A64 recommendations ?

[Discipuli]

I'm looking to upgrade to an A64/ PCI-E rig in 6 months , i'v seen what you guys did with those Venice and Winchester cores and assumed you all could help me . I need recommendations on :
a cheap motherboard ( -100 USD ) , that will overclock well, preferably Nforce 4 or other PCI-E based boards . I don't need it to have high Vcore or Vdimm , just be able to handle a fast HTT buss and high LDT bus and give me basic Ocing options .
A medium performance heatsink , i don't plan to reach 3ghz anytime soon, but 2.5/2.6GHZ is my goal .
A cheap sound card that has good quality and low CPU usage, if the mobo i get has crappy sound .

[Chodi]

Sorry to report that that the Winchester and the new Venice cores are only available on 939 based boards. Therefore, you will have a very difficult time finding anything under $100. You can search Newegg for prices and quickly see that you will be into much more for a 939 board with NF4. The 754 based boards fit your budget and are still very good, but you will be using a Newcastle core with those boards. Not really a problem as they will give the same performace if a bit more heat than the Winchesters. Remeber even the FX-55 is a Newcastle core. There are even some NF4 based 754 boards appearing now. You may want to consider the DFI NF-3 board which is near your budget.

[BlackPearl]

I think that some on this forum have successfully used Chaintech VNF4/Ultra. In nF4 non-ultra, MSI, Chaintech, Foxconn & Biostar offer boards. All of these are less than US$100. For heatsink, Thermalright XP-90 and XP-120 seem popular and the former is frequently on sale for about US$30.

[agenda2005]

Here is a nice PCI-Express Socket 939 board under $100
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduc...130-491&depa=1

This is XP-90 that comes with a 92mm fan for $39.99
http://www.svc.com/xp90-ret-21.html

That should fit your budget for now. In 6-month time, things will probably change, prices might be lower and you could get better performing boards at the same price.

[Discipuli]

yea i know in 6 months time prices will be lower , and i'll have options from VIA and SIS to choose from, but i now have an overall idea of what my system will cost ( around 500 US) and can budget to fit it in .