Motherboard Chipsets

[Tunga]

Me again, back with another random question :) !

Building a ~£600 PC for someone, base unit only, so fairly decent spec.

Anyway I can handle all the other parts, I've just lost touch a bit with current motherboard chipsets. Any suggestions or things I should know.

EDIT: Well I guess it can't hurt to mention the other bits too. Looking at a 4870, 4GB PC6400, E8400. Does that CPU seem like a reasonable choice?

[backfire]

on what platform do you want to build your unit? if it's on amd, 790gx/fx chipsets are the latest. Intel's latest as far as i know is the x58 chipset.

[Kalos]

I'd suggest seeking out a P45 chipset, Intel's own, for an E8400. The X58 is good, but is a very different socket, with the cheapest processor on it going for about £200, the very new i7s. It would also mean going with more expensive DDR3 ram then also, so I don't think it'll meet your budget.

[Wintrow]

I generally pick CPU first. This then dictates socket. Socket narrows motherboard selection which is then narrowed down further based on features and price. This shortlist I then look up online for a review. Motherboard of course dictates memory type etc...

For gaming systems graphics gets about a fifth to a quarter of the budget. For non-gaming systems I pick a mobo with integrated graphics. They still run wow adequately anyway.

If the whole PC ends up over budget I trim a bit here and there but usually I'm pretty spot on about the whole thing.

[Tunga]

As I said I'm good for the other parts, just wasn't sure about current mobo chipsets. P45 boards are a bit expensive right now at around £80. How about a P43 at around £65?

CPU will most likely be an E8400 as in the original post so needs to be socket 775.

[backfire]

the P43 would be good but if you add a few more, you go get the P45 chipset because it has pci-e gen 2 interface.