Gotta keep it under $200 total

Dave

I have an aging Intel 2.4GHz P4 system at the moment that desperately
needs upgrading, however (as usual) funds are limited. I have to keep
things under $200.

After a lot of research, I am looking at the following and was looking
for opinions:

GIGABYTE GA-M78SM-S2H AM2+/AM2 NVIDIA GeForce 8200 HDMI Micro ATX Intel
Motherboard

G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual
Channel Kit

AMD Athlon 64 X2 4800+ Brisbane 2.5GHz Socket AM2 65W Dual-Core
Processor - Retail

Newegg links are:





Total with shipping is $192.56

I'm going with this motherboard because I already have a Gigabyte
motherboard and I've been happy with it. It has dual onboard video to
run both my monitors until I can afford a PCIe graphics card. My
primary HDD is already a SATA drive, so I can keep my two IDE DVD
burners.

Once I get the system up and running, I plan to sell my old parts and
buy a dedicated video card and more memory.

Paul

Dave wrote:
> I have an aging Intel 2.4GHz P4 system at the moment that desperately
> needs upgrading, however (as usual) funds are limited. I have to keep
> things under $200.
>
> After a lot of research, I am looking at the following and was looking
> for opinions:
>
> GIGABYTE GA-M78SM-S2H AM2+/AM2 NVIDIA GeForce 8200 HDMI Micro ATX Intel
> Motherboard
>
> G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual
> Channel Kit
>
> AMD Athlon 64 X2 4800+ Brisbane 2.5GHz Socket AM2 65W Dual-Core
> Processor - Retail
>
> Newegg links are:
>
>
>
>
>
> Total with shipping is $192.56
>
> I'm going with this motherboard because I already have a Gigabyte
> motherboard and I've been happy with it. It has dual onboard video to
> run both my monitors until I can afford a PCIe graphics card. My
> primary HDD is already a SATA drive, so I can keep my two IDE DVD
> burners.
>
> Once I get the system up and running, I plan to sell my old parts and
> buy a dedicated video card and more memory.

My main concern with boards like the GA-M78SM-S2H, is whether they
support two monitors simultaneously or not. For example, there is an
Asus board, where you move some jumpers (DVI or HDMI, but not both
at the same time). And I can find very few reviews for the boards
with 730a/GF8200, so I can't confirm anything. I looked at some
Asus boards using the same chipset, and have the same problem.
Very few customer reviews.

If you're willing to throw in a small amount of cash for a separate
PCI Express video card, you can connect two monitors to one of those.
The cheapest card I can find today is $15.99 after rebate. The only
problem with cards like that, is whether the connectors on the
faceplate, match your two monitors in capability or not. If you're
looking for two DVI-D connectors (for LCDs that only have
DVI connectors on them), then the price will likely be higher.

In terms of your choice of a 4800+ with 65W processor, that is
probably a safe choice. If you were getting a 6400+ or a
high end Phenom, some of those are pretty power hungry, and
the cheapest of motherboards are not up to the task. But the
4800+ will likely run with anything.

So the main potential disappointment I could see, is only
getting to run one monitor with your initial purchase. Time
will tell...

Paul

Man-wai Chang ToDie (33.6k)

> GIGABYTE GA-M78SM-S2H AM2+/AM2 NVIDIA GeForce 8200 HDMI Micro ATX Intel
> Motherboard

I suspect the GA-MA78G-DS3H is a better board...

Are you sure that you only need on-board VGA?


--
@~@ Might, Courage, Vision, SINCERITY.
/ v \ Simplicity is Beauty! May the Force and Farce be with you!
/( _ )\ (Xubuntu 8.04) Linux 2.6.25.7
^ ^ 18:18:01 up 7:15 2 users load average: 1.04 1.13 1.07
? ? (CSSA):

Jan Alter

"Dave" <> wrote in message
news:.cox.net. ..
>I have an aging Intel 2.4GHz P4 system at the moment that desperately
> needs upgrading, however (as usual) funds are limited. I have to keep
> things under $200.
>
> After a lot of research, I am looking at the following and was looking
> for opinions:
>
> GIGABYTE GA-M78SM-S2H AM2+/AM2 NVIDIA GeForce 8200 HDMI Micro ATX Intel
> Motherboard
>
> G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual
> Channel Kit
>
> AMD Athlon 64 X2 4800+ Brisbane 2.5GHz Socket AM2 65W Dual-Core
> Processor - Retail
>
> Newegg links are:
>
>
>
>
>
> Total with shipping is $192.56
>
> I'm going with this motherboard because I already have a Gigabyte
> motherboard and I've been happy with it. It has dual onboard video to
> run both my monitors until I can afford a PCIe graphics card. My
> primary HDD is already a SATA drive, so I can keep my two IDE DVD
> burners.
>
> Once I get the system up and running, I plan to sell my old parts and
> buy a dedicated video card and more memory.


The mb has a 24 pin connector, as you may already know. Some boards will run
fine by plugging in the 20 pin, but it would be plausible that yours is the
20 from your description of your current system. Otherwise the choices
you've made look fine. I built a system with the 4800+ Brisbane for my
father-in-law a few months ago and was ecstatically pleased with its
performance compared to the P4 1.6 ghz he'd been using for the past 4 years.

Jan Alter

Dave

In article <g3fe04$f0i$>, says...
> So the main potential disappointment I could see, is only
> getting to run one monitor with your initial purchase. Time
> will tell...

