Picking a Motherboard? - Hardware & Software

I'm looking at motherboards, and I'm not really sure what sort I should get. I'm pretty sure I'm going to get one of these three CPUs: [list][*][url=http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103808]AMD Phenom II X4 955[/url] [*][url=http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103871]AMD Athlon II X4 640[/url] [*][url=http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103887]AMD Phenom II X2 560[/url][/list] but I don't really know how to determine if a motherboard is compatible with their chipset, or what sort of features a motherboard should have, aside from RAM and a video card slot or two. Can someone show me a few decent motherboards? Also, I'm still not sure what CPU out of those three I should get, since I never really got a decisive answer, so any help on that would be greatly appreciated.

What's your budget? Without knowing your budget I would suggest the 955 and an ASRock 870 mobo but Newegg isn't working right now

Roughly 600-700. I'd like to go as cheap as possible while still getting nice performance. Edit: American $

is it an entire tower or $700 for just the mobo and the CPU? [editline]wefe[/editline] if the $700 is for the whole computer do you need an OS, monitor, keyboard/mouse, etc..?

[QUOTE=Tomaster;26839754]Roughly 600-700. I'd like to go as cheap as possible while still getting nice performance. Edit: American $[/QUOTE] So you want an overall build I take it and not just the motherboard? What are you planning to use the computer for?

Oh, yea, $700 for the entire build. And no, I'm going to deal with the OS separately. It'd be nice to have a keyboard/mouse/monitor included into that without hurting the build too much, but I can make do with what I have right now if it's necessary. I'm planning on using it to play the newer games (Stalker: CoP, Crysis, etc), coding, converting videos, and just messing around.

well here's what I made so far [media]http://img5.imageshack.us/img5/842/cartfu.png[/media] I can't seem to shave off that extra $60 [editline]wefe[/editline] to make it fit you can easily do that by getting a cheaper PSU and a cheaper GPU, but I really suggest that you keep that PSU, so you can easily throw in another 460 later on and not have to worry about getting a new PSU

That looks pretty good to me. Should I hold off buying until that Sandy Bridge thing comes out, or will the prices not be affected as much?

well you get massive sales during this time of the year, and although I like Sandy Bridge, with your budget I don't really recommend it.

I meant like will the prices of the stuff you've got there drop when Sandy Bridge comes out? Or are those prices not really affected by that release? Edit: Also, can I get the links to the things you've got there?

oh right, I completely forgot. [url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135204[/url] [url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119233[/url] [url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152181[/url] [url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824009275[/url] [url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817256016[/url] [url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145278[/url] [url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.409532[/url] [url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.543698[/url] [url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.563914[/url] as for your question, prices will fall, but you have to take into account the sales that are going on right now especially the GTX 460, it normally costs $210 but right now you can get it for $160, or $180 without rebate (which is an amazing deal) [editline]wefe[/editline] also it's likely that if you put together this exact build that I have above in January, it's going to be more expensive

Get a ASUS. Very reliable.

[QUOTE=Jaehead;26839944]well here's what I made so far [media]http://img5.imageshack.us/img5/842/cartfu.png[/media] I can't seem to shave off that extra $60 [editline]wefe[/editline] to make it fit you can easily do that by getting a cheaper PSU and a cheaper GPU, but I really suggest that you keep that PSU, so you can easily throw in another 460 later on and not have to worry about getting a new PSU[/QUOTE] Would this be able to run just cause 2 on high (on the included monitor)? [editline]21st December 2010[/editline] [QUOTE=Altrien;26844075]Would this be able to run just cause 2 on high (on the included monitor)?[/QUOTE] bump

[QUOTE=Altrien;26844075]Would this be able to run just cause 2 on high (on the included monitor)? [editline]21st December 2010[/editline] bump[/QUOTE] Yes.