2
Asus M2N-MX -> DDR2 400/533/667/800 Socket AM2
the only diff bet Socket 939 & AM2 is that AM2 supports DDR2 memory type and 939 doesnt.
yeah its a decent config and meets all ur needs.just oc ur proccy a bit and see the inc in performance.
see my rig's config in my sig.i've oced my proccy to 2.6GHz and i've achieved a lot of performance gain.

@assasin
thanks a lot bro, uve really helped me out,
but should i go for the brisbane core or manchester core,
are both socket am2?
__________
and what is the price of the amd athlon64 x2 3800+ am2, asus m2n mx?

[gxsaurav]

You won't notice much difference between cores. Just get the newest core

[samrulez]

Manchester is for s939....I doubt if you'll get a Manchester AM2..
3800+X2 should do 2.4Ghz minimum on stock cooling...with value ram..

For DDR2 memory...look out for "Dynet" 533Mhz modules,they are really cheap...they easily do 800MHz @4-4-4-12... :O

so the amd athlon64 x2 3800+ can be overclocked to around 2.6ghz safely?
and does the asus m2n mx overclock pretty well and with stability?
and the asus m2n mx has an nvidia gf6100 chipset right?
what r the cost of the cpu and mobo ive mentioned?
__________
does the asus m2n-mx have an ide slot(cos i have a ide hdd)
and does it have usb 2.0 ports, firwire, raid?
whats the max expandable memmory?
__________
and can the ram be installed in dual channel mode?
how many mem slots does it have
plz answer all the Qs guys.

[assasin]

u can oc it safely to 2.6GHz provided u hav good overclocking ram and good powerful psu.i've a very bad experience with cheap psu and oc.
the mobo is stable at 2.6GHz,but make sure u hav a airy case so that deres no heat build up inside the case.
M2N-MX supports a max of 2 IDE devices,has 4 usb ports in the back,and has support for 6 more via header on mobo,no firewire,supports RAID 0,1,1+0,JBOD.
dual channel ram config is supported,has 4 dimm slots and max installable mem is 4GB (1GB/dimm).

[keith_j_snyder2]

Buy the 65 Watt X2 3800+,i guess its brisbane.Those are less power hungry & better performers.65 Watt will be mentioned on the packing box of the processor.

final config:- amd athlon64 x2 3800+, asus m2n-mx, 512mb ddr2 667mhz ram

and the asus m2n-mx has nvidia gf 6100 chipset right?
r updated still available for this board and chipset?

good overclocking ram(????)
will 512mb ddr2 667mhz ram be good for oc?
and can i install only one 512mb ddr2 667mhz ram to any of the four sdimm slots?

and plz tell me the prices of the cpu and mobo?
and again will this final config run rise of nations flawlessly and very well?
can it also handle vista very well?
sorry abt askin the same Qs but this is final.
__________
the amd cpu assasin has is a manchester core right?
is it at par with the brisbane core?
and the amd cpu ive mentioned in my config can be oc to abt 2.4 - 2.5 ghz right?
and does this amd cpu have any heating issues?

[saikibryan]

sorry to interrupt, r ya ppl sure RON will run on onboard graphics? i played it only after i installed a graphics card, before that i couldn't...

wth??????
final config:-
amd athlon64 x2 3800+
asus m2n-mx(onboard nvidia geforce 6100 chipset)
512mb ddr2 667mhz ram

will rise of nations run flawlessly and very well on this config?
and will vista ultimate run pretty smoothly?

budget is very limited so cant add a gpu.

whats the difference b\w manchester core and brisbane core?
which is better?

[keith_j_snyder2]

Originally Posted by slash_89

wth??????
final config:-
amd athlon64 x2 3800+
asus m2n-mx(onboard nvidia geforce 6100 chipset)
512mb ddr2 667mhz ram

will rise of nations run flawlessly and very well on this config?
and will vista ultimate run pretty smoothly?

budget is very limited so cant add a gpu.

whats the difference b\w manchester core and brisbane core?
which is better?

http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets...spx?i=2484&p=2
http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets...oc.aspx?i=2889

BIRSBANE CORE IS LATEST SO IT SHOULD BE BETTER.

plz check this link and tell me which chipset the asus m2n-mx bainboard has:-

http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=2539&p=1

and will rise of nations run very well and flawlessly on this mainboard and config?

and is this mainboard capable of handling vista very well?

[keith_j_snyder2]

Brisbane core is 90nm so it generates lesser heat & better to overclock.Few of the cores are 65nm now days but those are with the higher end processors so the less of those numbers are better performance & lesser heat.Also keep in mind u buy the 65 watt version,Less power consuming.
__________
Well u can have a look at the whole specification of the motherboard here:
http://www.asus.com/products4.aspx?m...&l2=101&l3=343

[darklord]

Originally Posted by keith_j_snyder2

Brisbane core is 90nm so it generates lesser heat & better to overclock.Few of the cores are 65nm now days but those are with the higher end processors so the less of those numbers are better performance & lesser heat.Also keep in mind u buy the 65 watt version,Less power consuming.
__________
Well u can have a look at the whole specification of the motherboard here:
http://www.asus.com/products4.aspx?m...&l2=101&l3=343

Brisbane - 65nm Dual Core
Windsor - 90nm Dual Core
Orleans - 90nm Single Core

Hope that helps

[keith_j_snyder2]

Originally Posted by darklord

Brisbane - 65nm Dual Core
Windsor - 90nm Dual Core
Orleans - 90nm Single Core

Hope that helps

3800+ is 90nm

4000+, 4400+, 4800+, 5000+ are 65nm

rest of all are 90nm in BRISBANE CORE

[darklord]

Originally Posted by keith_j_snyder2

3800+ is 90nm

4000+, 4400+, 4800+, 5000+ are 65nm

rest of all are 90nm in BRISBANE CORE

3800+ is 90nm ---> Yep and hence its Windsor core

rest of all are 90nm in BRISBANE CORE---> 65nm core for dual core CPUs is codenamed 'Brisbane'

90nm core for Dual Core CPU is codenamed 'Windsor'

Thats what i am trying to say