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Athlon motherboard + PSU recommendations

N

nbarb99

Senior member
I need recommendations on a solid Athlon motherboard - my aging PCChips Socket A board just conked out and I need a replacement. The thing is, I'm not ready (money-wise) to do an entire upgrade, so I'm looking to keep my current 1GHz T-bird and PC133 memory.

Are there any relatively inexpensive boards that support both 168- and 184-pin DIMMs? In the future, I'd like to upgrade to an overclocked mobile 2500+ setup. (in that case, I'd get new memory when I upgrade the CPU)

Also, any recommendations on a good 350~450W PSU?
 
Antec Truepower Power supply will treat you very well, i have the 430x they have a 380 and a 350 i beleive, just check newegg

dont know about the mobo, if you could swing it if go with the 2400+ and shuttle mobo right now for about 120$ total, about 80$ more for some ram
 
Thanks for the suggestions, I was thinking I'd check out Antec's PSUs as well - seems like a lot of people like them.

Right now I'm only looking to buy a mobo, so I probably won't go for a mobo+CPU combo. I'll check out some of Shuttle's models.
 
nbarb99, if you're hurting for funds poke around at Newegg's refurb section. Sometimes you can find a really good deal there on mobos, including older models. There are usually many in there under $30.00. Just keep checking because the stock fluctuates from day to day.
 
If you're short on money, some of the cheaper Sparkles, Fortrons, and the Allied 400W are good choices at Newegg.

If you want to get a good board so you'll be ready for future CPU upgrades, check out the Abit NF7-S. Unfortunately, it requires DDR dimms, but fortunately, you can get DDR for very cheap prices from Office Max every few weeks (around $10 to $20 for 256MB).
 
The enermax noisetaker series looks good. Exceptionally high efficiency means reduced heat and lower electricity bills. They have very quiet fans, and have very good specifications - they are particularly strong on the 12V line where the maximum load is.

A lot of people recommend Antec - however, when I researched the truepower model they are expensive, the 12V rail (where it counts) is weak, electrical efficiency is low (high heat production and higher bills) and they are poorly finished (low quality connectors and loops of slack in the wires due to slovenly cutting).

In actuality, there is little difference between any of the major brands - you may pay more or less, and get more or less. All are reasonably reliable, produce highly stable power, and many now offer thermally controlled fans for minimum noise. The only real tangible difference is in efficiency - and even then, they are all roughly the same, with the exception of enermax noisetaker, which is in a class of its own.
 
Get a Fortron 350W which has a fan control knob and a 12CM Fan which is near dead quiet. Only $39 on newegg.
 
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