Looking for advice on a new motherboard

[Smoke286]

Hi folks I'm thinking about buying a new computer later this year, I'd be interested in some advice about what would be a good, relativly inexpensive motherboard

 

[LeeJend]

Brands: ASUS or ABIT

Chipset: Nforce 2 Ultra for AMD based system or 865PE for an Intel based system.

Online retailers to trust: newegg, essential computers

Are you buying ready built or building one yourself? When you buy a ready built you will get inexpensive (cheap) components. They have to cut corners somewhere to make up for the labor costs and parts is where they do it.

 

[canadian_divx]

AMD or INTEL?

 

[devynal]

My personal preference has always been Abit. Fast, stable, easy-to-use boards.

 

[albybum]

Soyo, Abit, or Asus would be my top choices.

The Asus boards with the NForce chipsets seem to be very popular now.

 

[Sazar]

1. what sort of cpu are you looking to buy...
2. what sort of capabilities are you looking for (such as audio/GbE and so on)...
3. what do you expect to do with the board (ie for gaming/server/what?)
4. what is your price range 🙂
5. list any personal preference for board manufacturers as well

 

[Smoke286]

Well I am not sure about CPU's, I've always bought Intel Pentiums, but I understand that Athalons are very good chips for the money, my last mobo was an Asus CUV4X , and I thought I had done well till I realized that it could not be upgraded much past the Pentium III 667 that I had in it. I am quite happy with my present video card which is a Radeon 7500 so I guess I would prefer something in a newer Radeon card. I am planning to have my system built, as I did with my last one. A fairly good Audigy card would be nice. guess it would mostly be used for gaming so I figure 1024 mgs of DDR RAM. At least a 100 gig HD. I would prefer not to have to go over $2000 can. Chipsets? I haven't a clue. Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[Taurus]

Well I am not sure about CPU's, I've always bought Intel Pentiums, but I understand that Athalons are very good chips for the money, my last mobo was an Asus CUV4X , and I thought I had done well till I realized that it could not be upgraded much past the Pentium III 667 that I had in it. I am quite happy with my present video card which is a Radeon 7500 so I guess I would prefer something in a newer Radeon card. I am planning to have my system built, as I did with my last one. A fairly good Audigy card would be nice. guess it would mostly be used for gaming so I figure 1024 mgs of DDR RAM. At least a 100 gig HD. I would prefer not to have to go over $2000 can. Chipsets? I haven't a clue. Any advice would be appreciated.

chipsets...
if you go athlon: nforce2 ultra 400
if you go intel: 865pe

brands: abit, asus, gigabyte, dfi, chaintech, epox.. to name a few.

 

[Sazar]

2g's 😱

for that money you can buy an athlon fx51 with 1 gig of memory, dual 80gig hdd's and a lovely 9800XT 😱

I would recommend waiting for a month or two for the new cpu's and gfx cards to debut or be announced... but @ the moment the stuff I listed is WELL within your reach and you will still have money left over to buy a nice crt or a cheap tft...

 

[Taurus]

2g's 😱

...canadian. 😉

going 64-bit would probably still be a good idea, though. i'd hate to just yet with the immature chipsets and utter lack of a 64-bit OS... but if you're going to be hanging on to this system for a while, it might be smart.

in which case, an athlon64 3200+ or 3400+ and a motherboard based on the Via K8T800 chipset would be your best bet.

 

[AV-Power]

I would prefer not to have to go over $2000 can. Chipsets? I haven't a clue. Any advice would be appreciated.

U can easily build a good system without goin over $2000 😀

 

[Johnny]

You could build a good system for less than $1,000 lol ..

 

[Sazar]

...canadian. 😉

😀

oops on that part 🙂

yah... can still do a decent deal with a 3000+ or so and get a decent card like a 9600XT or a 5900 non ultra or so 🙂

a gig of decent memory is also quite on the cards with the low prices of memory right now and a hdd with a nice rebate is also likely 🙂

 

[Goatman]

Hint.... supposed to be a big price drop on CPUs on Monday....

 

[the_music_man]

i could build a good system under 500 lol

 

[Smoke286]

I wont be buying for a month or two yet, I'm really just gathering info at this point. Trying to catch up with the technology. Thanks for all the help guys, really.

 

[Taurus]

in which case, an athlon64 3200+ or 3400+

er... yeah, i meant 3000+ or 3200+.

I wont be buying for a month or two yet, I'm really just gathering info at this point. Trying to catch up with the technology. Thanks for all the help guys, really.

well, things can certainly change in a month or two. especially with the new 64-bit hardware. definitely get some up-to-date advice once you have the money ready. 🙂

 

[Smoke286]

er... yeah, i meant 3000+ or 3200+.


well, things can certainly change in a month or two. especially with the new 64-bit hardware. definitely get some up-to-date advice once you have the money ready. 🙂

Oh its not a matter of getting the money together, its justifying the expense.
😀

I may wait till the fall, see what shakes down by then. My current systems still work fine, but I need a third computer.