With most retail computers lucky to get 800Mhz memory speed and most operating systems unable to effectively use quad cores, the timeless socket 939 motherboard can still pack a mighty wallop while costing less to build overall than most AM2, AM2+, or AM3 socket systems.
Disk Speed IS System Speed
What really matters for system performance is knowing that interface specifications like SATA, SATA2, and ATA 133 are maximum theoretical speeds. It takes a lot of hard drives in RAID0 to saturate a SATA controller. One option that can almost keep up with a SATA2 controller is the Solid State Drive (SSD), which is available for around $150 for 64GB. Make one of these your boot drive and your old technology will boot and run faster than your buds will believe anything can!
$46 Mobo Details
Let's start with a $46 ASRock 939Dual SATA2 mobo. This gives us support for the Athlon family of 64 bit dual core CPUs, 4GB of dual channel pc-3200 DDR in 4 slots, and the choice of 1.5v 8x or 4x AGP video or PCI-16 graphics cards. A pair of SATA ports support RAID0,1, and JBOD. A single eSATA2 connector is also available on board, as are ports for up to four ATA 66/100/133 drives, and even a floppy connection if you need it. Four USB 2.0 ports are also on board.
In short, this board is an excellent way to recycle parts from AM2 and AM2+ system upgrades to lower the total price. This is a great way to put all those slow IDE drives to use storing movies, songs, etc. instead of gathering dust on your bench.
$140 4GB Dual Channel ram
4GB of ram can cost a lot less than the $140 I selected, but cheap memory can be a real pain, especially in a new build. I recommend mid-grade to premium grade memory for the peace of mind.
$130 Liquid Cooled Athlon 64 X2 CPU
Next comes the dual core Athlon 64X2 CPU for $100 plus cooling, say $130 total counting liquid cooling to keep things quieter.
DDR Costlier Than DDR2
While we're paying a premium to use the socket 939 motherboard when it comes to CPU options and memory pricing, this isn't enough to be a deal breaker, at least not this year. Especially if your junk box has some DDR sticks handy.
Case And Power Supply
A nice case for our sleeper is the Chiefmax FC-1 Black Small Footprint MATX piano black case with 680W power supply. This bumps the total to around $600 before adding video, keyboard, mouse, monitor, and other accessories.
Summary
So there it is- a socket 939 motherboard with respectable CPU, 4GBof ram, 1TB of SATA RAID0 main storage, case with 680W power supply, and all for less than the $600 you'd blow on a sluggish off-the-shelf computer.
Learn far more about socket 939 motherboards [http://laptopcomputersfacts.com], including links to bargain priced computer and component parts, visit [http://laptopcomputersfacts.com]
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