I am looking into building a gaming machine with a budget of $700. I have decided to go with a socket am2+ motherboard, so that i can upgrade to a phenom processor in the future. I will start out with an athlon 64 x2 between 5000 and 6000, depending on how much i have left after the graphics card and the motherboard, about a gig of memory and all. My question is what is the best type of motherboard to go for that fits these specs? I am leaning towards a radeon hd 3870 graphics card. Because of this, it is necessary that the motherboard has crossfire support. So all in all, I am trying to find a quality socket am2+ motherboard with crossfire support under around $200. I have looked around and it seems that the possibilities are endless. any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Building a budget machine
- Thread starter librium
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link590o
i'm not sure what you mean by endless possibilities. i did several searches through newegg.com and i can't find more than 1 motherboard that supports a phenom processor and an X2. i've got only one. and i'm not even sure if it has crossfire support because it doesn't specify. i would imagine it does support it because it has 3 pci-e 16x slots. to me that says you could even have a three way graphics card setup going.
the unfortunate thing here is, like i said, i can't find any more than 1 that supports your specifications. and it's 260 dollars.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813136041
maybe if you listed all the other exact parts you were looking at, i could help you tweak it and force the price to go to about 700 and still get you the stuff you want.....unless of course, you're not sure what you want yet. in which case, i'll try and do a build using that motherboard, an X2, and the 3870 and keep it under 700.
the unfortunate thing here is, like i said, i can't find any more than 1 that supports your specifications. and it's 260 dollars.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813136041
maybe if you listed all the other exact parts you were looking at, i could help you tweak it and force the price to go to about 700 and still get you the stuff you want.....unless of course, you're not sure what you want yet. in which case, i'll try and do a build using that motherboard, an X2, and the 3870 and keep it under 700.
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link590o
it's very difficult to build a computer with that motherboard for under 700...
i had to cut out the case, the hard drive, and i lowered to a 3850, and it just barely stayed to the 700 dollar mark. it went to 702. not including shipping. if i were shipping it to myself, then it'd be another 8 dollar shipping which isn't terrible.
but seriously. i'm finding it very difficult to find a motherboard with those specs other than the DFI i found you.
if you found other boards, show them to me. maybe i could work with those instead and try to find a way to lower the price enough to include a hard drive, case, and a full 3870.
but if it doesn't matter to you, here are the specs i came up with.
dfi mobo $260
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813136041
antec earthwatts 500watt $90
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371007
G.Skill memory ddr2 800mhz $47
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231098
sapphire ATI radeon 3850 $170
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102714
amd athlon 64 x2 5000+ Brisbane $130
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103194&Tpk=athlon+64+x2+5000
arctic silver 5 thermal compound $6
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835100007
total: 702.94
i had to cut out the case, the hard drive, and i lowered to a 3850, and it just barely stayed to the 700 dollar mark. it went to 702. not including shipping. if i were shipping it to myself, then it'd be another 8 dollar shipping which isn't terrible.
but seriously. i'm finding it very difficult to find a motherboard with those specs other than the DFI i found you.
if you found other boards, show them to me. maybe i could work with those instead and try to find a way to lower the price enough to include a hard drive, case, and a full 3870.
but if it doesn't matter to you, here are the specs i came up with.
dfi mobo $260
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813136041
antec earthwatts 500watt $90
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371007
G.Skill memory ddr2 800mhz $47
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231098
sapphire ATI radeon 3850 $170
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102714
amd athlon 64 x2 5000+ Brisbane $130
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103194&Tpk=athlon+64+x2+5000
arctic silver 5 thermal compound $6
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835100007
total: 702.94
Rage_3K_Moiz
Posts: 5,403 +43
L
link590o
but that motherboard won't support a phenom. he wants to upgrade to one later.
Rage_3K_Moiz
Posts: 5,403 +43
That motherboard does support Phenom if you upgrade the BIOS to the latest version i.e. BIOS 1009. 
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link590o
oh....well if that be the case, then he could probably buy every part he wants except the case.
radeon 3870 $250
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102713
western digital 160gig hard drive 7200rpm $50
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136075
gskill memory 2x 1 gig sticks $47
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231098
amd athlon 64 x2 5000+ Brisbane $130
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103194&Tpk=athlon+64+x2+5000
arctic silver 5 thermal compound $6
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835100007
corsair 450watt psu $80
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139003
ASUS M2R32-MVP AM2 AMD 580X CrossFire ATX AMD Motherboard $120
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131095
total: $682.93
radeon 3870 $250
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102713
western digital 160gig hard drive 7200rpm $50
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136075
gskill memory 2x 1 gig sticks $47
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231098
amd athlon 64 x2 5000+ Brisbane $130
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103194&Tpk=athlon+64+x2+5000
arctic silver 5 thermal compound $6
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835100007
corsair 450watt psu $80
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139003
ASUS M2R32-MVP AM2 AMD 580X CrossFire ATX AMD Motherboard $120
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131095
total: $682.93
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