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Biostar IDEQ 210V barebones SFF $143 delivered

P

Praxis

Senior member
Newegg has the Biostar IDEQ 210V for $139.99 & $2.99 Fedex shipping. The 210V is a SFF (small form factor) computer (you add CPU, drives, memory) that has the VIA KM400A chipset. Serious caveat: this machine is warranted through the manufacturer only (and Biostar is not one of the mobo makers with a great reputation for customer support).
Specifications:
CPU Support: Socket A AMD CPU (FSB 400) support
Chipsets: KM400A / VT8237
Memory: 2x 184-pin DIMM DDR400
IDE: 2x ATA100, 2x SATA
Graphics: VIA UniChrome 2D/3D
Expansion Slot: 1x PCI, 1x AGP 8X
Audio: C-Media CMI9739A
LAN: 10/100 LAN
Extension Bay: 2x 3.5", 1x 5.25"
Front Panel Ports: 2x USB2.0, 1x 1394, Audio Ports, S/PDIF
Back Panel Ports: Audio Ports, 2x PS/2, S/PDIF, COM, VGA, IEEE1394, 2x USB2.0, LAN
Power Supply: 200W (PFC)
Click to expand...
So the machine has serial ATA support, SPDIF & onboard UniChrome graphics. It would make a nice, semi portable desktop office/internet machine for cramped spaces and lots of folks use them for Linux MythTV HTPCs (home theater personal computers). However I'm not sure that I'd use one for that purpose, since, unlike some SFFs, it doesn't appear to have S-Video out (so how would I attach it to my stereo/TV?)

Anyway, it seems like a warm price, since the economical FuturepowerPC hawks the same unit for $173. I think this has got to be about the cheapest SFF on the market right now.
 
Nice find Praxis. Pop in your components, and you should have a pretty nice HTPC.

I have to agree that Biostar's customer service has a lot to be desired. I had a motherboard that was going up and they were very slow in responding to emails. Also, it tooks lots of email before they would agree to an RMA.
 
Can the motherboard accept PC2700 DIMMs?

Also, is the graphics (VIA UniChrome 2D/3D) good for text? I need this unit for web surfing and office document work.
 
It should even be able to put PC3200 DIMMs to good use. And the graphics are fine for 2D stuff (at least on my older KM266 chipset boards). For gaming, not so hotso, I gather....
 
I bought one of these and we like it just fine. I'm sorry to see that newegg has bumped the price to $156.99 delivered. Well, I only needed one anyway, and if more were available at the old price I might get another and it's best that I don't.
 
Cripes, I hate NewEgg's fluctuating prices. This system has been $149 for several months -- then they lower the price to $139, get an upsurge in orders and Internet publicity, and wham, it's back to a higher price than ever. (And featured item of the day!)

NewEgg is not the loveable company they used to be.
 
these are great pcs....stable , quiet, easy to setup...i have built about 20 of them for clients in the past 3 months and they all love them

i think they are better than shuttle

jC
 
I have one of these and I love it - it's super quiet also (check out the funky CPU heatsink on it). It only has a 200watt ps in it, but it doesn't seem to be a problem yet - I wouldn't exactly put a power hungry video card in there though.
 
Will this mobo support an Athlon Mobile XP chip?

Also what are the overclocking abilities of this mobo? Are there many features in the BIOS for tweaking?
 
Originally posted by: uwannawhat
Will this mobo support an Athlon Mobile XP chip?

Also what are the overclocking abilities of this mobo? Are there many features in the BIOS for tweaking?
Click to expand...

I haven't tried the Mobile XP chip but I would guess it would work, but only at it's default multiplier setting.
The unit I have does not allow for multiplier changes in the bios. On top of that, I'm told AGP and PCI aren't lockable. The cpu fsb is set using jumpers and allow a 266, 333, 400 fsb cpu.

I found it not at all overclock friendly. I don't recall seeing a voltage setting in the bios for the cpu either.
 
Hey, thanx bupkus for the info. Much appreciated.

Looks like a decent HTPC setup web browser box & simple computing but not much more.
 
Originally posted by: Zim
Bump. Back in stock.
Click to expand...

Yah, but at what price?

Two hours ago it was $149 with free shipping.
Now it's $149 with $2.99 shipping.

Bump it when it's back to OP.
 
Originally posted by: Zim
Bump. $144 w/$2.99 shipping. (I wish they'd make their minds up!).
Click to expand...

i was buying them when they were 159.00

still, you cannot beat these pcs. if you have never owned one, and owned a shuttle, they will convert you.

better product, better price. i call them shuttle killers.

jC
 
I have this same model. I bought it a little over a year ago from excaliberpc.com for $180 (but it came with a nice carrying bag). So far it's been good. Couple issues though - the PSU is cheap and many users at Sudhian (including me) had problems with the PSU making 'screeching' noises when scrolling pages with the mouse wheel. Also the onboard sound SUCKS through an analog connection (tons of noise), but if you use the optical S/PDIF it's fine. I use a separate sound card but for those who are using the single PCI slot for something else it might be an issue.
 
Originally posted by: CptObvious
I have this same model. I bought it a little over a year ago from excaliberpc.com for $180 (but it came with a nice carrying bag). So far it's been good. Couple issues though - the PSU is cheap and many users at Sudhian (including me) had problems with the PSU making 'screeching' noises when scrolling pages with the mouse wheel. Also the onboard sound SUCKS through an analog connection (tons of noise), but if you use the optical S/PDIF it's fine. I use a separate sound card but for those who are using the single PCI slot for something else it might be an issue.
Click to expand...

thats funny, i get the scroll noise on my wifes shuttle, is that the power supply doing that used with the onboard sound or what?

jC
 
I think it's unrelated to the sound (it happens on mine with the onboard sound disabled). I don't know why it occurs but someone suggested that scrolling pages spikes CPU usage which in turn affects power draw. It might be these quick spikes that makes cheap PSUs screech.
 
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