I'm an old PC tech who's been out of work for the past 5 years and I'm
wanting to build a new pc but with hardware changing as fast as it has, I am
seeking advise from people on how to build this pc.

I am planning on using the "AMD Athlon 64 FX-57 1MB L2 Cache 64-bit Socket
939 Processor" and I am looking for the best motherboard to suit my needs.

I am wanting one with support up to or beyond 4Gb, one that supports both
Ultra ATA 133/100 EIDE and SATA drives (future expansion for RAID setup).
Also, I am wanting to continue using my 8 x AGP video card w/128MB (with
plans on upgrading it to 256 MB).

Now to tell you what I don't want on building this PC. I DO NOT want
integrated devices, i.e. audio,video, with the only exception would be LAN
support up to 1Gb. I PREFER as many PCI slots as possible, with the fastest
possible FSB support.

ANY Advise is welcome, any recommendations of motherboards, as well as other
parts are also welcome.

ANYBODY have any ideas ??


P.S. Is over-clocking a SAFE Idea on this expensive CPU ?

Jim wrote:

>I'm an old PC tech who's been out of work for the past 5 years and I'm
>wanting to build a new pc but with hardware changing as fast as it has, I am
>seeking advise from people on how to build this pc.
>
>I am planning on using the "AMD Athlon 64 FX-57 1MB L2 Cache 64-bit Socket
>939 Processor" and I am looking for the best motherboard to suit my needs.
>
>I am wanting one with support up to or beyond 4Gb, one that supports both
>Ultra ATA 133/100 EIDE and SATA drives (future expansion for RAID setup).
>Also, I am wanting to continue using my 8 x AGP video card w/128MB (with
>plans on upgrading it to 256 MB).
>
>Now to tell you what I don't want on building this PC. I DO NOT want
>integrated devices, i.e. audio,video, with the only exception would be LAN
>support up to 1Gb. I PREFER as many PCI slots as possible, with the fastest
>possible FSB support.
>
>ANY Advise is welcome, any recommendations of motherboards, as well as other
>parts are also welcome.
>
>ANYBODY have any ideas ??
>
>
>P.S. Is over-clocking a SAFE Idea on this expensive CPU ?
>
>
>
>
I have always used ASUS MB equipment. Never had a problem with ASUS (yet)

Jim wrote:

>I'm an old PC tech who's been out of work for the past 5 years and I'm
>wanting to build a new pc but with hardware changing as fast as it has, I am
>seeking advise from people on how to build this pc.
>
>I am planning on using the "AMD Athlon 64 FX-57 1MB L2 Cache 64-bit Socket
>939 Processor" and I am looking for the best motherboard to suit my needs.
>
>I am wanting one with support up to or beyond 4Gb, one that supports both
>Ultra ATA 133/100 EIDE and SATA drives (future expansion for RAID setup).
>Also, I am wanting to continue using my 8 x AGP video card w/128MB (with
>plans on upgrading it to 256 MB).
>
>Now to tell you what I don't want on building this PC. I DO NOT want
>integrated devices, i.e. audio,video, with the only exception would be LAN
>support up to 1Gb. I PREFER as many PCI slots as possible, with the fastest
>possible FSB support.
>
>ANY Advise is welcome, any recommendations of motherboards, as well as other
>parts are also welcome.
>
>ANYBODY have any ideas ??
>
>
>P.S. Is over-clocking a SAFE Idea on this expensive CPU ?
>
>
>
>
I have always used ASUS MB equipment. Never had a problem with ASUS (yet)

Jim wrote:

>I'm an old PC tech who's been out of work for the past 5 years and I'm
>wanting to build a new pc but with hardware changing as fast as it has, I am
>seeking advise from people on how to build this pc.
>
>I am planning on using the "AMD Athlon 64 FX-57 1MB L2 Cache 64-bit Socket
>939 Processor" and I am looking for the best motherboard to suit my needs.
>
>I am wanting one with support up to or beyond 4Gb, one that supports both
>Ultra ATA 133/100 EIDE and SATA drives (future expansion for RAID setup).
>Also, I am wanting to continue using my 8 x AGP video card w/128MB (with
>plans on upgrading it to 256 MB).
>
>Now to tell you what I don't want on building this PC. I DO NOT want
>integrated devices, i.e. audio,video, with the only exception would be LAN
>support up to 1Gb. I PREFER as many PCI slots as possible, with the fastest
>possible FSB support.
>
>ANY Advise is welcome, any recommendations of motherboards, as well as other
>parts are also welcome.
>
>ANYBODY have any ideas ??
>
>
>P.S. Is over-clocking a SAFE Idea on this expensive CPU ?
>
>
>
>
I have always used ASUS MB equipment. Never had a problem with ASUS (yet)

