Athlon 2200+ Mobo

[dubstar]

so what goes nicely with the 2200+ ? something that can be o/c'd, and something that utilizes ddr nicely. Whats a good company to look at? ABit, MSI, Leadtek.. im clueless on these companys, which one do I deeeeeefinitly stay away from, and which do i snuggle up with night, gently massaging its static-free bag until it goes in the case?

 

[Taurus]

whatever brand it is, get an nforce2 board.

 

[Goatman]

here are some good choices, all from newegg.com


Asus A7N8X $119
Asus A7N8X Deluxe $154
MSI K7NG2 (onboard Geforce 4 MX vid) $135
Epox EP-8RDA $88
Epox EP-8RDA+ $112

(They are all nForce2)

Usually the more expensive the more features, but I'd look around at some reviews and choose the one you like best

 

[dubstar]

oddly enough i was just looking at the ASUS A7N8X Delux on the asus website. it looks awesome, especially the sound storm 5.1 and serial ata built in, also the MCP chipset looks very tasty.

$154 sounds about right.

with the soundstorm, i dont have to buy a sound card right?


also, please laugh, i deserve it, but If i buy this, i still need a chipset, and a processor? or i dont understand, i always thought the chipset was the processor, or is the processor on the mobo, or whats the deal?

 

[Shamus MacNoob]

The chipset is on the board ,,, you need to buy a CPU and a heatsink and fan ...... plus you might need to buy ram dunno if you have ddr now or the sd ram? ... after that no you wont need a soundcard if you have the on board soundstorm

 

[skauch]

I bought the A7N8X with an Athlon XP 2400+ when the board came out and i am very happy with it, also i have DDR-400. i can't ask more

 

[dubstar]

so a A7N8x Deluxe would run good with a ...............

Palomino Athlon XP 2100+ (1.73Ghz, 256KB, 266Mhz, Socket A) - OEM for $~110

or

Athlon XP 1700+ (1.47GHz, 256KB, 266MHz, Socket A) OEM

or is OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) bad to go with, and I should look for something else?




thanks for being patient, im sure you guys run into a atleast 50 hardware newbies a month

 

[rettahc]

OEM is fine as long as you realize that OEM processors do not come with a heat sink and fan, so you will have to buy them seperatly.

 

[Cosmin]

Epox 8RDA+ all the way Epox

 

[Taurus]

the chipset is what every motherboard is based on. it's comprised of a northbridge and southbridge and basically is the foundation for a mpotherboard. a chipset is devised by a company (Via, SiS, Intel, AMD, Nvidia) and manufacturers (asus, epox, abit, etc) produce boards based on the chipset. the manufacturer can add or modify chipset features to a certain extent (putting in a different sound proccesor, adding on raid, etc).

so choosing a board based on it's chipset is way more important than choosing based solely on brand.

Via makes...
KT series (kt133a, kt266a, kt333, kt400, etc) among others. the KT series are their performance-based AMD chipsets. the KT400 is the newest and a very decent chipset. they also make good intel chipsets.

SiS makes...
not sure... but most SiS chipsets are budget-oriented and not the best for power-users. though i heard they make decent chipsets for intels.

Intel makes...
chipsets for their processors, of course. i think these are probably the best if you're going for an intel system.

AMD makes...
likewise, chipsets for AMD processors. but not the fastest or most feature-rich of chipsets. usually cheaper.

Nvidia makes...
nforce and nforce2.

the nforce2 chipset has kick-ass onboard sound that rivals that of the audigy2 and other high-end cards. it also has dual-ddr which, when used with 2 equal sticks of memory, can double your memory bandwidth. so 2x pc3200 = pc6400! and some versions of the nforce2 chipset have onboard video capabilities equal to a gf4 mx.

i recently made a chart laying out the features of several different nforce2 boards from diff manufacturers. i attached it for you to use. the prices are a couple weeks old so do your own pricing.

 

[LeeJend]

Kinda smeared but...

This is a hot set up. Asus MB, XP 2200 w/fan, 2 sticks 256 meg DDR 333 ram. You need 2 sticks of ram to take advantage of the dual DDR function (one stick will work or you can use 266 mhz ram it'll just be a little slower system.)

This is pricing from www.essentialcompu.com No shipping charges on ram and CPU. I used to like compuplus but their shipping is offensive and shoddy packaging. (A friend got an oem cpu with bent pins.)

Product# Product Quant. Price Total price
MR-CL-CT3264z335-1895-O-Win Crucial Technology 256MB 184pin DDR PC2700 333MHz #CT3264z335 CL2.5 $ 42.00 $ 42.00
CPU-AM-AXP2200BOX-2448-R-Win AMD Athlon XP 2200+ 1.80GHz Thoroughbred 3D CPU Retail - with Heatsink and Fan $ 120.00 $ 120.00
MB-Asu-A7N8x-2944-R-Win Asus A7N8X AMD nForce2-ST SocketA 3DDR ATA133 USB 2.0 8x AGP ATX - Retail $ 115.00 $ 115.00
Subtotal $ 277.00
Shipping $ 7.00

Total: $ 284.00


PS: In response to your original question: Curl up with and even marry asus. Avoid shuttle and chaintek unless you want AID's. ABIT is okay as a second choice. The rest are spread in between.

 

[dubstar]

thanks for the chat taurus, i will definitly take a look at it! and thanks LeeJend for the website tip off. but i think you meant for it to be http://www.essentialcomp.com/

 

[Jz1397-5]

Asus A7N8X Deluxe, nd if you can get an OEM processor with 333FSB, you will rock that place. or get like an OEM 2400+ and set it to 13.5 X 167 to get the 2700+

 

[koko]

don't forget to check pricewatch before you buy. you may save some $.