"All-In-One" Motherboards????

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Blain

Lifer
Oct 9, 1999
23,643
3
81
I'm thinking of building several systems for different people I know. They aren't big time gamers, so they won't have to get 120FPS playing Quake 3. I'm just looking to build some nice stable systems with some "good" not "great" 3D capacity, for the occasional jaunt into gameland.
Since I've been hanging around here, I lean towards a "killer" system. I realize most people don't need that much punch.

I'm looking for recommendations on those "All-In-One" type boards. Onboard video, sound, modem, LAN, you know what I'm talking about. I have no idea what companies produce nice boards with good onboard components. I'm leaning towards basing the systems around P3 flip-chips or Celeron II's. Sorry all you anti-Intel people.

Any thoughts?
 
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setaanbomb

Banned
Oct 24, 2000
284
0
0
That's going to be tough. The best Combo motherboard I have seen was in a Deskpro sold by Compaq. It was the Intel 815E chipset with onboard TNT2 16MB graphics and ESS onboard sound. Trying to get all the punch built into the motherboard is difficult. I remember reading a story that Nvidia was looking to oem its GeForce chipset to Intel and VIA to get some better gaming support from all-in-one Motherboards, but that's at least 4-5 months away.
 
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Sunner

Elite Member
Oct 9, 1999
11,641
0
76
I agree, there are no chipsets with decent(By todays standards) performance.

The i81x sucks, its 3d performance would have sucked 2 years ago, heck you cant even play Quake1 on them with acceptable framerates.

Your best bet is probabaly to try to find a mobo with everything cept for video onboard, and then go for a V3-2K, those are cheap and wont play the latest and greatest, but will do well for someone not looking for 100 fps in Quake3.
 
F

Fun Guy

Golden Member
Oct 25, 1999
1,210
5
81
Brand Model Type Processor Chipset RAM PCI CNR Sound LAN UDMA Website Notes
AOpen MX-3S Socket 370 PIII/Celeron Intel 815E 2 3 No Yes Yes 100 http://www.aopen.com.tw/products/mb/mx3s.htm
Asus CUSL2-M Socket 370 PIII/Celeron Intel 815E 3 3 Yes Yes Yes 100 http://www.asus.com.tw/products/Motherboard/Pentiumpro/Cusl2-m/index.html
Chaintech CT-6OIV2 Socket 370 PIII/Celeron Intel 815E 2 3 Yes Yes No 100 http://www.chaintech.com.tw/PRODUCTI/mainboar/sock370/6OIV2.htm
Gigabyte GA-6OMM7E Socket 370 PIII/Celeron Intel 815E 3 3 Yes Yes Yes 100 http://www.giga-byte.com/gigabyte-web/products/6omm7e.htm
Shuttle ME21 Socket 370 PIII/Celeron Intel 815E 2 3 Yes Yes No 100 http://www.spacewalker.com/english/mainboard_detail_info.asp?number=80

The CUSL2-M will be making its appearance very soon in the US market. I purchased one of those (as an evaluation) and an AOpen MX3S a little while ago. The CUSL2-S is nice, I haven't had a chance to plug in the MX3S.

Note that all of these boards are MicroATX form factor, making them nice and small and capable of putting into little MicroATX cases, such as this one:
Casedge 2200SF

Good luck.
 
A

andylawcc

Lifer
Mar 9, 2000
18,183
3
81
if you want the absolute cheapest,
look forward to Sis630 or even its older chipset,
the gfx is crap though, compare to I81X's intel gfx core which crap enough.
for the cheapest in intel's camp,
i810,
then i810e, and i815/e
for the i810x, no AGP, hence save you some money.

however, onboard sound and video does not a 'killer' system make.



and no sorry to anti-intel ppl, coz there are current no Athlon base all-in-1 mobo YET.
 
