Motherboard Manufacturers

Status_QuoStatus_Quo Join Date: 2004-01-30 Member: 25749Members
in Off-Topic
<div class="IPBDescription">Need recommendations</div> As it turned out, my computer died out of nowhere. Rather than spending money and energy on trying to repair it, I decided I might as well get upgraded. The system specs I'm looking at are the following:

CPU: Intel P4 Northwood 2.8GHz (800MHz FSB) 512kb
RAM: 2x512Mb Standard PC3200 DDR-RAM
Harddrive: Seagate SATA (160Gb)
GFX: Radeon 9600xt 256Mb
Case: Chieftec Dragon 360W

The rest (DVD etc.), I'll salvage from the corpse (which I just dismantled).
That leaves me looking for a motherboard. I like to think I have a decent knowledge of hardware, but I have to admit that motherboards confuse me. I can figure out if the stuff will fit, and how ports I have for other things I might like to buy later on, but I have no idea how *well* things will fit.

Mainly, I'd like some advice on what manufacturers I'm supposed to look at. From what I've read, it's ASUS, Abit and Gigabyte you should go for (shouldn't Intel boards fit intel CPUs rather nicely though?). Any opinions? Specific models is not necessary, but if you know of a good one that'll work with the above specs, I'm open for suggestions. Otherwise I'll probably be able to figure it out myself. Integrated graphics is a big no-no however. Audio preferred and LAN not necessary.

Any other suggestions regarding the specs is welcome too. I'm trying to go for the good-but-not-too-costly setting.
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Comments

  • CommunistWithAGunCommunistWithAGun Local Propaganda Guy Join Date: 2003-04-30 Member: 15953Members
    Get an athlon xp, much cheaper and faster.


    Go Gigabyte or Asus, good boards...biostar too.
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  • Status_QuoStatus_Quo Join Date: 2004-01-30 Member: 25749Members
    Yeah, I was told to get an AMD by someone else too (then again, I was recommended a P4 as well, so I dunno), so I checked out P4 2.8GHz vs AMD XP 3200+ rather thoroughly on Tom's Hardware. The P4 beat the AMD hands down. I have very little knowledge of the AMD CPUs, so if you could give me some info about them, I would appreciate it. Perhaps I've confused their models or something.
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  • lochnesslochness Join Date: 2002-12-13 Member: 10753Members
    www.hardocp.com

    www.pricewatch.com


    those 2 will tell you all you should need to know
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  • Cereal_KillRCereal_KillR Join Date: 2002-10-31 Member: 1837Members
    I do believe intel is more powerful than the Athlon XP's, but that doesn't mean they're better. If you're buying your own computer, you'll eventually notice how much more expensive the Intels are.

    Tip of advice: don't get the 3200+ in athlons, as you can easily get it by overclocking a 2600+ or so. Sure, the warranty is dead and you'd need a better cooling than the boxed, but you'd save HALF the price (100ish)
    You just judge for yourself if you want to overclock.


    As for motherboards, I have had these (both athlon based)

    MSI KT4 Ultra - nice and cheap, with KT400, and I've been happy about it
    Asus A7N8X-E - quite performant, with s-ata and gigabit lan, for around 100 bucks.

    I can't really help for Intels though.
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  • Status_QuoStatus_Quo Join Date: 2004-01-30 Member: 25749Members
    I'd rather not overclock. I prefer paying a bit more, having the computer last a bit longer, and not risk the dust (oh there's dust, and plenty of it) starting a fire due to increased heat-development. The 3200+ XP is actually more expensive than the P4 2.8 around where I live (~$10 or so).
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  • GreyPawsGreyPaws Join Date: 2002-11-15 Member: 8659Members
    I've been with asus for over 6 years, I've never had a problem, their motherboard utilities are great, and they are jumperless boards. The support for updates is ok I'd rate it a 7 out of 10. The customer service needs work, only because it seems not too many of their techs speak much english <!--emo&:(--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/sad.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='sad.gif' /><!--endemo-->

    The Asus stuff is very friendly to overclockers and you get a three year warranty on anything they make.
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  • SpoogeSpooge Thunderbolt missile in your cheerios Join Date: 2002-01-25 Member: 67Members
    I've heard plenty of good things about MSI. <a href='http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=13-130-450&catalog=280&manufactory=BROWSE&depa=1' target='_blank'>Here's a board you might like.</a>

    I'm an AMD user myself so I can't really vouche for the quality of a P4 mobo.
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  • ZaphodZaphod Join Date: 2003-12-30 Member: 24882Members
    I'll just reiterate what everyone else has already said. AMD & Asus.
    My newly aqcuired Asus K8V is wonderful, and my old Asus K7M worked great for 5 years and is still going strong.
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  • JimJim Join Date: 2002-11-26 Member: 9989Members
    I've always been rather partial to abit <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif' /><!--endemo-->
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  • Status_QuoStatus_Quo Join Date: 2004-01-30 Member: 25749Members
    I still don't see the advantage with AMD. Everyone seems to think they are better, but all the tests I've seen so far say quite the opposite. The price is not very different either.

    I'll probably go for an ASUS board though. I had plans to do so anyway, and if others like it, I guess there's nothing wrong with it. Thanks.
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  • DiscoZombieDiscoZombie Join Date: 2003-08-05 Member: 18951Members
    <!--QuoteBegin-Zaphod+Feb 13 2004, 03:04 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (Zaphod @ Feb 13 2004, 03:04 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> I'll just reiterate what everyone else has already said. AMD & Asus.
    My newly aqcuired Asus K8V is wonderful, and my old Asus K7M worked great for 5 years and is still going strong. <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
    that's what I've got too, and I'm quite happy. Also happy w/ my Athlon 64, though it was expensive and is currently kinda pointless <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif' /><!--endemo--> at least it gives me bragging rights.
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  • JaspJasp Join Date: 2003-02-04 Member: 13076Members
    edited February 2004
    Athlon 64 £185.13 3GHZ where i live. Less if you dont want retail.
    Intel P4 £185.80 3GHZ where i live. Less if you dont want retail.

