Little Hardware Help Please?

Hello everyone, im in a situation atm where my computers motherboard AND video card went to crap so im in the market now for some new ones. My CPU is an AMD Athlon 4800+ and am looking for a motherboard that will go with it. Im also wondering since i bought everything like 2 years ago if it would just be better to get a new CPU along with a new motherboard if it wont be too much more.

Was wondering if someone could give me a link to a motherboard that is compatible with my amd athlon 4800+ and/or links to both a newer version CPU with a corresponding motherboard. I hear Newegg.com or tigerdirect.com so preferably one of those 2 places since ive heard good things from both.

As far as video cards go i hear the 8800 GT is good so im thinking that; if anyone has any other recommendations as far as video cards go, could you link those as well. I really appreciate it and finally have some money to fix the darn thing, lol. Also i have a budget of about $500, if the links go a little over, that is ok, ill look at what i have to deal with and go from there. Once again thanks.

Well, first off, whats the socket for the cpu: 939 or AM2, and second, newegg sells 8800GTs for 249.00, also, theyres the ATI 3850 and 3870 for cheap:

3850 ( doesnt quite match in 8800GT performance, but still is up there:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102715

3870 (right around the 8800GT: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814129100

Once you give me the socket, I can probably find a motherboard

2 years ago, 939 was AMD's main platform, and the only one that used the X2 4800+ processor. AM2 is only around a year and a half old, it was launched in late spring/early summer of '06. So if you're sure that 2-year estimate is accurate, then you've definitely got a 939 system.

That being said, I haven't seen any decent 939 motherboards anywhere in ages, unless you don't mind buying used boards from eBay - but moving from 939 to AM2 will also require you to change your RAM, so the 8800 series cards sound a little out of your price range

With $500, you could get a new motherboard, processor, graphics card, and RAM - but they wouldn't be significantly faster than your X2 4800+. On the plus side, you could probably sell that X2 4800+ for a fair amount of money - 939 dual-core chips are pretty rare, and there's quite a few folks that would probably pay a pretty penny for a dual-core 939 chip with 2x1MB L2 cache - you could probably get $100-$150 for it, and if you've got 2x1GB of RAM, you could probably get another $50. And a $700 budget will get you a mighty fine machine indeed.

Even if you have 939 socket, Your C.P.U. is fine and will do the job. If you have a pci-express mobo, you can get a good video card, more R.A.M., plus a decent power supply to play any new game fairly well. If your still in AGP video cards, you'll need a mother board.roulettethedog

His motherboard bought the farm, and I haven't seen any quality AMD motherboards available at trustworthy retailers in ages (although I did see a nice nForce 4 939 board at Fry's about two months ago), so he needs a new motherboard regardless. I hesitate to recommend the guy either A) Buy from a suspect etailer/buy used or B) Buy a budget motherboard, but at least option B is something I'd consider if this guy isn't a serious overclocker.

You could consider an Intel build as well - but if you do want to stick with AM2, I'd get an AM2+ board instead. Couple that up with an X2 5000+ Black Edition, 2x1GB of DDR2 RAM, and whatever graphics card you choose (AMD owns ATI now, so the new AM2+ boards only support Crossfire, something to think about), which would be a good rig with a lot of lasting power for probably not much over your $500 budget.

If you go with Intel, you'll probably spend a little more, but you can get a much faster CPU.

oh...i didnt realize intel was faster. i heard a while back (years, lol) that AMD was better for gaming so i just went with that set up. are intel systems that much better where i would want to spend the extra cash on em? and if so a recommendation like the one in your last post would be awesome so i can do some searching online. thanks again =DJablek

Intel regained the performance crown around a year and a half ago, and AMD has been on the defensive ever since. For more restrictive budgets (I'd say $280 or less for a CPU, processor, and RAM) AMD does perform better than Intel, but if you've got a bit more to throw around, Intel easily outperforms AMD, and overclocks better.

A reasonable budget of around $350 should be able to score you an Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 processor, DFI Blood Iron P35 T2RL motherboard (and yes, DFI are still the kings of overclocking, that hasn't changed), and 2x1GB Crucial Ballistix DDR2 667 RAM.