Is this a good mobo/cpu combo?

[citrus pastels]

Is this a good combo?



GIGABYTE GA-K8NSC-939 Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce3 250Gb ATX AMD

AMD Athlon 64 3200+ Venice 1GHz FSB 512KB L2 Cache Socket 939

With this power supply-

SPARKLE FSP530-60GNA ATX12V 530W Power Supply 95~132/ 190~264V AC, Manual-select UL 1950, CSA C22.2 Level3, IEC 950, TUV 60950

And this ram-

CORSAIR ValueSelect 1GB (2 x 512MB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM Dual Channel Kit

Doing some upgrading from a P4 1.8 with RDRAM :haha:. The memory is going bad and buying more RDRAM isn't all that less expensive than buying all this stuff. Actually more expensive to buy the ram if you're going through Dell!

This is the cheaper mobo solution-
RREFURBISHED: MSI K8N NEO2 PLATINUM ATX AMD Motherboard

But it is refurbished and I don't know if that is a good idea or not when it comes to important parts like the mobo. It just ships "barebones" whatever that means.

Thanks for your help, this is the best site on earth! I read it all the time.

 

[citrus pastels]

man. no love. shafted. i had to bump my own thread

 

[C_Conqueror]

I think that you have a pretty good combination there, with gigabyte one but you might just want to try this motherboard for a little more http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813128263. Unless you really know what you are doing and have a few extra cables don't get the refurb it only comes with the motherboard itself and has no accessories. (when I click on your link it comes up with the retail MSI motherboard, thought I would let you know.)

 

[citrus pastels]

Is the only difference that it's better for o'cing?

also, if I get this groovy case-

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811162002
(with a 450 w psu)

will that be sufficient power? the online psu calculators say so, but I trust humans more.

 

[vnf4ultra]

Usually the power supplies that come with cases(with the exception of antec, and a few others), are complete junk, and might as well be thrown away. Some claim high wattage like "500w" but you figure out the wattage from it's own sticker and you find maximum wattage to be about 350w or so. They tend to "exaggerate" their ratings, and some even test their units in very cold environments to get a higher wattage rating than it would at room temp.

I think sparkle/fortron are usually ok(on the >$30-35 side, the cheap ones are, well, cheap.)

Also, antec, enermax, ocz, seasonic, are all decent if you get the right wattage.

 

[citrus pastels]

Would this Aspire for $55 be good?
http://www.newegg.com/OldVersion/app/viewproductdesc.asp?description=17-148-009&DEPA=0

or this one by Antec?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817103924

 

[C_Conqueror]

The Antec is obviously better and has a better deal but I think the Aspire would still work just fine.

I would would get the Aspire.

 

[vnf4ultra]

I'd get the antec if you can afford it (of the two listed). I'm not sure about aspire, maybe good, maybe bad.
Here's a link.
http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=792566
Look at the "unscrupulous" ones, they're not usually any good.

 

[citrus pastels]

thanks alot for your help! im going with the aspire and the cheaper motherboard though. i read on that forum that the aspire psus that come with the cases are bad, but not necessarily the others. i googled a seach for a review of this particular one, and they all turned out good.

as for the mobo, ive actually heard more negative things about the GA-K8NS
than the GA-K8NSC

thnaks for your input!

 

[Secondgunman]

Gunman sights Motherboard...

As I have had alot of... and I mean massive problems with the Gigabyte mobos I would have to say... Gunman sights motherboard, zooms in, loads and 32 cal. round and squeezes the trigger... BLAM!!! Go with Asus for reliablitiy, go MSI or BFG even ... NO! don't go BFG they burn up to, go Asus or MSI.

Asus A8N-SLI Deluxe or the MSI K8N-something-or-another would be your best bet.

As far as PSU goes get Antec or any major brand add 25% -35% more power then your system needs, most people will say that is/would be more then you need and tell you 15%- 20% trust me go 25-35 this will give you upgrade space and the power overhead you will want, I like the Antec 480 Watt good price good power for most PC towers built with todays boards.

RAM: OCZ makes some good PSUs but their RAM needs work I normaly build with Crosshair or Kingston as Crosshair is about the best that you can get and aslone as you don't o/c your RAM Kingston's name is the warrentee.