Trouble picking a motherboard/ My Logic

[jrdoty]

This will be my second build but my first time trying to build a gaming computer. I'm looking to keep my build under $1000 with the monitor and everything. I don't really high end stuff because I don't do too intense gaming. I'm basically looking for performance and upgradability within my budget.

Here is my logic ( You can correct me or give your opinions as you please.)

1. AMD v.s. Intel

I've decided to go with AMD because they seem to be more upgradable in the long run. The benchmarks show that intel is overall faster but the prices seem to show that you get more cpu for you money with AMD. Newegg is also showing AMD as the consumer choice. I thought that I could get an AM3 AM2+ board and get a slower process and upgrade slowly up to the Phenom II X6 one day.

2. Video Card - GeForce GTS 250
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-514-_-Product

I went with this because Tom's Hardware seems to think it should do the job for now and then later down the road when it starts to lag I can just buy another one and use it with SLI. I would like to have a video card with at least one Gig of memory.
Everywhere I look everyone seems to love ATI more than Nvidia. Why is that?

3. Motherboard

Here is where I have some trouble. With how I have set things up now I need at least an AM3 socket board with SLI, DDR3 memory(I'm assuming the RAM should match that of the video card memory). So far in my searches I haven't come up with anything that fits that description. I believe I did find one but if you put two video cards in it you cover up all of your pci slots. Does anyone have any suggestions? Or is there somewhere in my logic that I have made a mistake?

Thanks,
Jeff

[glc]

AMD support for SLI is becoming fairly rare since they bought out ATI. Most multiple slot AMD boards now are Crossfire boards. The reason a lot of people are favoring ATI now is Nvidia is in financial difficulties and their technology is now lagging behind. If you read the article at Tom's Hardware on the best video cards for the money, the current score is ATI - 13 Nvidia - 4.

As a matter of fact, most good Intel boards now are Crossfire boards too.

Your assumption on memory type is incorrect. System memory and video card memory have nothing to do with each other.

I personally prefer the Intel Socket 1156 platform with P55 chipset and ATI 5000 series video cards.

[Doom]

I'd advise against counting on SLI to increase your performance in the future. My first gaming rig used two 9600GT+ cards in SLI and the second card didn't make enough of a difference in performance to justify the price (personal opinion). I'd recommend going with the best single graphics card that you can. If you're trying to keep costs down, look towards ATI cards as they will give you more bang for the buck now. I made that choice based on the stats from Tom's Hardware. The SLI combo was rated the best option for my price range at the time. Looking back, I would likely have been better off by getting a 9800 (at the time of course).

Plus, if you go SLI you'll have to make sure your PSU is able to handle two cards which usually means a more expensive unit. Also, some games have issues with SLI setups. I had to download nHancer on my system to manage SLI settings to get a couple games to work properly. It's not a huge pain...but it was an annoyance nonetheless.

I've been an nVidia fan for a while and have built systems with their stuff partly out of brand loyalty. That being said, it's a lot harder to justify that these days when ATI cards perform as well for less dough. My next build will be ATI.

[Nikon]

you are in the same exact boat that i was. amd is definately more bang for the buck, and TBH i see very little difference in performance in games in similar intel CPUs. anyhow, keeping it under 1k shouldnt be too difficult, keeping a monitor in mind, what size are you looking for, and do you want HD? these are things that will greatly affect the price. here is what i might start off with....

all prices are newegg.com, comments throughout.

ASUS M4A79XTD EVO AM3 AMD 790X ATX AMD Motherboard 118.99 (middle of the road AM# based baord with xfire, leaving you room to get that x6 if you want, and xfire cards later.)

AMD Athlon II X3 435 2.9GHz Socket AM3 (this inexpencive CPU should have all the power you need for gaming, and little extra.)

this card is only a little more expencive than the one you listed, but it is much newer tech than that 250.
ASUS CuCore Series EAH5770 CuCore/2DI/1GD5 Radeon HD 5770 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 167.99


make sure, as for the rest of your build, make sure you check compatability, and go with crucial, kingston, or anything GLC reccomends, he knows his RAM. dont short change yourself on ram and go with 1600, else you wont get the full potential of the system, i g2go now ill post more later

[glc]

Gaming is almost all in the video card. Your money goes a lot farther when you get a strong video card and skimp on the CPU. For example, on the Intel 1156 platform, an i3-530 is all you really need, but an ATI 5800 series video card is money well spent if you can swing it. I don't have a clue about AMD, so I don't make specific recommendations there.

Your money is best spent on mainstream ram, not high performance ram. DDR3-1333 CL9 ram is all you need, but being that DDR3-1600 is essentially the same price you might as well get it.