Help needed with N68-s motherboard

[GSquadron]

Hi guys!
I got this mobo but still i don't have ram or cpu.
Normally you all would think what would be the best suggestion,
but also i want to know what is this change from HT3 to HT1
are there any terrible downgrades?
Also, does this mobo support ddr3 1066, or it means that you can oc ddr2 ram to 1066?
for more information check this one out:
http://www.asrock.com/mb/overview.asp?Model=N68-S
and this one too:
http://www.asrock.com/mb/cpu.asp?Model=N68-S
what are the real benefits of am2/am2+/am3 sockets, with this mobo???
Cuz it looks to me as am3 and am2+ are downgrades :S
All suggestions are welcomed

 

[Fourstaff]

I would prefer if you word your posts better, its hard to read and I don't know what you are asking.

I will try to answer the questions I understand, though.

DDR3 is not compatible with DDR2, so you cannot use DDR2 ram on DDR3.

AM3 and AM2 are different sockets, with the bridge being AM2+

 

[GSquadron]

In the Asrock site for this motherboard, it says: If you use AM3 / AM2+ CPU on AM2 chipset motherboard, the system bus speed will downgrade from HT3.0 (5200 MT/s) to HT1.0 (2000 MT/s), but the CPU frequency will not be influenced.
Now what are the real downgrades here?
And what cpu would be suitable for this mobo?
I mean which cpu is better am2/am2+/am3? Because it says the HT(hypert ransport) will downgrade from HT3 to HT1 for am2+/am3
If you know which type of cpu is better, pls suggest a cpu and/or ram

 

[brandonwh64]

The board is a LOW budget board that is not really worth more than a internet surfing. I would suggest installing a 5600+ X2 CPU with 2GB of DDR2-800 and using the onboard for video. Give this to a family member with no PC for them to FB on

 

[GSquadron]

Well, the board i currently have, is a VERY OLD and VERY LOW budget card
So the one i currently have is going to be a second system maybe, or smth else
I ask myself why the 2 GB ram is needed? And the 5600+ X2 cpu costs a lot more than sempron 140
because it only can be found second handed for about 50 dollar, or even more
can you suggest me a better ram, i mean spending more on cpu if the ram is not that really needed
and i am used with 1 GB of ram for a long time. This time it will be ddr2 so it will have more speed

 

[_JP_]

but also i want to know what is this change from HT3 to HT1
are there any terrible downgrades?

No, well maybe, but not terrible. HyperTransport is the equivalent for Intel's FSB, in case you didn't know, basically it's the connection between the CPU's cache and the RAM.

*If you use AM3 / AM2+ CPU on AM2 chipset motherboard, the system bus speed will downgrade from HT3.0 (5200 MT/s) to HT1.0 (2000 MT/s), but the CPU frequency will not be influenced.

This means that only the HT speed will be decreased to ensure compatibility, in other words, it will work anyways but the speed in which the data between CPU and RAM is sent is slower. The internal clock isn't influenced.

Also, does this mobo support ddr3 1066, or it means that you can oc ddr2 ram to 1066?

According to ASRock:

Supports Dual Channel DDR2 1066/800/667/533 (2 x DIMM slots) non-ECC, un-buffered memory, Max. capacity up to 8GB

It seems very clear and I don't see "DDR3" mentioned anywhere on the page, so I guess that answers this question.

what are the real benefits of am2/am2+/am3 sockets, with this mobo???
Cuz it looks to me as am3 and am2+ are downgrades :S
All suggestions are welcomed

The benefits are that you can use AM3/AM2+/AM3 processors in this board. AM3 and AM2+ only seem a downgrade because thei'r HT speed is decreased to assure compatibility (according to ASRock). If you don't want to have a lower HT speed, try to get a AM2 CPU.

I ask myself why the 2 GB ram is needed?

