What's a good motherboard / CPU combination these days ?

[JB]

I think it is about time that I build a new desktop machine for general home use, but I'm a bit out of touch with what the current range of motherboards and CPU's are like, which is why I would welcome any info.

My present machine is an Intel E8400 Core2 Duo (socket 775) at 3Ghz running on a Gigabyte EP45-DS3L with 4Gb of DDR2 memory. I'd like to take a step up from that but don't need a state of the art flying machine and I don't play games. My main uses are for video editing and the compression of movies and MPG files and also for compressing WAV music files into MP3. I don't really do much with large still digital photographs.

Main operating system is Linux Mint 10 with (dual boot) Windows XP being used for the few programs which (IMHO) don't have a suitable Linux equivalent.

Anyone care to comment on what mobo and CPU would give me a boost without breaking the bank. I must admit that all the new CPU socket numbers are confusing the heck out of me.

Thanks,

JB.

[Simon]

I'm not sure that it's cost effective to build your own machine these days.  Have you considered a custom build from somewhere like Scan?  You can choose the components you want, and they put it together for you.  

[esh]

Core i7s are ungodly pricey right now. Have you tried clocking your Core 2? I run a 2.8GHz Core 2 at 3.6GHz and it does quite nicely.

I usually buy Gigabyte boards.

[gizmo71]

If the software that needs the most grunt can run on more than four cores, an i7 or an Athlon X6 is the way to go. My recent server build mated an Asus M4A77T with a Phenom II X6 1055T and have been very pleased with the results.

The downside to upgrading like that is that you'll need DDR3 memory - if you're not finding 4GB a limitation, you could consider replacing it with a quad-core socket 775 CPU; you'll probably have to take a small backwards step in clock speed, but if the stuff you're running can make use of more than two cores simultaneously you could end up with a handy net performance gain.

I still use an E8400 in my workstation and it's still a good bit of kit - if your video editing and/or media compression tools don't multithread you'll stuggle to see meaningful performance gains from any upgrade.

[JB]

Thanks very much for the replies guys.

@Simon I kind of like putting my own machines together, although I do accept that it doesn't really save any cost. I'm just happier doing it myself and I feel more in touch with what the technology looks like.

@esh Yes, I have the E8400 over clocked at 3.6GHz as well. It runs nice and stable with the stock cooler.

@gizmo71 You have reminded me of a very valid point that I had overlooked. I need to check if the software I am using will multithread. I quite like the look of the Athlon X6 you have built. It's years since I build a computer with anything other than an Intel CPU. You've given me food for thought. Cheers.

JB.