Recommendation Needed on Mobo and CPU Combo

[burnselk]

Would this be a decent mobo and cpu for a first time builder?

I plan to use this computer in conjunction with the ADS Tech Pyro A/V hardware and Adobe Premiere Elements 2.0 software to download and burns disks of family movies from VHS and 8mm tapes.

"Asus A8V Via Socket 939 ATX Motherboard and an AMD Athlon 64 3500+ 2.20GHz OEM Processor"

Appreciate your input.

[Sirber]

Wouldn't asrock mobo be cheaper?

[Gerard V]

I did a bit of research recently and settled on the MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum board - seemed to be popular with video editing folk. I have had a bad run with Gigabyte boards of late.

[HardwareGeek]

Would this be a decent mobo and cpu for a first time builder? ... Asus A8V Via Socket 939 ATX Motherboard and an AMD Athlon 64 3500+ 2.20GHz OEM ProcessorI would at least get a dual-core, rather than a single-core, CPU, maybe an A64 X2. Dual-core CPUs have a snappier feel when using the OS, thanks to the fact that an OS is constantly doing multiple things in the background. Multithreaded applications will show improvement as well, and will become even more and more common.

If you can wait until July 23, you should be able to get a better deal on current CPUs, or pay a little more for a better CPU. It's up to you.

[Awatef]

...that if he is ready to pay the double price.
Dual core CPUs are indeed still a bit expensive.

A 3500+ is fast enough already.

[HardwareGeek]

...that if he is ready to pay the double price.
Dual core CPUs are indeed still a bit expensive
You can get dual-core for as cheap as singlecore these days. And the OS will automatically take good advantage of it.

See http://www.pricegrabber.com/search_attrib.php/page_id=42: Pentium D 805 for about $100 (USD), P D 930 for less then $200, & A64 X2 for less than $300.

Prices will drop more after July 23.

[Awatef]

Yeah, but cheaper dual cores are slower than stronger single cores like the 3500+ for non-optimized applications and even in some optimized applications.
And optimizations never result in a 100% speed boost so...

[HardwareGeek]

cheaper dual cores are slower than stronger single cores like the 3500+
Disagree. This interactive CPU chart (http://www23.tomshardware.com/cpu.html)shows the Athlon 3500+ winning 14 benchmark tests, and a Pentium D 820 winning the other 14.

cheaper dual cores are slower than stronger single cores ... for non-optimized applications and even in some optimized applicationsWhat in the world are talking about by optimized applications? Any multi-threaded application will make good use of dual-core. Even more applications will be multi-threaded in the future. Multi-core and multi-threads are the future.

The benchmarks alluded to above do NOT show that the two CPUs perform about the same. What the benchmarks show is that it all depends on the application. The 3500+ will have a strong advantage on single-threaded applications, like most current games. The cheap dual-core has an advantage with multi-threaded applications, like most encoding programs.

[Awatef]

If he's solely looking for video encoding (no games), even a D805 would make sense (about the same price as the 3500+).

I was talking more generally.

[CWR03]

Gerard V, just curious, what sort of problems have you had with Gigabyte, and with which model board(s)? I have been using and recommending them for years, as I feel they are more reliable and better priced than some others, and the only one time I've had a problem board it was purchased used from eBay.

[Gerard V]

Gerard V, just curious, what sort of problems have you had with Gigabyte, and with which model board(s)? I have been using and recommending them for years, as I feel they are more reliable and better priced than some others, and the only one time I've had a problem board it was purchased used from eBay.

I have sent 3 back under warranty in 2 years. Currently my GA-8IPE775-G has died after 8 months from new and I am seeking a replacement. Prior to that I bought a GA-K8NS and that went back twice, and it still is not 100%.

I have also sent back a Gigabyte N-Vidia 6800 video card in the last 12 months. So I am well put off the Gigabyte products. By comparison my current MSI K8N Neo2 and prior Soltek and MSI boards have been rock solid. :cool: