buying motherboard for gaming pc

[rhiggi3]

i am building my own gaming pc and i was wondering if the following motherboard was a good one. also, i was told to get a kt333 w/o jumpers, is this a good one.

M7VIP KT333 chipset 333FSB PC2700 for AMD XP & Athlon, Duron, 1AGP, 5PCI, 1CNR -

[saphalline]

Welcome to the PC Guide forums!

Um, yes, I suppose that's a good mobo. It's a Biostar one. It would help tremendously, tho, if we also knew your budget and what else you were planning on putting into this "gaming PC". That means different things to different people.

To myself, that means anything that can play DX8 games at 60+ fps. To one of my friends, that means any notebook that will play Everquest at night and let him take notes at class in the morning. To others, it might simply mean a PC that can play The Sims while downloading more MP3's.

I can see you're planning on getting an AthlonXP system - or are you also open to P4 configs? Do you need a larger hard drive or a more powerful video card? What OS are you planning to run on this system? What type of RAM? If AMD, do you need to be able to move up to the AthlonXP 2800+? If so, you'll need a KT400 mobo instead.

My toss-in recommendation for now: MSI's KT4VL, PC2700/3200, 8x AGP, 6 PCI. The one you listed doesn't support a 333MHz fsb, don't know who told you it did, but only the KT400 chipset supports that.

[rhiggi3]

i know a little about computers, not enough to know what DX8 games at 60+ fps means or 333MHz fsb means, but i know the basics. i trying to put together a gaming pc, i'm on a tight budget but i'm buying piece by piece. i'm using a hardware guide from gamespot.com .

i'm getting an amd for the price, but if i could get a fairly good deal on a p4 i would rather that. i'm shooting for a pc that can handle any game out there now and can run numerous programs w/out the choppiness. also, i want one thats fully upgradeable. i already have a cd-rom drive(52-x), floppy drive, burner, modem(Want to upgrade but later), ethernet card(also want to upgrade but later), and a voodoo 3 graphics card(shooting for a good nVidia) i'm just trying to get the basic parts i need(motherboard, processor, sound card, HD, ram, Windows xp home)

when i run games like delta force or simcity 3000, its choppy. i can't run games like morrowind and unreal. i want a pc that can do that for me. i just want to know what the best hardware to get for my needs would be. the below list was at gamespot, it was the only one i could find. is this list good for my needs? also, my current pc has a lot of onboard stuff, i.e. graphics and sound. i would like to know how to tell if a motherboard has this or not and is onboard good or not.


current pc:

550mz amd
96 mb ram
4g HD
voodoo 3




gamespot.com list:


CPU Athlon 2200+ (1.8GHz)
Motherboard MS KT3 ULTRA-ARU (KT333)
Memory 512MB PC2100 DDR
Graphics Card GeForce4 Ti 4200 128MB
Hard Drive Maxtor 80GB ATA133
DVD-ROM/CD-R Toshiba Combo DVD/CD-RW
Sound Card Creative Audigy Gamer
Speakers Logitech Z-560
Monitor Samsung SyncMaster 955DF
Network Netgear FA311 TX 10/100 NIC
Mouse Intellimouse Optical 1.1 Check
Keyboard MS Internet Keyboard
Floppy 1.44MB 3.5 inch
OS Windows XP Home OEM
Case Antec SX-635 mid-tower case 350W Street
Cooler CoolerMaster DP5-6I31 Socket-A cooler

also said jumperless was good. what is that?

[saphalline]

Ah yes, Intel vs AMD, the eternal battle! :p So you want a P4 but can't quite afford it? A P4 system is indeed more expensive, maybe $150-200 more considering what you want. It's the RDRAM mostly (instead of DDR RAM for an AthlonXP system), and RDRAM is essential for high-speed P4 gaming.

Since you used the words "tight budget", it's pretty safe to say that you'll be getting an AthlonXP system. What is your current system? Was it bought, like a Compaq or a Dell or something?

Ok, on to the more important matters. That list from Gamespot is a good one, but is also a couple months old. First off, good mobo from MSI, but you'll be wanting a KT400 mobo these days because of their support for the fastest AthlonXP's right now - the 2600+ & 2800+. They both run on the new 333MHz fsb instead of the old 266MHz fsb. Faster is better! :D MSI's latest boards include the one I mentioned before, and the KT4 Ultra series. I like MSI's boards a lot, they provide high performance feature-rich mobo's for a budget cost. The KT400-based boards are still floating around the $110 mark, but that's cheaper than what they were just a month ago if that tells you anything.

Also, PC2100 DDR RAM is so 6 months ago! PC2700 & PC3200 is where it's at now! PC2700 runs at 333MHz also, which is a perfect match for the latest AthlonXP's! *gasp* For now, just get a lower speed XP like a 2000+ or so. It'll save a bit o' cash right now and is more than powerful enough for the latest games.

No Maxtor HD! Rumor has it that Maxtor HD's lately have been... less than reliable. Western Digital makes good ones, tho, and their "JB" series (aka "special edition") with 8MB cache is simply to die for! You can get the 80GB version for around $110 these days. Sound Blaster Audigy series cards, yes they're the best for gaming. Well actually, the Audigy2 cards are out, but that just means the first Audigy cards are cheaper now! :D Standard Audigy or Audigy Gamer will do nicely.

I won't even touch your choice of Windows XP Home, for fear of starting up an OS war in this thread. :eek: Moving on...

