First Computer Build!

[DZ469]

Yeah i agree with Mal on this one. I remember seeing a lot of that board
"Back in the day" and i believe it was really sweet too. I dont agree with
Spawn though, cause the 3850 would smoke those cards for only a few
bucks more. Just my opinion though.

[Aiken Drumn]

Please forgive my lack of knowledge, but what difference is there between motherboards? An more specifically the one i initially chose and this new suggestion?

[DZ469]

Mostly Features, performance, and what it supports. There are several reasons the DFI board is superior such as:
-support for up to 4GB of RAM (the Neo only holds 2GB)
-support for 2 PCI-Express graphics cards (the Neo only has 1 AGP slot)
-support for up to 4 SATA devices and 2 IDE devices (the Neo only supports IDE)
-It's just generally better overall

Here are the specs for the Neo-F
These are the specs for the DFI board

Obviously the DFI board will set you back a slight bit more but i believe it is worth it.

[mtekk]

I agree with DZ here, you want to go pci express, the cards for it are all around less expensive and better performing (you can get a 7800 pci-express for pretty cheap on ebay, where as the AGP cards will set you back at least 100USD on ebay). So go with the DFI board.

As for brands of video cards with Nvidia GPUs evga, XFX, and BFG seem to be the big players and all three make dependable cards, others are ok as well such as PNY.

In general the only manufacture that I'll stay away from is MSI as I've had over ten Pentium 3 era motherboards go bad due to bad capacitors (they dome then either the electrolyte oozes out as a liquid or crystallizes on the top).

[ComputerGuru64x2]

I would love a FX-55 processor, Those things are Kick-Ass. How much are you paying for it?

[Aiken Drumn]

Looks like about £40-£50 looking at ended items

[.Maleficus.]

Branching from what DZ469 said, the DFI board also was considered one of the best (if not the best) for overclocking 939 chips.

Plus, it's got UV parts on it .

[DZ469]

Yeah DFI boards were great back in the day. i wonder why they aren't around a lot now.. At least i haven't heard from them in a while.

[mtekk]

DFI boards are still great, they just are more of an AMD shop (or at least their best boards seem to be for AMD systems), and well, AMD isn't doing so hot right now, so you don't hear much of DFI.