Motherboard query: nForce 630a chipset

[Sebmojo]

I've currently got a 2005 vintage system (socket 939 nforce 4 mobo, Athlon 3800 X2, couple of gigs of no name RAM and a cheap 9800 GT) that does me perfectly well - runs Fallout 3, Crysis, etc on plenty of pretties.

Or it did, before the filthy capacitor plague did its dark work. Now I have a bulky, noisy annoyance factory and I'm keen to be shot of it.

While I was toying with the idea of replacing the mobo with an equivalent socket 939 system, it occurred to me that I can probably sell the bits and pick up a solid if unexceptional mobo/processor/RAM combo that will run rings around my current rig without spending any more money.

AM I WRONG?

This is the offer:

** ASUS M2N68-AM+ Motherboard *
- nForce 630a/ GeForce7025 Chipset
- Support DDR2 RAM up to 4GB
- 1 x IDE Controller
- 4 x SATA (3gb/s) Controller RAID 0, 1, 10, 5 (Vista)
- Integrated Graphics + PCI-E x16 Slot
(Share up to 256MB RAM Max Resolution 1920 x 1440)
- 6 Channel High Definition Audio
- Gigabit LAN

**** AMD Athlon (AM2) X2 245 (2.9Ghz Dual Core) CPU ****
Heatsink and Fan Included

**** Transcend 2GB DDR2 800 RAM *********

I know the mobo is bargain/media centre level, but it should be better than what I've got, given a reasonably modern video card, yes? Is there anything stupid about the nforce 630a I've missed here?

[Sebmojo]

Ulp - supplementary question - Is a 420 W PSU likely to be able to drive all that? I'd think it would, but a benchmark site for a similar ASrock card lists its max draw at 397 watts.

[red guy]

Well, just about the only issue with nVidia chipsets is their relatively high power draw. We're talking about 40, 50W tops for the motherboard - probably lower.

Continuing my worst case scenario calculation:

That Athlon II X2 is a pretty frugal CPU. About 70W max (shooting from the hip here).

Add 90W for a 9800GT (ballpark).

That combines to about 200W, not counting hard drives (10W each), extension cards (close to zero), and, of course, the blue LEDs adorning your case.

Distract 20%, or 84W, from your PSU power (it is a quality brand, right? Otherwise, you should start by replacing that). Round off to 330W available power.

In short, you should be fine.

Sometime soon, stusser or unbongwah may show up and claim that I'm wayyyyyyyyy overestimating the power draw. If they do, they're right. You'll still be fine.

But you know, we can't really effectively talk you into buying 4GB RAM (because you'll be installing Windows 7 64 bit soon) and either a Phenom II X2 (faster) or Phenom II X3 (three cores) or Athlon II X4 (4 cores) until you give us a cost estimate on the offer you're ogling. It is quite amazing what $200-$250 buys you these days.

Finally, the upgrade you're proposing will just about double your framerate in Fallout 3. An 3800X2 is a bottleneck in that game.

[Sebmojo]

Well, just about the only issue with nVidia chipsets is their relatively high power draw. We're talking about 40, 50W tops for the motherboard - probably lower.

Continuing my worst case scenario calculation:

That Athlon II X2 is a pretty frugal CPU. About 70W max (shooting from the hip here).

Add 90W for a 9800GT (ballpark).

That combines to about 200W, not counting hard drives (10W each), extension cards (close to zero), and, of course, the blue LEDs adorning your case.

Distract 20%, or 84W, from your PSU power (it is a quality brand, right? Otherwise, you should start by replacing that). Round off to 330W available power.

In short, you should be fine.

Sometime soon, stusser or unbongwah may show up and claim that I'm wayyyyyyyyy overestimating the power draw. If they do, they're right. You'll still be fine.

But you know, we can't really effectively talk you into buying 4GB RAM (because you'll be installing Windows 7 64 bit soon) and either a Phenom II X2 (faster) or Phenom II X3 (three cores) or Athlon II X4 (4 cores) until you give us a cost estimate on the offer you're ogling. It is quite amazing what $200-$250 buys you these days.

Finally, the upgrade you're proposing will just about double your framerate in Fallout 3. An 3800X2 is a bottleneck in that game.

Thanks Mr Guy - that's what I wanted to hear.

Yes, I'm aware about the bottleneck being the processor - but I'm on a verrrry tight budget so the whole thing has to basically pay for itself (and it's $NZ, so a budget might not be that helpful). The old x2 really was surprisingly solid, so I'm not too worried as I'm sure whatever I get by jumping a generation or two will be completely adequate.

One thing I do wonder about is that if I get a cheap AM3 chip like the X2 245 (it is AM3, yes?) and plug it into the cheap AM2+/AM3 mobo i'm thinking about, it will only allow Hypertransport 1.0 instead of 3.0 (chipset limitation). Is this nerdmacho nonsense that given my modest needs can be ignored? Or will it make a real and annoying difference?

Cheers in advance!