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  • Need advice for an upgrade

    I currently have Sempron64 2800+(1.6G) that is overclocked to 2.4G on an Asus K8N motherboard.

    I'm looking to upgrade to dual core on a budget. I would like to stay with AGP if possible since I have a BFG 7600GS OC 512MB video card and it suits me fine.

    I'm not really doing any gaming these days so I don't have to stay with AGP but would like to if possible.

    I've been thinking about going Core 2 Duo - either E4300 or E6300 on an Asus P5PE-VM motherboard which uses DDR400 and AGP.
    Does anyone have any feedback for the P5PE-VM?

    I've been using mainly AMD to this point but have been seriously thinking of going Intel CPU on intel chipset since they seem to be becoming very Open Source friendly. That and the fact that the Core 2 Duo's are low power and fantastic speed like the AMD's are.

    I got rid of my P4 524 3.06G since it couldn't even come close to the Sempron in any benchmarks I ran on either Windows or Linux.

    Any other CPU/motherboard recommendations are welcome but I don't really want to spend more than $250CDN on a CPU or about $100CDN on a motherboard. I want to spend less than $500 for the entire system so If I need 1G of ddr2, that has to factor in there as well as a video card.
    Last edited by Fragadelic; 10 February 2007, 10:29 PM. Reason: Update title since I purchased the hardware

  • #2
    The Core 2 Duo's are beautiful. No experience with the P5PE-VM, but other similar ASUS motherboards have worked great.

    A Core 2 Duo with a budget motherboard should work well. If you can afford it, go for PCI Express.
    Michael Larabel
    https://www.michaellarabel.com/

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    • #3
      Thanks for your reply.

      Any recommendations for a budget motherboard that works well with Linux?

      I think I might bite the bullet and upgrade everything, including ram and video card but it would be so nice to be able to make due with the video card and ram for at least another year or so.

      The P5PE-VM is 865 chipset so I could have used my DDR400 and my AGP video card.

      Have you tried that 775 board from Asrock, the DUAL VSTA or whatever it is called, with Ubuntu Edgy? I can get that one for the time being. I know you reported it didn't work well with FC but seems folks that are running Ubuntu Edgy have it running fine. I am somewhat limited in my choices as I don't want to buy online and have to either get my stuff from Tiger Direct or a place called Canada Computers, both of which are close to me.

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      • #4
        I think I had tried Eft with the Dual-VSTA but I don't recall how it worked off hand. Though you could use a Feisty Herd always.

        Abit and ASUS have some nice cheaper ones.

        Avoid PC Partner and Foxconn. ECS can be iffy.
        Michael Larabel
        https://www.michaellarabel.com/

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        • #5
          If I went PCIe and ddr2, I'd have to leave out the video card for now. Whats the best onboard video? The only game I really play is Enemy Territory. I won't be getting Quake Wars since it might be more expensive then the original game cost due to my wife divorcing me - lol.

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          • #6
            The Intel GMA950 / X3000 are good as well as the GeForce 6150 for Enemy Territory.
            Michael Larabel
            https://www.michaellarabel.com/

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            • #7
              The Asus P5L-MX is 945G based with the GMA950 and its under $100CDN.

              The only bad thing I've been hearing about Asus lately are dead ethernet nics on the Intel Chipset.

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              • #8
                If the NIC is dead, couldn't you just RMA it? Or you could always just buy a PCI-based NIC very cheap (or at least here in the US).
                Michael Larabel
                https://www.michaellarabel.com/

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                • #9
                  I have pci nics anyway but the biggest problem with these budget boards is the lacks of slots. I like my SBLive Value and I have a Hauppage PVR150 that I use to do analog to digital video transfers with.

                  The P5L-MX only has 2 PCI slots. RMA'ing is fine but then I have no PC until that gets resolved.

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                  • #10
                    The Asus nic woes seem to revolve around the gigabit capable nics.

                    Wish I had an unlimited budget - lol.

                    Having a dual core would allow me to use the pc while I encode video without affecting either.

                    The E4300 and E6300 are $218 and $230 CDN right now up here so thats the biggest chunk of money and 1 G of DDR2 is about $130. The Pentium D 925 is $158CDN. An X2 3800+ is $170CDN. I probably won't be overclocking since most of the budget boards are very limited in overclocking anyway so any overclocking benefits of the CPU are null and void for now.

                    Since I'm getting DDR2 anyway, AMD AM2 platform is back on the table as well but onboard video is a must for now.

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