It's not, if you want to run with 1GB or 512MB of RAM be my guest, but then don't come complain here that your computer is slow or that you can't run as much programs as you wanted. I abide by the rule that the more RAM the better. It's one of the most expensive parts of the computer and one that becomes insufficient very fast every couple of OS releases. So getting more RAM shouldn't be a low priority.

And the 5600+ X2 cpu costs a lot more than sempron 140
because it only can be found second handed for about 50 dollar, or even more
can you suggest me a better ram, i mean spending more on cpu if the ram is not that really needed
and i am used with 1 GB of ram for a long time. This time it will be ddr2 so it will have more speed

Well, Semprons/Celerons are budget line so they're weak. It's not that they can't do their job, but compared to other CPUs, their performance is rather low. Also, the 5600+ is a dual-core, while the Sempron is single, has more cache, runs 100/200MHz faster per core and since it's a AM2 processor it won't have the lower speed HT imposed by the BIOS, whereas the Sempron will have since it's an AM3 processor, so overall the 5600+ should give more performance.
Again, RAM size is important, as much as speed. High speed RAM with low capacity is rather pointless since when the RAM is almost full, Windows starts dumping processes to the pagefile (which is in the HDD) and that will severely decrease performance. In this case there won't be any benefit from having faster RAM.
If you can, go for what brandonw64 said, as it is the best choice for that kind of mobo. You can add a discrete GPU or get a more powerful AM2 processor (like a 6000+), but I think it will not make much of a difference.

 

[Frick]

The board is a LOW budget board that is not really worth more than a internet surfing. I would suggest installing a 5600+ X2 CPU with 2GB of DDR2-800 and using the onboard for video. Give this to a family member with no PC for them to FB on

This is a wierd post, it would do a decent gaming machine with a Phenom and a decent GPU.

 

[Yukikaze]

No, well maybe, but not terrible. HyperTransport is the equivalent for Intel's FSB, in case you didn't know, basically it's the connection between the CPU's cache and the RAM. This means that only the HT speed will be decreased to ensure compatibility, in other words, it will work anyways but the speed in which the data between CPU and RAM is sent is slower. The internal clock isn't influenced.

Hypertransport is not exactly equivalent to Intel's old FSB. Since the memory controller is on-die on Athlons and Phenoms, the HT link is not used for memory access (as opposed to FSB which is, due to the MC being on the NB). What it is used for is communications between the CPU and the NB (and thus things like PCIe cards and the SB).

 

[GSquadron]

@yukikaze
So this means that the gpu is going to run slower with a AM2+/AM3 processor???

 

[_JP_]

Hypertransport is not exactly equivalent to Intel's old FSB. Since the memory controller is on-die on Athlons and Phenoms, the HT link is not used for memory access (as opposed to FSB which is, due to the MC being on the NB). What it is used for is communications between the CPU and the NB (and thus things like PCIe cards and the SB).

Right, thanks. I had to go read some tech docs to revive my knowledge of what HT is. Yes, not the equivalent, it's more of a replacement. But forgot to mention the NB anyways...

@yukikaze
So this means that the gpu is going to run slower with a AM2+/AM3 processor???

No, it just means the communication between the two will be a bit slower.

 

[GSquadron]

Man, i mean that i am going to get worse efficiency of the card, or just that the "communication between the two" will be slower?
Summing it up: Really now, i get what you mean, i don't get the result

 

[_JP_]

Pictures usually are work a 1000 words, I figure sometimes more.
So, from the card (as a component) you'll get the same efficiency whether the mobo is using HT1.0 or HT3.0. Now, if the GPU needs data from the CPU, it will get it faster if the mobo is with HT3.0. So, all in all only when the GPU needs stuff from the CPU, or vice-versa, will the HT1.0 slow things down, but only by a small margin, something you shouldn't notice. If you want to play it safe, get an AM2, if you don't mind HT being a little slower for some types of communication, go for an AM2+/AM3 CPU. Mind you that other components won't be likely smothered by HT1.0 since they won't use the bus completely, with the exception of CPU intensive stuff (bad sound card, for example).