I've decided to go with DDR2 memory so I don't have to upgrade in a few years. But with the new memory I have to get a new motherboard. I've picked out the ASUS M2V Via K8T890. But I'm not sure if the audio that it comes with is good enough. Should I buy a sound card to accompany this motherboard? I can't find reviews for the sound the mobo comes with. If anyone could give me some input or a review for the mobo that would be great. Thanks

You're gonna regret the timing of your purchase. AMD CPUs are going to take a huge price cut (up to 50% on some X2 models) in about 2 weeks. http://www.tgdaily.com/2006/07/14/amd_really_will_drop_athlon64_prices/ http://www.neowin.net/index.php?act=view&id=33585 I wouldn't have recommended a VIA based board either. The K8T890 is an "old" chipset designed for the S939 A64. Something from the nForce5 series would have been a better choice. As for the sound, try it & see if it's adequate...you can easily add a soundcard later. Or try searching for reviews for "Realtek ALC 660". It's been used on several different boards so maybe there's an in-depth review of it somewhere.

Jam, I have not yet purchased anything yet. I am just putting together what I want then I will buy everything. I am waiting for July 24th before I buy the x2s drop in price, but thanks. So the VIA is an old board? Any reccomendations on what board I should get that supports DDR2 memory?

If you get a socket AM2 A64, you'll have to go with DDR2, but since you haven't bought anything yet (you should have stated that) I suggest you look into other motherboards. The VIA chipset isn't that old, but it was designed with the S939 A64 & DDR RAM in mind. ATI & nVidia have new chipsets especially for the AM2 platform. My guess is that the nForce 570 Ultra will be the "best buy" unless you plan on getting into SLi or Crossfire. I suggest you read up on them choose the one that best fits your needs & price range: http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1697,1966812,00.asp http://techreport.com/reviews/2006q2/am2-chipsets/index.x?pg=1 http://www.viperlair.com/reviews/cpu_mobo/nvidia/nf590/index.shtml http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2006/05/23/nvidia_nforce_5/1.html

Why not go with an Intel Core 2 Duo on a LGA 775 965 chipset motherboard? The Core 2 Duo is only 10 days away from being launched. I wouldn't even bother with AMD's right now until the K8L AM3's come out with quad-core in early 2007. That's what i'm waiting for and sell my current system on ebay etc... AMD Athlon 64 X2 4600+ OC 2.7ghz 2GB Dual Channel DDR 3200 Nvidia 7900GT SATA II 2x 200gig 7200rpm 16mb cache RAID-0 Gigabyte Nforce 4 SLI