Would you invest $50 on an AM2 motherboard (XP offline rig)?

[Jeffredo]

Hey guys. I'm planning on assembling from old spare parts a Win XP PC for older games that either don't run well or don't run at all on Windows 7/8. Since support is ending in two months it'll stay offline after its fully patched. I have all the parts needed for an Athlon XP 2500+ (mobo, RAM, HD, AGP GPU). I also have all the parts save for a motherboard for an Athlon X2 6400+. Scouting around ebay it looks like I can get probably find one for around $50. If I ever needed to install a better OS on it the X2 6400+ wouldn't be completely worthless (like the hoary old XP rig would be). If it were you, would you pop for the AM2 motherboard (vs. the already complete Athlon XP)?

 

[Vario]

Nope. Its gonna be slow regardless and you can get used computers for free that are faster than that.

 

[brandonwh64]

I wouldn't pay 50$ for an AM2 unless it was capable of am2+/Am3 chips and had crossfire/sli then MAYBE

 

[GreiverBlade]

Nope. Its gonna be slow regardless and you can get used computers for free that are faster than that.

i beg to differ but i will not say Vario is wrong due to my respect for him.

i have a AM2+ setup that i paid 50$ but with 4gb ram a Athlon X2 4850e ASUS M3N78-CM Alpine 64 Pro a Radeon 3650 boxed in a Antec NSK3850 (with a Antec earthwatt 380W 80+) a 500gb Sata2 7k2 HDD plus a IDE ODD and a win7 activatedso basically he is right on the price thing, but i am not following the slow thing all i had to do was adding a Phenom X4 9600B (that i got for 1$ ~) i put a GTX460 HAWK from MSI (less than 30$~) the 380W hold it quite good even with the extra 2 molex to 6pin for the 460

well the total do 81$ but it handle all i can throw at it heck i even Played Crysis 3 on it (ok medium settings and 30fps average) Firefall for exemple was rather smooth if you play a bit with the options (60 to 25fps depending the crowd on the place you sit)

I wouldn't pay 50$ for an AM2 unless it was capable of am2+/Am3 chips and had crossfire/sli then MAYBE

^this... and you can't not trust someone with a Shiba Inu as a avatar. so 100% top recommendation AM2+ is minimal and as i said: seek well you might find a real cheap one

thos CFX is optional, and i noticed that my M3N78 can handle Phenom II X4 and X6 xD (1090T on the compatibility list)

 

[Bugler]

I'd go for the X2. I think you can find the mobo pretty cheap (less than $50) if you looked.

Hell, I got a mobo with an X2-3800 CPU/HSF and 3 gig memory (only see two) sitting in a closet doing nothing but collect dust.

 

[GreiverBlade]

I'd go for the X2. I think you can find the mobo pretty cheap (less than $50) if you looked.

Hell, I got a mobo with an X2-3800 CPU/HSF and 3 gig memory (only see two) sitting in a closet doing nothing but collect dust.

well ... for 31$ more my setup is far more worth the money spent on it than the X2 + a cheaper mobo

and me i bet he can find a full setup (AM2+ minimal or 1156/1366) for less than 60$ (AM2+) or less than 120 (1156 or 1366) and would be far more interesting than a AM2 setup ofc if 50$ is the limit then a AM2+ setup is more viable than a 1156/1366 (i got a full 1366 cpu/mobo/ram for 100$ i7-920/ROG Rampage III Extreme/12gig 1600) you just need to look and you can find some real good deal on Ebay or for me : Ricardo.ch.

 

[erocker]

I think you could find an AM2 motherboard cheaper.