T

Tripleshot

Elite Member
Jan 29, 2000
7,218
1
0
Blain,
I build systems for people too. And many of my customers are elderly and just want to communicate with thier children and grandchildren on line.An occasional game of solatair or checkers on line is all they do. Here is the rub. As soon as they here from thier children about streaming video and web chats and voice over IP,your all in one board melts under the pressure. Know that going in.

Amptron and PCChips make very low end mobos all in one. I have built with them. If you can get the sis530 chipset,you will have better stability. You can do ok with them with this caveat. Install extra ram. Put in a 64 meg chip and a 32 for 96. That way the ram is thier for OS and Apps and the extra 32 can take the load for the video,sound and modem. It has been my experience this helps quite a bit. Use a decent modem too.

Good luck.;)
 
O

office boy

Diamond Member
Oct 12, 1999
4,210
0
0
I've done lot's of systems for older people who just want a cheap computer, and these MB's with a C2 533 or 566 are a great combo.
S381-M
 
B

beat mania

Platinum Member
Jan 23, 2000
2,451
0
76
SIS530's 2D is very ... blurry. PCChips MB - very bad exterme temperature tolerance. BIOS reset very often. Other than these complains, I have no problem with it.
 
B

Blain

Lifer
Oct 9, 1999
23,643
3
81
Thanks for all the input.
As cheap as V3-2000 or 3000 PCI are getting, I may try and find a board with the "other stuff" onboard. At least that would help in the gaming department.
I had planned to set the systems up with 128mb of PC-100. I figured it would give the systems a little breathing room. And the stuff is so cheap now, why not? I'm not looking for the absolute cheapest option, just the biggest bang for the buck. Stability is a key factor.
 
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Rigoletto

Banned
Aug 6, 2000
1,207
0
0
I'm amazed by the integrated solution offered by PCchips for the price. I'm not surprised if it has its drawbacks. But if it works at all it sounds great to me.
 
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Teatowel

Senior member
Sep 22, 2000
496
1
81

No!

No no no!

PC CHIPS are eeeeeeeeeevil :| sperm of the devil himself

My mate had several that died a death after only a couple of months use...the on board video sucks and will have Linux users cursing, and any devices that you decide to plug in conflict big time and will drive you up the wall. Unless they have changed big time in the last 8 months....

You're scraping the bottom of the barrel getting one of those!

As you can see I hate them with a passion!
 
B

Blain

Lifer
Oct 9, 1999
23,643
3
81
urbantechie,
Wow, I'm impressed with what I've been reading about those Intel D815EEA boards :)
I've always shyed away from Intel boards before, because of their hatred of "Overclocking". That is evident in their FSB options on their boards.
But for a situation like mine, where OCing isn't being considered, they look pretty good. And if someone wants more of a game rig...
Bam! Bump up the RAM, disable the onboard video and go to town!

BTW, here are some reviews I found for these Intel boards...
One2Surf
Motherboard Homeworld
 
R

Rigoletto

Banned
Aug 6, 2000
1,207
0
0
Teatowel, you take English lessons from Paula Yates? It's SPAWN of the devil.
I'm guessing you/ he bought the boards from Insight UK, how were they about these defective boards?
 
M

Midnight Rambler

Diamond Member
Oct 9, 1999
4,200
0
0
Blain,

While I personally have CUSL2, I have been building systems with both it and the Intel 815E mobos for some time. Many times I have recommended the Intel boards here on this Forum, and for good reasons. Probably the best overall construction quality I have seen in mobos, but this is not new when it comes to Intel's boards. Very stable, HUGE capacitors, superb layout around CPU socket including protection in the HS clip-on areas, diagnostic LEDs, etc. etc. With PCI SB sound and Intel 10/100 built-in, it's quite a deal at around $135-140. 3 year warranty is the icing on the cake.
 
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Teatowel

Senior member
Sep 22, 2000
496
1
81

Rigoletto

I was trying to make it even more gross than what Paula Yates said ;)

My flatmate got his PC Chips board as part of a complete system from some mail order place in England..can't for the life of me remember what they were called..they used to be pretty big and good, but have now gone bust. No loss ;)
 
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