OC'ing is always safe, provided you know what you're doing..


Now, as to the motherboard question, while I've never built a s939 rig
for myself I know that the top choices for AMD motherboards right now
are Asus, Gigabyte, DFI and a couple others.

But I would strongly reccomend getting a PCI Express capable
motherboard, because AGP is officially dead now, and if you want any
chance of upgrading your videocard in the future you're going to need a
PCI-E equipped motherboard. It's even getting pretty hard these days to
find a new motherboard with AGP.

As for the integrated devices, it doesn't matter if they are present on
the motherboard or not. Just disable them in the BIOS and add in your
own soundcard (the Audigy2 ZS and Audigy4 are good cards) and videocard
(a good PCI-E entry level card is the nVidia 6800GS). Also keep in
mind, the more integrated devices, the less PCI slots you need. So,
firewire, USB 2.0, SATA II, RAID, and HD Audio built in are a good
thing.

Also, if you're overclocking, get yourself some high quality memory,
and read up on "memory dividers" becuase overclocking the new AMDs
isn't as easy as cranking the FSB.

OC'ing is always safe, provided you know what you're doing..


Now, as to the motherboard question, while I've never built a s939 rig
for myself I know that the top choices for AMD motherboards right now
are Asus, Gigabyte, DFI and a couple others.

But I would strongly reccomend getting a PCI Express capable
motherboard, because AGP is officially dead now, and if you want any
chance of upgrading your videocard in the future you're going to need a
PCI-E equipped motherboard. It's even getting pretty hard these days to
find a new motherboard with AGP.

As for the integrated devices, it doesn't matter if they are present on
the motherboard or not. Just disable them in the BIOS and add in your
own soundcard (the Audigy2 ZS and Audigy4 are good cards) and videocard
(a good PCI-E entry level card is the nVidia 6800GS). Also keep in
mind, the more integrated devices, the less PCI slots you need. So,
firewire, USB 2.0, SATA II, RAID, and HD Audio built in are a good
thing.

Also, if you're overclocking, get yourself some high quality memory,
and read up on "memory dividers" becuase overclocking the new AMDs
isn't as easy as cranking the FSB.

OC'ing is always safe, provided you know what you're doing..


Now, as to the motherboard question, while I've never built a s939 rig
for myself I know that the top choices for AMD motherboards right now
are Asus, Gigabyte, DFI and a couple others.

But I would strongly reccomend getting a PCI Express capable
motherboard, because AGP is officially dead now, and if you want any
chance of upgrading your videocard in the future you're going to need a
PCI-E equipped motherboard. It's even getting pretty hard these days to
find a new motherboard with AGP.

As for the integrated devices, it doesn't matter if they are present on
the motherboard or not. Just disable them in the BIOS and add in your
own soundcard (the Audigy2 ZS and Audigy4 are good cards) and videocard
(a good PCI-E entry level card is the nVidia 6800GS). Also keep in
mind, the more integrated devices, the less PCI slots you need. So,
firewire, USB 2.0, SATA II, RAID, and HD Audio built in are a good
thing.

Also, if you're overclocking, get yourself some high quality memory,
and read up on "memory dividers" becuase overclocking the new AMDs
isn't as easy as cranking the FSB.

Also, I'm assuming you meant you wanted the motherboard to have support
for up to 4 gigs of ram. But I'd advise against going more than 2gb at
this point becuase WinXP has a lot of trouble recognizing and using
memory beyond that point. I guarantee it won't see the whole 4gigs.

