Author Topic: What motherboard should I buy? (Read 707 times)

eskimo2 · « **on:** October 13, 2002, 09:36:41 AM »

If you are in the know, please look at my specs and recommend a motherboard and memory that you think will be most compatible, upgradable, with a decent gaming performance, and not too expensive. I am also considering a new CPU as well.

Also, if you have dealt with particular suppliers that you like, or you know of something on sale somewhere, please give that merchant a plug.

* Here's what I have to work with:
* Generic cheap case (just like me)
* AMD Athlon 1400 mhz (mounted on a ECS K7AMA motherboard - {they suck} w 256 generic Ram)
* A new Antec 300W power supply
* A new Geforce4 4200 TI vid card
* A new Western Digital 40 GB 7200 rpm HDD
* Hitache DVD/CD
* Floppy unknown, but like most, works without conflicts (I assume...?)
* Keytronic keyboard, Memorex mouse
* CH Pro Throttle, Pro F-16 Fighterstick, and Pro Rudders, all programed and running Speedkeys. This means that I CAN NOT run Windows Xpor 2K. I've got to go with Me or 98

- Note, this machine will be used for playing AH only, so I don't care about extra features or fancy shmancy OS. I just want a semi reliable system that will play AH for another year or two with decent frame rates.
-Note, I am poor. I know that I need to spend some $, but I can't even consider top end gear.

So, please tell me about MoBo's, CPU's and Ram.

Thanks for your recommendations,

eskimo

Hussein · « **Reply #1 on:** October 13, 2002, 11:02:15 AM »

There are several possible solutions..

If I was to replace a broken computer (cheap) at the moment I would definately buy the MSI n420 motherboard. It's around $130 and has vga, lan, sound etc. built in. Installation is easy and I've encountered absolutely no problems in several systems I've built using that mobo. It also has an AGP port so you can use your Ti4200 with that board. In fact nforce boards are supposed to work better with nvidia cards. Just remember that you need two (2) sticks of ram to get best performance.

If I had time to wait (which I have) I would wait for the new nforce2 boards to come out. I'm planning to buy a flex-atx version of nforce2 to have a small but powerful desktop computer.

If nforce isn't what you want, almost _any_ model from Abit, Asus or Epox are worthwhile.

Pfunk · « **Reply #2 on:** October 13, 2002, 12:24:42 PM »

http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproduct.asp?description=13-131-417&DEPA=1

$72

or for cheaper

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduct.asp?submit=manufactory&catalog=22&manufactory=1414&DEPA=1&sortby=14&order=1

The ECS K7s5a is a WONDERFUL motherboard for cheap, have built several systems using this. Stable, Easy to use and cheap.

Innominate · « **Reply #3 on:** October 13, 2002, 01:03:40 PM »

Take a look at the EpoX motherboards. They're fairly cheap, but also good quality.

DAVENRINO · « **Reply #4 on:** October 13, 2002, 01:09:47 PM »

The A7n266-VM at Pfunk's NewEgg link is now good for up to 2600+ CPU if it has the current revision and bios. Great cheap setup with no overclock option. I am very happy with my Nforce A7N266-C with no ob video.
_____________________________ _______________________

Posted: Fri Sep 20, 2002 10:46 am Post subject: AMD Athlon XP CPUs Support Status (Up to Athlon XP 2600+)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Good news for all you ASUS nForcers

AMD Athlon XP CPUs Support Status
(Up to Athlon XP 2600+)

Model - Support Status - Since PCB - Since BIOS
A7N266 - Yes - 1.02 - 1004
A7N266-C - Yes - 1.03 - 1004
A7N266-E - Yes - 1.02 - 1004
A7N266-VM - Yes - 1.03 - 1004

http://www.asus.com.tw/inside/Techref/AthlonXP2600%2B.htm
_________________

DJ229

Reschke · « **Reply #5 on:** October 13, 2002, 01:34:07 PM »

Any ASUS or Epox board would be a good setup considering the problems you have described in other threads.

SKurj · « **Reply #6 on:** October 13, 2002, 01:39:45 PM »

MSI boards are usually in the lower price bracket and work great.

I haven't experience with any boards over 133, but the last one I bought (MSI K7T Turbo 2) was $80 cheaper than my previous ASUS board and performs just as well if not better.

SKurj

Staga · « **Reply #7 on:** October 13, 2002, 03:29:12 PM »

Couple months ago when I built new system I bought Soltek SL-75 DRV5 motherboard with VIA KT333 chip-set.

Works like a dream, more stable than my old Asus A7M266, has inbuilt heat sensor which cuts the power if CPU runs too hot, easy to overclock if needed, had good ratings in Tom's Hardware and AMD3D.
It was quite cheap and I didn't expect too much from it but it has surprised me in a good way.

http://www.soltek.de/English/product/75drv5.htm

http://www.amd3d.com/review/sl75drv5/

Price is 82$ at Newegg, taken from http://www.pricewatch.com

bloom25 · « **Reply #8 on:** October 14, 2002, 11:15:35 AM »

The Asus A7N266-C is a great board. Extremely stable and fast. I've used it for 3 systems now. (Including my own.) The only downside of this board is that it cannot support the new 333 FSB Athlon XPs (2700+ and up) but it can be found for very cheap online since nForce 2 boards are about to be released. I've seen this board as cheap as $68 + shipping!

