Need to replace my Mobo - advice and sugesstions

Maveric169

The Voices Talk to Me
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5 Dec 2002
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Well my mobo is starting to fail at a high error rate and I need to replace it on as affordable as possible. I can't afford to do an upgrade as I had hoped. My current mobo is a Gigabyte GA-7VKML.

My requirements:

suport 4 IDE devices (2 HDDs, [1 ata100, 1 ata133] 1 CD-ROM Drive, 1 DVD-ROM drive)

Onboard LAN10/100 or better
Onboard sound with mice in port for headset (good sound would be great)
1 AGP 4X/8X slot
3 PCI slots able to be fully used
Support USB 2.0 (2 or more ports)
Can support PC2100 DDR Ram or higher
The more bios options the better

3 Mobo's that I have found on Newegg in the $50 - $65 range are the

Asus A7V8X-X
Aopen AK77-600N
Gigabyte GA-7N400S-L

I have had a tough time finding reliable reviews for these so any input would be great. If you know of comparable mobo's in this price range (not to exceed $75) I would be very interested in hearing about it. I am looking to make my purchase ASAP.
 
Forget AOPEN, second rate.

ASUS which was previously top gun has been getting slammed a lot lately (RAM compatibility, overall reliability, stability).

Gigabyte makes good reliable middle of the road board that has less features but is more stable. BUT, the gigabyte I had is trash now because the CMOS reset jump fell off the header when I moved my PC The CMOS header had under sized pins. A buddy ran into this too on one of his MB's, forget the brand.

Of the three I would recommend Gigabyte these days.

But personally I've gotten tired of paying top dollar and getting stuff that may not be any better. I buy the cheapest I can find locally now, ECS, Chaintek, or PCChips. If they work fine out of the box they last just as long as the "better" names. if flaky out of the box it gets exchanged for another.


PS What does "mice in port for headset" mean?
 
NEWEGG Alert!

I just noticed that most of their MB now say:

**This item is warranted through the product manufacturer only.

With a link that is unclear as to whether Newegg will RMA the MB if it is DOA.

Sounds like if it's DOA you have to get a factory replacement. Won't be buying MBs from them anymore.
 
Thanks for the info LeeJend, I ddin't notice the warrentee deal, thanks for pointing it out. Sorry for the typo, should be "microphone" jack.

Do you know of any other MB's off hand that I should consider?
 
I have a feeling that policy on newegg won't last for long...

I highly suggest an MSI nforce2 board, they have been nothing but stable for me.
 
LeeJend said:
NEWEGG Alert!

I just noticed that most of their MB now say:

**This item is warranted through the product manufacturer only.
You can still RMA to Newegg within their warranty period:
Newegg.com SATISFACTION GUARANTEE - Newegg.com offers our customers a 30-day satisfaction replacement or refund guarantee on all purchases, except:

• 7-day replacement or refund guarantee on all CPUs, including refurbished processors. All other refurbished merchandise has a 15 day warranty period.
• Note: For CPU, base cost will reflect current market price, and 15% restocking fee will apply after this adjustment. Therefore, total refund is subtracting.
• Downloadable software is non-refundable.

Any longer then 30 days and you have to go through manufacturer.

I just had a RMA a week ago for a mainboard that had This item is warranted through the product manufacturer only next to it but Newegg still accepted it within the thirty days from purchase date.
 
IMO your best bet is to save up another $20-$30 and pickup one of these: http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=240314 (Asus A7N8X-E Deluxe)

I had mine for 11 months before upgrading to the msi k8n neo2 platinum for athlon64 and it was stellar. Nvidia Soundstorm onboard sound and all that you require and then some.

For nForce 2 motherboards you cant get better according to Anandtech, HardOCP tied it with the DFI Lanparty and I cant remember what THG said :p
 
I like the reviews and the specs of the ASUS "A7N8X-E Deluxe", might spend a little more to get it. One question if anyone knows, how do I tell if my GeForce4 Ti 4200 runs at the 1.5V though? Also is ZoomFly a good retailer? Also which board version should I want as there are 2? a 13XX and a 14XX? Or does it matter?
 
anythng after geforce 3 is 1.5v (inclusive), try and get a later revision if you can, I'm not sure it matters much but later revisions may have solved hardware or layout quirks present inearlier versions.

ZipZoomFly i'm told is awesome - I think they have a number you can call to ask questions and stuff.
 
I've had my Gigabyte mobo for a year now and i am very impressed with it, the biggest advantage i think, is the four dimm slots great for upgrading, not sure what it costs now, but as far as i'm concerned, its the best mobo i've ever owned.

See my sig for the board name as i don't remember it off the bat.

Plus it supports all you want, its Nforce2 has great sound, loads of expansion bays, i'll post the link to the spec site.

http://www.giga-byte.com/MotherBoard/Products/Products_GA-7N400E-L.htm

i just cant say enough for this board, cant seem to find it on new egg but perhaps the s-l is similar enough.
 
I'm not a fan of gigabyte myself however I must vredit them for the mainbaords powering 2 of my 3 servers. been going for 4 years now and only one had a fault after 6 months ( a mosfet cracked and would work when cold but as it warmed up with expand away and short out). Not the fastest motherboards on earth but they last ages.
 
Re: Need to replace my Mobo - sooo ironic

This is so typical of things that happen to only me, I decided to buy the Asus A7N8X-E Deluxe from zipzoomfly.com $88 out the door w/ 2day free shipping, best deal I could find on that mobo. So what happens right after I complete my order and print my confromation page? BSOD, on reboot IDE channel 1 will not respond, totally dead. So I had to disconnct my backup harddrive to get my system to boot. Typical, it just couldn't hold out for 2 more days, had to start crapping out on me as soo as I order a replacement. I think my mobo is highly upset with me. :cry:
 

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