hi. i have this turion ML-34 chip, and i found an MSI K8N Neo V2.0 H nForce3 250 board on ebay for really cheap. will it work? i know about the heatsink issue, and i'll be very careful. if i crack it, i crack it :| so will it work? will powernow work correctly? Do not try. Do, or do not. There is no try.

"i found an MSI K8N Neo V2.0 H nForce3 250 board on ebay for really cheap" Computer Geeks has been selling the new/retail version of that board for between $25-30 for several months now. They just recently sold out. There are two issues with the heatsink...one is the possibility of cracking the CPU, the other is mounting it too loosely & overheating the CPU. The reason it might mount loosely is because the HSF is designed for the extra thickness of the heat spreader. You'll have to find a HSF that fits "just right". PowerNow shouldn't be an issue...why would you even need it in a desktop system? It's basically the same thing as Cool 'n Quiet. Most people disable it because it's "anti-performance". Have a look at this Foxconn board combo for $30. It's based on the nForce4 chipset so it has a few added features such as a 3rd RAM slot & PCI-e slot. Plus a Gefore 6200 Turbocache PCI-e card is included. Not a great card, but you can sell it for $20-25 & just about get you money back. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...

hmm! great find jam! i almost forgot newegg does canada. what i meant about powernow was the cool'n'quiet thing. they are almost the same, but different. powernow defaults to the lowest clock speed and increases when needed. cool'n'quiet defaults to the highest clock speed and reduces when idling. but is foxconn any good? never had one of their boards before. so are you sure this bouard would work with my turion? the only reason i'm doing this is because i have this turion chip, and i want to put it to use. i don't want a laptop, i want a desktop! Do not try. Do, or do not. There is no try.

just read some reviews about that board. not many good things, like bad support, ports not working and memory slot dimms not working. :-| any other ideas are welcome Do not try. Do, or do not. There is no try.

"but is foxconn any good?" They make some good boards...not familiar with this one though. "just read some reviews about that board. not many good things" Hopefully you're not judging it based solely on customer reviews? They need to be taken with a grain of salt. Many people are simply clueless when it comes to building PCs...they try, fail, then blame the hardware. And they never tell you that they used a $15 PSU or globbed a teaspoon of thermal paste on the CPU. Check for "real" reviews from hardware sites (if any are available). And honestly, who really cares about support? "so are you sure this bouard would work with my turion?" I don't know for sure. You may wanna download the manual & check the BIOS chapter to see what options are available. It would have to include the CPU multiplier adjustment. http://www.foxconnchannel.com/EN-US...

The MSI K8N Neo V2.0 is out of stock at Geeks. Looks like they were selling it for $33 but I had seen it as low as $25: http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?In... Also out of stock with the nForce4 version: http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?in... There's always this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...

well, after i did some window shopping in town, i came across a really good deal and i splurged: - amd athlon X2 4400+ socket AM2 - 2GB DDR2 RAM - Asus main board (can't remember the model, but it is nforce something) - DVDRW with lightscribe - 400GB SATA2 hard drive - 20 inch wide lcd screen that's a little scratched up but no dead pixels. only $400! thats canadian too, so not bad. glad i didn't do the turion thing, cuz this thing is super quiet. i'm sitting right next to it and i have to stop typing in order to hear it! thanks for your help guys! i'll sell this turion to some other poor soul who wants to get it to work! lol. Do not try. Do, or do not. There is no try.