Best Socket A Boards

[Raging Wolf]

Hello guys,

I took a job building about 10 computers for a little company for a good price. I am hoping to come out a couple of thousands on this deal. Looking to build decent performance AMD computers that will run regular applications at good speed. Simple stuff like Excel and such .. with a little multitasking.

I am thinking of going with Socket A processors due to the good price on them and decent performance. So I was hoping maybe I could get some advice on motherboards.

 

[MDE]

Good and cheap, can't beat the Shuttle AN35N-Ultra, something like $53 at Newegg.

 

[nick1985]

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[Nessism]

Look for something with integrated video and sound. Beyond that, no suggestions.

Good luck.

Ed

 

[Raging Wolf]

Originally posted by: Nessism
Look for something with integrated video and sound. Beyond that, no suggestions.

Good luck.

Ed

Very good suggestion. If you hadn't reminded me I would of overlooked that.

About the Shuttle AN35N-Ultra. It seems to have integrated Audio and Lan. I gotta admit it's a good price. But how are the overclocking abilities of this board. Looking to use different kinds of CPU's on it. Palamino 2400+, AMD 2700+, and a couple of lower end CPU's .. maybe some 1.33Ghz ones as well.

Also .. anyone has any suggestions of boards with integrated video as well. This will save me a few dollars on a video card.

 

[Maggotry]

But how are the overclocking abilities of this board?

Why would you want to overclock? You said yourself this is for basic office apps. You should target absolute stability. Overclocking shouldn't even enter your mind. Aside from that, the nf2 chipset is the way to go since it has the on-board NIC and audio. I don't like Shuttle, but others here seem to like them. I'd look at the Abit NF7. Right here.

 

[WobbleWobble]

I've built a couple systems around the Asrock K7S41GX. It has integrated video and is dirt cheap.

 

[Coquito]

You should know what you're getting into before taking on a task such as this. You must be related to, or dating someone in the company for them to pick someone not already in the business.

Admit it, you're building a cruncher farm to help us over on the DC boards aren't you? I take it all back, welcome aboard.

 

[daveshel]

My new favorite basic boards are the ECS. Not fancy, but great performance for the money. The last one I built was on the N2U400 nVidia chip set dual chanell very nice cheap board.

 

[caz67]

Shuttle AN35N-Ultra

 

[natto fire]

Don't know of the quality of PCChips mobos but these are pretty cheap, with a VIA chipset. Pretty crappy onboard video though.

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[Lonyo]

I like my Abit NF7 v2's.
Currently running a 2500+ mobile at 200x11.5 (RAM is a problem, won't go above 205MHz stable, due to it being PC2700).

It's a damned nice board, also running at 1900+ on one (not overclocked). Not had any motherboard related issues with either board.

 

[XBoxLPU]

Originally posted by: MDE
Good and cheap, can't beat the Shuttle AN35N-Ultra, something like $53 at Newegg.

Seconded

Mine is running great!

 

[Slapstick]

For a cheap all-in-one motherboard check out the Biostar M7NCG 400. I have one coupled with an XP 2400+ and 512 ram. It's been a very stable board and fast enough for any office app and even light game playing using the onboard vid.

 

[mrSHEiK124]

Originally posted by: WobbleWobble
I've built a couple systems around the Asrock K7S41GX. It has integrated video and is dirt cheap.

i'd take the K7S41 instead, it uses a newer revision of the SiS chipset thats in there (740GX vs 740 AFAIK)

 

[boomerang]

Originally posted by: WobbleWobble
I've built a couple systems around the Asrock K7S41GX. It has integrated video and is dirt cheap.

Seconds for this board. These are made by Asus.

Onboard video
Onboard sound
Onboard LAN

Micro ATX is what you want for this. Couple it with any retail Athlon you desire with either 333 or 266 FSB. Get your memory to match the bus speed. Go with one stick of 512 and they will be set for the life of the boxes.

I've gotta second someone's concern about your overclocking question. If you're thinking these boxes should be overclocked, turn the job down.

 

[WobbleWobble]

Originally posted by: sheik124

Originally posted by: WobbleWobble
I've built a couple systems around the Asrock K7S41GX. It has integrated video and is dirt cheap.

i'd take the K7S41 instead, it uses a newer revision of the SiS chipset thats in there (740GX vs 740 AFAIK)

It's actually 741 vs 741GX... but if he wants integrated video then he has to go K7S41GX since the K7S41 doesn't. I thought they're almost the same chip minus integrated graphics? I know the K7S41 supports 400MHz FSB CPUs and the K7S41GX only supports 333MHz FSB CPUs.

 

[ChineseDemocracyGNR]

The SiS741 and SiS741GX chipsets are nearly identical, but the first supports 200MHz FSB. Both have integrated video.

ASRock K7S41 is based on the SiS741 chipset, the K7S41GX on SiS741GX.

 

[Elcs]

Originally posted by: Lonyo
I like my Abit NF7 v2's.
Currently running a 2500+ mobile at 200x11.5 (RAM is a problem, won't go above 205MHz stable, due to it being PC2700).

It's a damned nice board, also running at 1900+ on one (not overclocked). Not had any motherboard related issues with either board.

I agree but Id probably advise the ABIT NF7-M. Slightly different to be the NF7-S Rev 2.0 but I believe the M includes integrated graphics which would save you with respect to graphics cards costs and would probably save you a headache with any rare driver/component conflicts.

 

[Kaido]

if you want to run old classic tbirds, get some MSI K7T Turbos. my favorite motherboard EVER!

 

[WobbleWobble]

Originally posted by: ChineseDemocracyGNR
The SiS741 and SiS741GX chipsets are nearly identical, but the first supports 200MHz FSB. Both have integrated video.

ASRock K7S41 is based on the SiS741 chipset, the K7S41GX on SiS741GX.

Oops. You're right, my mistake