Best motherboard

[Gusty987]

What is the best, most cost-effective motherboard I can get for this PC:

A64 3200+ at 2.0GHz
1 GB PC3200 DDR RAM
120GB 7200rpm ultra-DMA Hard Drive
16X Max. DVD-ROM Drive
8X DVD+RW/+R drive (DVD writer & CD-writer combo)
3.5" floppy
Radeon 9800 PRO 128mb

 

[Vette73]

If overclcoking then try and wait for the next VIA and Nivida chipsets.

If not then look at the Albatron

Its the board I have and I like it a lot.

 

[colonel]

I wil pick the one from ECS, with the SIS 755-A

 

[midwestfisherman]

I prefer MSI mother boards. I have three of them now and not one problem from any of them.

Newegg has this one on sale right now. http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=13-130-449&depa=0
Not sure if this one has all of the bells and whistles you're looking for, but it's a nice board.

 

[Algere]

Originally posted by: colonel
I wil pick the one from ECS, with the SIS 755-A

Avoid the ECS 755-A at all cost. It won't run @ PC3200 speed.

 

[dashakes]

Either go for the shuttle or the gigabyte (which is one of the cheapest out there). They're both amazing overclockers and stable.

 

[stardust]

WAIT WAIT!! nforce3 250 chipsets are just around the corner!! like 1-2 weeks..
But for cost effective i guess any the MSI Neo mobo is a very good choice.

 

[SilverBack]

According to Anandtech, the SiS 755 A2 would be the most cost effective A64 around. The trick is finding one.
The first revision motherboards are still being sold, so be careful what you buy.

"Despite our wish list and druthers, the ECS 755-A2 is a solid choice for an Athlon 64 motherboard. It is very fast and has all the great options available on the SiS964 South Bridge - like SATA RAID, 8 USB ports, and 10/100 LAN. It is an excellent overclocker that handles our best memory at 2-2-2-6 timings at DDR400. We also confirmed that the memory is very capable of running beyond DDR400 on the A2 revision. At a setting of 222 (888 Hypertransport), our memory was running at DDR444. All of this in an Athlon 64 board that likely will be selling at one of the lowest prices of any Socket 754 board. In the end, this adds up to real value in our book."

 

[zodder]

I second the vote for the MSI boards. I have a K8T NEO-FIS2R and it has been rock solid since I installed it. Runs rock solid at 220, too. It has tons of features (Firewire, Gig LAN, SATA raid, tons of USB 2.0 ports) and the price is pretty good for what you get.

 

[Algere]

Originally posted by: SilverBack
According to Anandtech, the SiS 755 A2 would be the most cost effective A64 around. The trick is finding one.
The first revision motherboards are still being sold, so be careful what you buy.

"Despite our wish list and druthers, the ECS 755-A2 is a solid choice for an Athlon 64 motherboard. It is very fast and has all the great options available on the SiS964 South Bridge - like SATA RAID, 8 USB ports, and 10/100 LAN. It is an excellent overclocker that handles our best memory at 2-2-2-6 timings at DDR400. We also confirmed that the memory is very capable of running beyond DDR400 on the A2 revision. At a setting of 222 (888 Hypertransport), our memory was running at DDR444. All of this in an Athlon 64 board that likely will be selling at one of the lowest prices of any Socket 754 board. In the end, this adds up to real value in our book."

NewEgg has the 755-A2 now.

EDIT: http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductDesc.asp?description=13-135-151&depa=0

 

[shiftomnimega]

I used the Aopen AK86-L. Anandtech just chose it editors choice.