Ok, you want a good NVidia video card, huh? Uh, ok, sounds good. How much you willing to spend? $100? $200? $400? For now, sneak a peek at the GeForce4 Ti 4200 cards, the ones with 64MB of video RAM (about $140). Good performers, good price, nothing major to write home about save for the fact that they can play the latest games fairly well. Most importantly is probably that it will fit your budget pretty well. If you're thinking of going for a lower card, forget it, just wait and save up the money if you're hurting that much.

Where you gonna get all this hardware? I use two places - Newegg (www.newegg.com/app/catalog.asp) and Googlegear (www.googlegear.com/). You can search for yourself on Pricewatch (www.pricewatch.com/) and use Resellerratings (www.resellerratings.com/) to check up on vendors, if you're so inclined. A lot of us on the forums swear by Newegg and Googlegear, tho.

[rhiggi3]

to answer your question, it's custom. also, thanks for your help.
oh, and do you know what jumpers are and is onboard good.

[saphalline]

Oh yeah, the jumper thing. Jumpers are a set of 3 pins usually on the mobo that represent an electrical choice. You make that choice by completing the circuit using a plastic cap with metal inside. Jumpers are small, less than half a centimeter I should think, and are found on the backs of CD-type drives and hard drives, also. You know the master/slave thing on hard drives? That's a jumper... except they're only 3 pins on a mobo.

Shouldn't have to worry too much, tho, 'cause I think just about every modern mobo is either true jumperless or allows it to be configured as jumperless. The only jumper you're ever likely to use is the CMOS reset one. Nowadays, all options are made in the BIOS, and things like fsb and CPU speed are done automatically (unless you want to overclock).

As for onboard, well, onboard modems are ok, onboard 10/100 ethernet & LAN are preferred, onboard RAID is nifty to have, onboard sound is ok (and will hold you off an Audigy until you can afford it), but the big no-no for a gaming PC is onboard video. Typically, onboard video is waaay below gaming standards, and sometimes means a mobo won't even have an AGP slot! :eek: AGP slots are necessary! The other onboard stuff is ok, tho, and will often save you the trouble of installing another PCI expansion card. I mean, if your mobo has USB 2.0, ethernet/LAN, IDE RAID, and firewire built-in, what else do you need?

[rhiggi3]

MSI Motherboard (AMD processors) Model# KT4 Ultra (6590-010) RETAIL
Specifications:
Supported CPU: Socket A(Socket 462) for AMD Athlon XP/ Athlon/Duron processors, from 800MHz up to Athlon™ XP 2700+ processor
Chipset: VIA KT400/VIA VT8235
FSB: 200/266/333MHz
RAM:3xDDR SDRAM 184-pin, 3GB Max
IDE: IDE controller provides IDE HDD/CD-ROM with PIO, Bus Master and Ultra DMA133/100/66.
Slots: 6xPCI, 1AGP(8x/4x)
Ports:1xFDD,2xCOM,6xUSB 2.0
Audio:C-Media 8738MX 6-channel audio + SPDIF out

is this the motherboard u were talking about?

[saphalline]

Yep, that's the one! Nothing fancy like onboard ethernet/LAN, but still a solid board. Apparently, it's also on AMD's list of recommended mobo's. I didn't know that. Only $105 on Newegg, with free shipping, too! Like I said, these KT400 boards were going for about $150-160 just 6 weeks ago, so this is really cheap.

The main thing you gain with this board is the 333MHz fsb. That's something that the KT333 chipset can't do, which means it could only go up to the AthlonXP 2600+ (that's the max but they can't all go that high!). The KT400 goes up to the AthlonXP 2800+, and probably beyond as I can't imagine that's the last AthlonXP before the "Barton" core debuts.

You can go ahead and get a lower speed AthlonXP now, along with DDR333/PC2700 RAM, and then you'll really be smokin' when you upgrade to a fast 333 fsb AthlonXP! That's what you wanted, right? Upgradability?

[rhiggi3]

does it matter if the case is a server case?the one i am looking to get is a cheiftec server chasis(aluminum workstation tower) w/ 2 front usb 2.0 and 1 front firewire IEEE1394 port, 450w amd power supply, 4 x 5.25, 2 x ext. 3.5, 4 x int. 3.5, for $110 at newegg.com. is this a good gaming case? (SORRY FOR MY LACK OF KNOWLEDGE!!!)just making sure i spend my $ wisely!!!

[BigBlue66]

Yes, that case is an excellent choice for a gamer PC. Gaming builds up heat and that case has ample cooling abilities.

[Whyzman]

Hey Saph,

Thanks for the clear and informative information! I'm a visual kinda dude and it sure would be nice to have a graphic display of the bottle necks created with say a subpar processor on a board with a faster FSB.

Or, the opposite, a screaming processor on a board with a slower FSB.

Then, plug in the slower and faster RAM and....

You get the idea.....It would certainly assist when getting ready to purchase.

Again, nicely sculpted piece! ;)

[DwnMp3]

I never read what everyone else posted but i got an answer maybe some one allready poped it out but if you want a supreme mother board this is what i would get get a pc that has AGP, for video , PCI for sound get one with a SRAM its expensive though and get it with a cache ram and try to see if the north bridge is how fast it allows data transfer cause the fast it goes that is the speed ur pc is the prosscer is important but if the north brifge is only 200 merghtz then ur pc is 200 merghtz. Thats the basics then try to get like a Geforce 4 form Nivida 256 megbytes of RAM get it AGP and i am not sure on a good sound card