The difference a motherboard makes...

[aristotlewilde]

I thought some of you might find this interesting, so I am sharing...

Since building my first system, I have been upgrading it piece by piece for a couple of years. BF2 is a major reason for it.

Recently, I upgraded to an AMD x2 4800 and liked the result, but I knew that my low grade motherboard is probably holding me back a bit.

Through some creative trading, I now have a DFI Lanparty nf4 Ultra D motherboard on its way via Pony Express.

So... in an effort to share some technical insight, I upgraded my 3dMark to 06 and ran it this morning, w/o changing ANYTHING on my system to artificially juice the score (no processes stopped, just ran like everyday use). Man was I UNimpressed w/ my system (specs in sig) running a 4279.

Anyway, I am hoping for my new motherboard (yes, I do know that the new one is NOT STATE OF THE ART, but hell, its socket 939, so buying the biggest and baddest would be stupid at this point) to arrive either later today or tomorrow.

I am going to swap it in and re-run 3d Mark 06 the exact same way to illustrate the difference a motherboard makes on performance.

Truthfully, I have no clue how this is going to turn out, although I definitely expect some improvement.

I DO know that after completing this experiment, I will be utilizing the board for what it was bought for and that is some minor overclocking (which my current board has literally no capability of).

See you tomorrow...

[LuckySeven]

Re: The difference a motherboard makes...

Sorry to say, but without any overclocking you won't see much difference. Maybe a few hundred points max. But because it's a DFI board, overclocking reveals the true potential of the system.

I heard X2's are pretty good overclockers? Nothing close to new C2D's but you will get a nice boost. And you'll be able to boost your memory a little with the new board.

Good luck in changing the board, it's not always easy. And we're waiting to hear your results. And btw, ~4300 is not bad in 3dMark06 :P

[aristotlewilde]

Re: The difference a motherboard makes...

Sorry to say, but without any overclocking you won't see much difference. Maybe a few hundred points max. But because it's a DFI board, overclocking reveals the true potential of the system.

I heard X2's are pretty good overclockers? Nothing close to new C2D's but you will get a nice boost. And you'll be able to boost your memory a little with the new board.

Good luck in changing the board, it's not always easy. And we're waiting to hear your results. And btw, ~4300 is not bad in 3dMark06 :P

I hear you on both counts. I kind of figured out later that 3dMark06 scores are lower...

Well, I tried just swapping boards, but got BSOD on startup, so I now have clean install to go with the new board.

Just ran 3dMark06 and before doing any overclocking, the scores only came in slightly higher at 4324 (45 points).

[abtomat74]

Re: The difference a motherboard makes...

Therefore we can conclude that if one isn't overclocking, then there is no point in buying expensive motherboards...

[Sniper1432]

Re: The difference a motherboard makes...

im not sure but to EVGA make a skt 939 board? i overclocked my 4200+ to 2.7 but im sure i could get it to 3.0 ghz :)

[aristotlewilde]

Re: The difference a motherboard makes...

I would say I agree with this statement at this time on the basis of performance (maybe not build quality).

My only advice to others who are building systems is "try" to think long term.

I say "try" because when I built mine, I said the following:

I won't be playing games.
I won't be overclocking.

Then, I saw a demo of Far Cry and I had to have those pretty graphics. My AMD 3000+ became a 3500+. My Geforce 5200 became a 6600.

Then, teh 6600 became a 7800 and the 3500 became a x2 4800...

Now, I walked into a great deal on this used motherboard ($5).. Did I mention this is the model that can be modded to run SLI w/ 20 minutes of work and $20? Now that 7800 might become TWO 7800s....

[BoloMarkXXX]

Re: The difference a motherboard makes...

FarCry x32 looks like a cartoon compared with the graphics of the x64 ver.

Great single player, multi online sucks.

[TheButler208]

Re: The difference a motherboard makes...

Sorry to say, but without any overclocking you won't see much difference. Maybe a few hundred points max. But because it's a DFI board, overclocking reveals the true potential of the system.

I heard X2's are pretty good overclockers? Nothing close to new C2D's but you will get a nice boost. And you'll be able to boost your memory a little with the new board.

Good luck in changing the board, it's not always easy. And we're waiting to hear your results. And btw, ~4300 is not bad in 3dMark06 :P

Actually, the memory controller is on the AMD chip with amd setups. So the motherboard probably won't let the memory do anymore than what it was going to do anyways. The story changes with intel mainboards.

I recently got into the intel scene with a core 2 duo and had to spend more on a motherboard than i would if it was an amd setup because its a bit more important. With my amd setup I ran an uncommon ULi chipset (not even nforce or ati) and it ran great (and it was only 75 bucks). Now for my E6600 I spent over 150 bucks on a motherboard just so the memory controller would be good and capable.