    Strange that the Athlon 64 would be less then a P4.

    Even more strange is the fact that a Athlon XP 3GHZ is £169.25 10 pound less then a 64.

    I think they got thier maths abit wrong at the shop i go to <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.natural-selection.org/forums/html//emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif' /><!--endemo-->

    Anyway Chaintech/Jetway are the lower end of the motherboard spectrum, ive had a Jetway board for some years and its caused me only a few issues (reseting itself for no reason) and yes it was the board as people reported it.

    Ive heard good things about ASUS boards although ive never owned one.

    But tbh since you allready have most the parts salvaged from the PC id just buy a cheap/non expensive board as its just not worth it with all the new things coming out. PCI Express, Athlon 64 FX and such
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  • CForresterCForrester P0rk(h0p Join Date: 2002-10-05 Member: 1439Members, Constellation
    edited February 2004
    <!--QuoteBegin-Status Quo+Feb 13 2004, 03:15 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (Status Quo @ Feb 13 2004, 03:15 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> I still don't see the advantage with AMD. Everyone seems to think they are better, but all the tests I've seen so far say quite the opposite. The price is not very different either. <!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
    Good, stick with Intel. I've only seen problems from the people here who've had AMDs.

    [EDIT] To clarify: Here = My city.
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  • EpidemicEpidemic Dark Force Gorge Join Date: 2003-06-29 Member: 17781Members
    I recommend AMD, they are pretty stable and good for gaming, but then again I have never owned a Intell so you shouldnt ask me <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif' /><!--endemo-->
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  • NumbersNotFoundNumbersNotFound Join Date: 2002-11-07 Member: 7556Members
    I'd say go Asus. I've used 2 asus mobos in recent times and both have been flawless.


    As for the whole "p4 vs althon" debate, if your doing heavy encoding, compression, etc. Stuff that takes brute CPU force, than go P4. The athlon64 seems to be doing a little better in gaming in general.
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  • JimJim Join Date: 2002-11-26 Member: 9989Members
    I read somewhere that p4 trounces amd in synthetic tests, but in a real situation they're equal <!--emo&???--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/confused.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='confused.gif' /><!--endemo-->
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  • NumbersNotFoundNumbersNotFound Join Date: 2002-11-07 Member: 7556Members
    edited February 2004
    read <a href='http://www.tomshardware.com/cpu/20040106/index.html' target='_blank'>here</a>

    The Athlon64s tend to do better in games, while the P4 does betting in encoding. Take a look at the benchmarks, weigh the price, and waht you'll use it for, and decide accordingly. I think in reliability and the like that they are both equal.

    From article: "... the benchmarks in which the Athlon64 shines are significant. In practically all of the gaming benchmarks, the 3400+ is able to beat its archrival Pentium 4 - sometimes soundly. X2, Warcraft III, Unreal Tournament 2003, Splinter Cell, Serious Sam, Gunmetal, Comanche and Aqua Mark: the Pentium 4 has to concede victory in all of them. "

    "Meanwhile, thanks to its higher clock speeds, the Pentium 4 comes out on top for encoding tasks such as creating MPEG-4 and MPEG-2 video or MP3 audio as well as for data compression with WinRAR 3.2 - although sometimes only by a hair. It also dominates in the case of professional tasks with 3D Studio Max or Cinema 4D, while the Athlon64 outperforms the Pentium with Lightwave 7.5."
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  • XaniethXanieth Join Date: 2002-11-06 Member: 7280Members
    <span style='font-size:21pt;line-height:100%'>PENTIUM IS KING, DEATH TO THE HERETICS</span>
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  • CommunistWithAGunCommunistWithAGun Local Propaganda Guy Join Date: 2003-04-30 Member: 15953Members
    <!--QuoteBegin-Status Quo+Feb 13 2004, 02:25 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (Status Quo @ Feb 13 2004, 02:25 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> Yeah, I was told to get an AMD by someone else too (then again, I was recommended a P4 as well, so I dunno), so I checked out P4 2.8GHz vs AMD XP 3200+ rather thoroughly on Tom's Hardware. The P4 beat the AMD hands down. I have very little knowledge of the AMD CPUs, so if you could give me some info about them, I would appreciate it. Perhaps I've confused their models or something. <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
    Pentiums are generally better performing on a non-gaming or high end use. In games AMD is best. I wouldn't use them for 5 years unless they were good. <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif' /><!--endemo-->
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  • Status_QuoStatus_Quo Join Date: 2004-01-30 Member: 25749Members
    The 64-bit AMD may be better, but around where I live, they are nearly twice as expensive. It's either a XP 3200+ or a 2.8GHz P4 I'm going for (both priced about the same), and the P4 seems to be either better or equal in most areas.
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  • NumbersNotFoundNumbersNotFound Join Date: 2002-11-07 Member: 7556Members
    <!--QuoteBegin-Status Quo+Feb 14 2004, 05:09 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (Status Quo @ Feb 14 2004, 05:09 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> The 64-bit AMD may be better, but around where I live, they are nearly twice as expensive. It's either a XP 3200+ or a 2.8GHz P4 I'm going for (both priced about the same), and the P4 seems to be either better or equal in most areas. <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
    Not sure of the pentium4 prices, but NewEgg has the Athlon64 3400+ for 400 bucks, the 3200+ for 200 bucks, and the FX51 for 700bucks.
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