Several reviews on the NewEgg site specifically say that the board will
work with two monitors.

--Dave

Dave

In article <485b842a@127.0.0.1>, says...
> > GIGABYTE GA-M78SM-S2H AM2+/AM2 NVIDIA GeForce 8200 HDMI Micro ATX Intel
> > Motherboard
>
> I suspect the GA-MA78G-DS3H is a better board...
>
> Are you sure that you only need on-board VGA?

For a few weeks, yeah. Once I get everything up and running, I can sell
my P4 board, CPU and memory and use those funds to get a dedicated video
card and more memory.

--Dave

Dave

In article <eHL6k.83529$MF3.2518@trnddc06>, says...
> The mb has a 24 pin connector, as you may already know. Some boards will run
> fine by plugging in the 20 pin, but it would be plausible that yours is the
> 20 from your description of your current system.

You're talking about Power Supply? My PS is a 20+4 pin type so it
should work. I'll double check. Thanks for reminding me!

--Dave

GTS

"Dave" <> wrote in message
news:.cox.net. ..
>I have an aging Intel 2.4GHz P4 system at the moment that desperately
> needs upgrading, however (as usual) funds are limited. I have to keep
> things under $200.
>
> After a lot of research, I am looking at the following and was looking
> for opinions:
>
> GIGABYTE GA-M78SM-S2H AM2+/AM2 NVIDIA GeForce 8200 HDMI Micro ATX Intel
> Motherboard
>
> G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual
> Channel Kit
>
> AMD Athlon 64 X2 4800+ Brisbane 2.5GHz Socket AM2 65W Dual-Core
> Processor - Retail
SNIP
I think you will be very pleased. I recently replaced an ageing XP2600
system with the GA-M78SM-S2H, 2gb Ram, AMD X2 5600 - so very similar to
your choices. The Gigabyte board has received good reviews - Tom's Hardware
for one. The board lends itself in particular to HTPC use, as low power use,
quiet esp. if using the onboard fan controllers, and the IGP handles HD
video with ease - I get 2% CPU usage playing 720p Matrovska files. The
onboard HD audio is good, too.
However you CANNOT have the DVI & HDMI active at the same time - you can
only have VGA & DVI or VGA and HDMI.
But if you get a descrete ATI card that supports hybrid crossfire - the
HD2000 or HD3000 models - you can have the IGP and descrete card in
crossfire - so you can use upto four monitors. Any other video card not
supporting hybrid crossfire will, of course, shut off the integrated video.

Dave

In article <ZUR6k.35183$8k.32903@newsfe18.ams2>, gts123SPAM-NO!
@ntlworld.com says...
>
> "Dave" <> wrote in message
> news:.cox.net. ..
> >I have an aging Intel 2.4GHz P4 system at the moment that desperately
> > needs upgrading, however (as usual) funds are limited. I have to keep
> > things under $200.
> >
> > After a lot of research, I am looking at the following and was looking
> > for opinions:
> >
> > GIGABYTE GA-M78SM-S2H AM2+/AM2 NVIDIA GeForce 8200 HDMI Micro ATX Intel
> > Motherboard
> >
> > G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual
> > Channel Kit
> >
> > AMD Athlon 64 X2 4800+ Brisbane 2.5GHz Socket AM2 65W Dual-Core
> > Processor - Retail
>
> However you CANNOT have the DVI & HDMI active at the same time - you can
> only have VGA & DVI or VGA and HDMI.

Thanks. For the moment I'm just have two 19-inch LCD monitors with VGA
connectors, so I'll be good. Once I can sell my old P4
chip/motherboard/memory, I'll use the cash to upgrade the RAM and get a
dedicated video card.

Dave

On Thu, 19 Jun 2008 21:51:27 -0500
Dave <> wrote:

> I have an aging Intel 2.4GHz P4 system at the moment that desperately
> needs upgrading, however (as usual) funds are limited. I have to
> keep things under $200.
>
> After a lot of research, I am looking at the following and was
> looking for opinions:
>
> GIGABYTE GA-M78SM-S2H AM2+/AM2 NVIDIA GeForce 8200 HDMI Micro ATX
> Intel Motherboard
>
> G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual
> Channel Kit
>
> AMD Athlon 64 X2 4800+ Brisbane 2.5GHz Socket AM2 65W Dual-Core
> Processor - Retail
>
> Newegg links are:
>
>
>
>
>
> Total with shipping is $192.56
>
> I'm going with this motherboard because I already have a Gigabyte
> motherboard and I've been happy with it. It has dual onboard video
> to run both my monitors until I can afford a PCIe graphics card. My
> primary HDD is already a SATA drive, so I can keep my two IDE DVD
> burners.
>
> Once I get the system up and running, I plan to sell my old parts and
> buy a dedicated video card and more memory.


I can't believe nobody pointed out the obvious yet. This is not an
upgrade! You need to increase clock speed to upgrade. You are moving
from 2.4 to 2.5GHz, and spending $200 to do it. As I think someone
else pointed out, you will also need a new power supply. Minimum $60
for new power supply.

You need to save your money if you want to UPgrade. The system you
propose to build might be a TAD faster, once you've added the dedicated
video card. But if your current system has 1.5GB or more of RAM, you
will not notice a performance increase at all, even AFTER adding the
dedicated video card!

Oh, and with power supply and video card your total will be about $350
or more, just to get you back where you are now. -Dave