best cheap integrated motherboard

[smokewarlock]

looking to build 3 cheap systems and need a cheap mb(in price) that has everything integrated..video,sound,ethernet,modem..... doesnt matter if it is for intel or amd...would like suggestions for both to help weigh the which is cheaper or rather more bang for the buck... thank you for your help in advance.

 

[Vette73]

Well best bang for your low end buck is ALL Athlon XP section right now.

So, with that being said.....

CPU = Athlon XP 1900+ OEM for $50 shipped newegg, or BETTER a 2500+ RETAIL with heatsink for $90 shipped newegg.com

Ram = PC3200 256mg slab around $45 shipped

Motherboard = Biostar M7VIZ KM400/8237 chipset.
Has UniChrome video(has a AGP port for future upgrades), 6ch C-media sound, ethernet, AND SATA ports all for $59 shipped


That will be a fast, upgradable, and cheap system.

 

[smokewarlock]

thanks for the info...are there any celeron all in one motherboards i could look at as well....and i notice that board doesn't have a modem integrated...i may have overlooked it...hoping to find one that has everything but the ram and cpu...thanks again for help in advance

 

[jjyiz28]

http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproduct.asp?DEPA=1&submit=Go&description=K7VM4%2Casrock


ASrock K7VM4, its a KM400 chipset, integrated sound, video, lan, and comes with a cnr(amr) modem. 53 bucks.

 

[optimistic]

$62 nforce 2
$47 km266
$86 865G board for celeron/p4
$51 km400 with 4pin plug like the p4 boards.

 

[o1die]

If you live near Fry's electronics, get their combo deal with 2.4 celeron and ecs board for $79. You can toss the board, or get a cheap video card from newegg's refurbished section. The ecs boards come with everything built in except video.

 

[Peter]

There are mainboards from ECS that even include a (Duron) CPU. These go for around $80, including everything - graphics, sound, LAN, CPU, fan/heatsink, sometimes even the modem riser card - and on one model, there's even 256 MBytes of RAM soldered down to the board straight away.

 

[jjyiz28]

ASrock is made by ASUS.. so it shou'dnt be that bad of a board. ECS is a crapshoot

 

[Peter]

ASRock is _not_ made by ASUS. It's an independent company, spun off ASUS, yes, but they're doing their own thing. They've been spun off ASUS to counter ECS's business model - making simple, no-nonsense product that works for rock bottom prices.
(ECS's reaction was to spin off Syntax, who now do even simpler products for even lower prices.)

ECS boards are far from crapshoot. They're for people who want their computer to work so they can get stuff done with them. If you rather toy around with your computer, this isn't for you. No overclocking features, no funny bells and whistles. Just what the chipset offers.

 

[jjyiz28]

besides pc chips, don't ecs have the highest defect rate?? i'd say biostar is a close second.

 

[Peter]

You're spinning myths there. And you don't even know that PC-Chips and ECS are the same company ...

 

[jjyiz28]

Originally posted by: Peter
You're spinning myths there. And you don't even know that PC-Chips and ECS are the same company ...

they ARE the same company, do a search on xbitlabs. ecs owns pc chips, pc chips is used as their low end mobos, while ecs is used for their mainstream

 

[Peter]

Hello? I just said exactly that. You were the one who said "besides pc chips, don't ecs have the highest defect rate".
Stop trashing this thread now, please.

Besides, ASRock is _not_ "made by ASUS". ASRock are a spinoff from ASUS, operating fully independently, in both engineering and manufacturing. You can't extrapolate from ASUS quality to ASRock.

 

[jjyiz28]

yup, ecs has the same quality as msi, epox, asus, abit.

 

[Peter]

If you're talking about failure rates, I'll take ECS over Abit any day. MSI and Epox haven't let me down either so far, while ASUS is not something I use - their boards have too much bells and whistles stuff on my customers neither need nor are willing to pay for. What I need is simple boards for a good price. That's why my customers get ECS. And they're happy with that.

Got any famous last words this time, or do you have YOUR OWN facts to back up your claims?