Also, I'm assuming you meant you wanted the motherboard to have support
for up to 4 gigs of ram. But I'd advise against going more than 2gb at
this point becuase WinXP has a lot of trouble recognizing and using
memory beyond that point. I guarantee it won't see the whole 4gigs.

Also, I'm assuming you meant you wanted the motherboard to have support
for up to 4 gigs of ram. But I'd advise against going more than 2gb at
this point becuase WinXP has a lot of trouble recognizing and using
memory beyond that point. I guarantee it won't see the whole 4gigs.

Jim wrote:
> I'm an old PC tech who's been out of work for the past 5 years and I'm
> wanting to build a new pc but with hardware changing as fast as it has, I am
> seeking advise from people on how to build this pc.
>
> I am planning on using the "AMD Athlon 64 FX-57 1MB L2 Cache 64-bit Socket
> 939 Processor" and I am looking for the best motherboard to suit my needs.
>
> I am wanting one with support up to or beyond 4Gb, one that supports both
> Ultra ATA 133/100 EIDE and SATA drives (future expansion for RAID setup).
> Also, I am wanting to continue using my 8 x AGP video card w/128MB (with
> plans on upgrading it to 256 MB).
>
> Now to tell you what I don't want on building this PC. I DO NOT want
> integrated devices, i.e. audio,video, with the only exception would be LAN
> support up to 1Gb. I PREFER as many PCI slots as possible, with the fastest
> possible FSB support.
>
> ANY Advise is welcome, any recommendations of motherboards, as well as other
> parts are also welcome.
>
> ANYBODY have any ideas ??
>
>
> P.S. Is over-clocking a SAFE Idea on this expensive CPU ?
>
>

I got an Asus from my dad's office, it was a year old when i got it, and
it chrashed right away.

Jim wrote:
> I'm an old PC tech who's been out of work for the past 5 years and I'm
> wanting to build a new pc but with hardware changing as fast as it has, I am
> seeking advise from people on how to build this pc.
>
> I am planning on using the "AMD Athlon 64 FX-57 1MB L2 Cache 64-bit Socket
> 939 Processor" and I am looking for the best motherboard to suit my needs.
>
> I am wanting one with support up to or beyond 4Gb, one that supports both
> Ultra ATA 133/100 EIDE and SATA drives (future expansion for RAID setup).
> Also, I am wanting to continue using my 8 x AGP video card w/128MB (with
> plans on upgrading it to 256 MB).
>
> Now to tell you what I don't want on building this PC. I DO NOT want
> integrated devices, i.e. audio,video, with the only exception would be LAN
> support up to 1Gb. I PREFER as many PCI slots as possible, with the fastest
> possible FSB support.
>
> ANY Advise is welcome, any recommendations of motherboards, as well as other
> parts are also welcome.
>
> ANYBODY have any ideas ??
>
>
> P.S. Is over-clocking a SAFE Idea on this expensive CPU ?
>
>

I got an Asus from my dad's office, it was a year old when i got it, and
it chrashed right away.

Jim wrote:
> I'm an old PC tech who's been out of work for the past 5 years and I'm
> wanting to build a new pc but with hardware changing as fast as it has, I am
> seeking advise from people on how to build this pc.
>
> I am planning on using the "AMD Athlon 64 FX-57 1MB L2 Cache 64-bit Socket
> 939 Processor" and I am looking for the best motherboard to suit my needs.
>
> I am wanting one with support up to or beyond 4Gb, one that supports both
> Ultra ATA 133/100 EIDE and SATA drives (future expansion for RAID setup).
> Also, I am wanting to continue using my 8 x AGP video card w/128MB (with
> plans on upgrading it to 256 MB).
>
> Now to tell you what I don't want on building this PC. I DO NOT want
> integrated devices, i.e. audio,video, with the only exception would be LAN
> support up to 1Gb. I PREFER as many PCI slots as possible, with the fastest
> possible FSB support.
>
> ANY Advise is welcome, any recommendations of motherboards, as well as other
> parts are also welcome.
>
> ANYBODY have any ideas ??
>
>
> P.S. Is over-clocking a SAFE Idea on this expensive CPU ?
>
>

I got an Asus from my dad's office, it was a year old when i got it, and
it chrashed right away.