The only thing with this board is that you will need to buy DDR Sdram as well, but that's really a must for top performance anymore anyway.

CavemanJ · « **Reply #9 on:** October 14, 2002, 12:09:06 PM »

I'm real happy with my nForce board. I'm using the MSI K7N420 board. Since you already have a GF4 you could look at the K7N415. Same board but w/o the onboard GF2 mx. Might save ya a few clams.

As pointed out ya need 2 sticks of ram for the best performance, but I don't think you'll complain with only one stick. I've only got 1 stick of 256mb in mine and it runs just fine.

One thing to note about the nForce boards (MSI's anyway, dinnae about Asus) is they don't like 9x/Me. Some folks have gotten 98 or Me running w/ no problems, but I wasn't one of them. Was having BSoD's before I even finished the 98se setup, so I went to 2k pro. No problems at all there

blkdvl · « **Reply #10 on:** October 14, 2002, 07:58:33 PM »

Ive built 2 with these boards . One with the 8K7a and one with the 8Khal. Both using Crucial DDR 512 megs. Screamin and rock solid. Good buy for the money, 77 and 85 bucks (resp) at New egg. One of my rigs is a 1.4 T-bird(266 FSB) on the 8k7a.Philips Sc, 512 megs crucial ddr, GF2 Ti 64 meg Vid. Thing runs like a truck..heheh. GL

eagl · « **Reply #11 on:** October 14, 2002, 10:19:32 PM »

I had good luck with an ECS K7S5A but it's definately "last year's model". It includes reasonable onboard sound and LAN and you can use either SDRAM or DDR memory. The overall performance of the K7S5A is just a bit lower than newer athlon chipsets but you probably wouldn't notice the difference.

From the other thread though, it sounds like you need to doublecheck your memory before tossing the motherboard out. Memory is typically more fragile than a motherboard, but you really should get a new stick of memory (beg/borrow/steal) and run memtest on the new stick before diving in on a new motherboard.

If you want stability and no problems ever, go to frys and get one of those new name-brand intel P4 motherboards that supports DDR memory, 512 meg DDR from crucial or some other name-brand retailer (crucial.com offers free shipping and a good exchange/warranty program) and the fastest P4 cpu you can afford. It will be more pricy than an Athlon based system and you'll get less speed for your money, but you won't have to worry about flaky chipsets or breaking your cpu when putting the heatsink on.

If you don't mind the POTENTIAL hassles an athlon system offers (not guaranteed hassles, just potential ones), you can get much higher performance for your money.

I went all-out and got an ABIT KR7A-RAID motherboard (I wanted onboard RAID and did not care about onboard video/sound/lan) a few months ago and it's been very stable, so see if ABIT has a motherboard that has the features you want if you decide you still need a new mobo. Some newer motherboards offer decent surround-sound output and a good LAN chip onboard so that may even save you a little money and effort.

Newman · « **Reply #12 on:** October 14, 2002, 11:56:32 PM »

Since he's got a T-Bird 1.4.. most of those MB's are WAY overkill.

I'm STILL happy with my Abit KT7A-RAID (also have an ASUS A7V266 and perfer the Abit), and they can be had for a song now because they aren't the B-B-T. I've seen them new on E-Bay for $40 because they aren't DDR.

I've got speedy PC-150, and I think that is just as important.

My .02,

Newman

Hussein · « **Reply #13 on:** October 15, 2002, 02:12:24 AM »

Umm newman unless you're overclocking your computer it doesn't make any difference whatsoever which PC rating your memory has.

PC-133 is just as fast on normal clock settings as PC-150 - just you can overclock the latter a bit higher than the other. DDR changes the basic way to handle datastream so it automatically brings speed benefits.

As what goes to KT7, I had major probs with the board and ended up returning it. It wouldn't work with SB Live! at all and the chipset crapped out if you tried to move large data like, duh, doing backups and stuff.. That board cost me 60Gb of data because it didn't let me backup first and then the 2-weeks old striped hd crapped out.

It's possible that my KT7 was a bad egg.. I'm not gonna buy one anymore in any case.

eskimo2 · « **Reply #14 on:** October 15, 2002, 05:56:22 AM »

Thanks for all the advice guys!

I'm thinking it all through.
Some of my issues are;
* I've got to run Win Me or 98 so that my CH devices will work. I don't want to dump $3-400 to replace the only thing that still servs me well for the same thing in USB. The problem with 98 or Me is that I've heard that some mobos don't like 98 (no sound, etc). I've got to figure out which one will agree with 98 or Me and my specs... I'll prolly just use the Me disk, because I already own it.
*4 PCs in the house and the next biggest RAM stick is a 64 meg. Prolly wouldn't do much good to test AH with 64 meg...? I should prolly just order the 512 DDR crucial (I can use it no matter what), but then I've got to wait a few days before I can even see if the RAM is the issue. But, I guess I've got more time than money, so that's prolly the smartest thing to do...
I'll probably order it tonight.
*I also want my mobe to be upradeable, I might want to put a 2.4 ish CPU on it in a few months when they get cheap.

Thanks again guys,
eskimo