My mobo died can someone recommend a new one

[SithMaster]

Heres my specs link

i added a 512mb ram, a 160gb hd, and a geforce fx 5500 oc pci card.
also a new psu 400w ultra from fry's.

im looking for something below 200 USD and above 2.7ghz. my old one didnt have agp or pcie so that would be a plus and it has to be able to use ddr ram. i know the newer ones dont use ddr but ddr2 or 4 so if need be i could get them but id rather not.

any help is appreciated. and im only able to access the site from my school so keep in mind i wont be able to check on weekends except saturday i can try and use a friends pc.

[allen5924]

ok this is the mobo im using... and i think its a really good mobo.. but not really wat ur looking 4..

the GIGABYTE GA-M51GM-S2G

it supports up 2 DDRII 800MHz RAM!!!!
and its the new AM2 socket (AMD)...

u may wanna think bout this board... its very good 4 its price...

anyways.. out..

[SithMaster]

i found the board for 80ish which is good but then i need new ram. i have never owned a amd cpu so can someone explain the speed/performance differences. i read, maybe here, that a amd clocked at 2.0ghz is equivalant to a pent 4 3.0ghz. is that right and dont amds run cooler.

i should mention i want a gaming board. mostly for quake 4 and call of duty 2 but something that can run the newer stuff is good.

[psYco]

@ allen: you got AMD!!! since when!!! what happend to Pentium All the Way??? LOL!

@ SithMaster: Yeah AMD is WAY better for gaming and allens PC can run ANY new games (obliviously not the coming wave of next gen games they all need DX10 [the new Direct X is not currently supported on ANY GFX cards out at the time of writing]) And the AMD is generally cooler than Pentium yes but not by much and will still need about the same fans to run in comfort. Im not sure exactally what the GH/z is {allen'll know} but its a good board and has support for the latest tech and is a good price AND is AMD witch is by far the choice of gammers!

[AndyCR]

Yes, that's true, AMD processors are generally faster than their higher clocked Intel equivalents. For instance, my 1.8GHZ Athlon XP outperforms a 2.5GHZ P4 by a great deal (an even greater deal since it's overclocked very high, with 100% stability - AMD processors generally overclock very well too, especially the XP line). There was a technical explanation somewhere why this was.

Sorry for replying when I cannot reccomend a motherboard.

As for which is better for gaming, I'll stay out of that snake pit, thank you.

[SithMaster]

psYcho-i have never owned an amd so i will have to find out the exact details but its good to know they are good. i was going to go pent 4 or another celeron but if amds are as good as they sound then ill be willing to learn the performance speeds.

AndyCR-so if i bought an amd that runs at 2.4 it really runs like a 3.2? i dont plan on oc-ing and if i bought the board mentioned above id need new ram which isnt a problem just an added expense. i think the explanation was they have better performance so they run as well as their faster counterparts.

"Sorry for replying when I cannot reccomend a motherboard."
Its alright. Can you recommned whether i should get 1gb (2x 512mb), 1gb (1gb), or 2gb (2x 1gb)? ive been using a 256 and a 512 so everything i play now runs fine but in case a game comes around that is capable of running on my pc then maybe the 1gb. actually if i get the 1gb single stick then i can always add another if i need to.

7.25"W x 14.125"H x 16"D is a medium tower right? so would i be able to use the micro board?

anything else i need to factor in? i havent been checking the rf2 info so im not sure on what it will need to run. given my current situation can someone let me know ir if possible give an educated guess. i figure my graphics card can handle it.

so if anyone comes across a good deal for a board with:
3x pci
agp8x and/or pcie 16x

then that would be appreciated. the hunt continues.

edit-
allen-whered you get your mobo? and does the mic work fine on yours?

[allen5924]

AMD 2.4Ghz is equivalent to the pentium 4 3.0-3.2 coz of the technology used in the cpu.. like hypertransport etc etc..and yes it runs cooler so it wont melt hahaha.. and another very good thing is the price!! price on AMDs are way cheaper if u take two of the same (performance wize)...

and ok.. the ram issue.. 2x1gig ram will be the best but make sure u buy DDRII 800!! if u choose my board (the one i recommended) and two identical modules i.e. the same brand and model..... buying two and running them in dual channel mode is way better (performance wise) and slightly faster...

oh and NEVER buy CELERON if u can afford pentium because CELERONS are a scaled down version on previous pentiums and only have 256kb of L2 cache...!!! also dont buy the AMD XP versions as they are like CELERONS, even if they OC well... they dont perform as good as the 64 versions..

and no u wont need to worry bout the speed... and no need to OC!!
if u choose my option.. get urself an AMD 64 3800+ or higher (if u can afford) make sure the socket type is AM2!!

anyway.. yeah my option will be the best (cost and performance wise)...
so if u want anymore info.. u can msg me or just post a reply..

out!

[allen5924]

oh and @jason (psYco):
yes yes!! i was gonna go 4 the Intel Pentuim D (dual core) which woodve been quite good but i went with the AMD 64 AM2 3500+ coz it was cheaper and supported ram up to 800mhz... whereas the intel boards only supported 667mhz...


and the intel CPU was much more expensive than My current AMD 1.. (since my amd is not dual core..) i shouldve went 4 the dual core 1 oh well... but ya im happy wid my current setup hey... just got a sh!t gfx card!!! GRRRRR... lol

(but in taiwan everything is cheap.. in fact the cheapest in the world as they manufacture the stuff there...!! and they get their stock from the main companies... so ya!! its the cheapest in the world, in the hardware.. not neccessarily software of peripherals)

[SithMaster]

what about the mic? have you tried it out? i ask because several people have issues with it.

what is the most hardware intense game youve played on it and what settings?

still trying to find some more info. i like the one you recommended but im not sure if i could use a micro atx

[SithMaster]

since i wont be able to fit the board recommended into my case does anyone have a good atx board?

edit-i checked ebay and it turns out my board is a micro atx so yey i could use the one you suggested or any micro.