Best mATX solution?

[MistaTastyCakes]

I'm looking to create a tiny LAN gaming rig, and I want the challenge of doing it on my own as opposed to buying a Shuttle system or a barebones. I know all what to put in it, except for one thing.. the motherboard! What is the best mATX mobo out there right now? I'm open to AMD or Intel, I really don't care about anything except bang for the buck. The board needs AGP and needs to support DDR memory.

Thanks!!

 

[MistaTastyCakes]

Well, I did some looking at newegg.. this is what I've come up with. I have an ok monitor to use for the PC and for mouse/keyboard, etc.. I already own it.

Enermax CS-10073-W (Beige) 3- Bay Micro ATX Desktop With 2 x USB2.0, 1 x A/V, 230W Power Supply - Retail
Pioneer 16X DVD-ROM Model DVD-120S Slot Load Drive OEM (the CD-ROM mounts vertically so I feel safest using one of these)
Dynatron DC1206BM-L610. New Silver Color w/ dense fins High - End Cooler w/ 4500 RPM Fan. Retail. (cheap and it should work good enough)
SAMSUNG 1.44MB FLOPPY DRIVE Model# SFD321B/LEB - OEM, DRIVE ONLY
WD WESTERN DIGITAL 40GB 7200RPM EIDE HARD DRIVE MODEL # WD400JB - OEM, DRIVE ONLY (I like my 80gb one)
2 sticks of OCZ DDR PC-2700 Proformance Series Memory 256MB Model# OCZ333256R32 (Again, impressed by my OCZ PC3200)
Asus A7N266-VM AA (AMD Assured Version) NVIDIA nFORCE 220 Chipset 266/200MHz FSB Motherboard Micro ATX- Retail
AMD Athlon XP 1700+ Thoroughbred /266 FSB Processor CPU 1700+/ 1.47GHz -OEM
ATI OEM RADEON 8500 LE 128MB DDR DVI/CRT/TV

This all together should be more than enough for the things we play at LAN's. How does the motherboard look, though? I'm still a bit torn I guess on what to get :/

 

[bluemax]

I'm looking to create a tiny LAN gaming rig,

Well, the key word is tiny. I had to make this very decision myself so I got out a tape measure and cardboard and made two models, one of the InWin L545 (one of the smallest, decent uATX cases out there under $100) and a Shuttle system.

The L545 has TWICE the footprint of the shuttle... it's longer and MUCH wider, only bonus is it's thinner (but not by much.) It won't easily fit under your arm to carry around very far and it'll be hard to get a nice bag for it.

I settled on the Shuttle because it was MUCH more portable. Sure I have to think hard about exactly what I'll put into the 1 PCI slot, but having AGP makes video an easy choice.

If you don't mind carrying around a mini-tower twice the size of a Shuttle, then the InWin L545 is a very nice, quiet, decent-quality case for only $50 or so. Load it up with an nForce2 (wish IGP if you like!) and feed it 2xDDR chips and anything over and above that is mere gravy.

 

[Jhhnn]

The mobo is fine, one of the best general purpose boards around. Not an overclockers' board, however, unless there's a bios revision I haven't heard of. Might as well buy a good grade of pc2100 memory if it's any cheaper. This kind of box often requiress a relatively low profile cooler, like the stock unit, but you'll find out when you get there, right? I'd open up the rear fan grille to use a wire grille, see if there's a way to allow better airflow thru the front. Most home or office boxes don't need the ventilation required by a hard working gaming rig. so it's good to get that right before assembly...