Cheap, reliable Socket A motherboard under $50?

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SonicIce

SonicIce

Diamond Member
Apr 12, 2004
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Is there such a thing? I need it for my mom who will only need to surf and use email. Preferably a motherboard with onboard video to save some cash. It also needs to be reliable and not some junk PC Chips that will fail. Socket A and under 50 bucks?
 
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Nomada

Banned
Apr 27, 2005
967
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PC Chips are built by the largest mobo manufacturer in the world. They are fairly reliable boards. I wouldn't hesitate to buy one on a budget. I'd suggest the k7s5a(I think it's called).
 
S

SynthDude2001

Lifer
Mar 19, 2003
18,289
2
71
Originally posted by: Nomada
PC Chips are built by the largest mobo manufacturer in the world. They are fairly reliable boards. I wouldn't hesitate to buy one on a budget. I'd suggest the k7s5a(I think it's called).
Click to expand...

Yeah...the ECS K7S5A is a good reliable entry-level Socket A board, and I bought one for $55 in 2002....should be even cheaper than that now.

Edit: Doesn't have onboard video though....you might see if you could find a cheap nForce2 IGP board if you need that.
 
P

piasabird

Lifer
Feb 6, 2002
17,168
60
91
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131509#DetailSpecs

I think PC Chips is an undesirable motherboard. Just do a serch for them and see how many comments are negative. I have seen many complaints against them.


For an integrated motherboard you may want something like this. A via chipset may be easier to find for an integrated video combination. Look around at New Egg.

You might be better off with a Dell Celeron system for an E-Mail, non game playing rig:

http://www1.us.dell.com/content/product...px/cto_dimen2400?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs
 
T

Tostada

Golden Member
Oct 9, 1999
1,789
0
0
Originally posted by: SynthDude2001
Originally posted by: Nomada
PC Chips are built by the largest mobo manufacturer in the world. They are fairly reliable boards. I wouldn't hesitate to buy one on a budget. I'd suggest the k7s5a(I think it's called).
Click to expand...

Yeah...the ECS K7S5A is a good reliable entry-level Socket A board, and I bought one for $55 in 2002....should be even cheaper than that now.

Edit: Doesn't have onboard video though....you might see if you could find a cheap nForce2 IGP board if you need that.
Click to expand...

The K7S5A is a TERRIBLE motherboard. That board has single-handedly caused several people I know to never buy an ECS board or a SiS chipset ever again. Damn Tom's Hardware for recommending it.

I have built 7 machines with the K7S5A. 3 of them had total board failures. Of the remaining 4, one of them lost the secondary IDE channel, one of them scrambles its BIOS settings half the time you boot, and two are doing fine.

I am truly embarrassed that I ever used that board to build anybody a computer. I have two friends in IT who have both built 10+ machines with that board and had very similar experiences (more than half the systems having total failures or serious BIOS issues). The issues aren't limited to just the first version of the board, either. I think there were 3 major revisions that all have problems.
 
Z

Zepper

Elite Member
May 1, 2001
18,998
0
0
DFI Via KM400 based or similar from MSI. Rock solid and have the P4-12V connector that will allow them to work well with the low powered PSUs that come in the compact cases (e.g. the Athenatech A100 series). I forgot to check what was available under Asrock, but they are good mobos too - I think they have a KM400 based unit and some of the SiS a pretty good too. Via and Sis drivers have been very stable but SiS can be problematic if there is a possibility of Linux in her future (which there should be in anyone's).

.bh.
 
T

Tostada

Golden Member
Oct 9, 1999
1,789
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0
J

justly

Banned
Jul 25, 2003
493
0
0
As long as you don't use an underpowered power supply, or the cheapest memory you can find just about any brand socket A board will last as long as you want a socket A system to last.

Look for features and price, the nForce 2 will have the best video performance of the bunch, but you should be able to find SiS or VIA cheaper. Being that this is for your mother video performance probably isn't that big of a deal. Since VIAs drivers can sometimes be a pain I would look twards a SiS chipset for the best price and nForce for the best video (at a slightly higher price). There should be plenty to choose from within your $50 budget.
 
Z

Zepper

Elite Member
May 1, 2001
18,998
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Via's drivers have been more stable than nVidias for several years now...

.bh.
 
J

justly

Banned
Jul 25, 2003
493
0
0
Originally posted by: Zepper
Via's drivers have been more stable than nVidias for several years now...

.bh.
Click to expand...

Ok, I'll take your word on that as I prefer SiS and have not owned a nVidia chipset.
 
A

Arcanedeath

Platinum Member
Jan 29, 2000
2,822
1
76
To the K7S5A nay sayers, I built 15+ systems based on that board, 14 of 15 are still in service, 3 of them needed the cmos batteries replaced (the used to lose the cmos alot too) and I had one's onboard NIC fail, all are 3+ years old rev 3.1 boards w/ Enernmax 350 watt power supplies and 2x 256mb of Crucial Sdram or DDR, I'd say thats a damn good track record (the one thats not in service was fried by a power surge) This board was known to be picky about good power supplies, as long as you used a good one it was rock solid, if you didn't you were screwed.

Back on topic though, I'd suggest MSI K7N2GM-V Socket A (Socket 462) NVIDIA nForce2 IGP Micro ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail from newegg, It's about 56 delivered, but it's an Nforce 2 IGP system so is the best performing socket A chipset, It has everything onboard except a modem if you need one.
 
nick1985

nick1985

Lifer
Dec 29, 2002
27,153
6
81
Originally posted by: justly
Originally posted by: Zepper
Via's drivers have been more stable than nVidias for several years now...

.bh.
Click to expand...

Ok, I'll take your word on that as I prefer SiS and have not owned a nVidia chipset.
Click to expand...

i wouldnt take his word, as that is simply not true
 
J

Jiggz

Diamond Member
Mar 10, 2001
4,329
0
76
You can go to For Sale/Trade section and probably find an Abit N7 series which is a very reliable mobo.
 
J

justly

Banned
Jul 25, 2003
493
0
0
Sorry Nick, maybe I should have worded it differently.
Its just that it really doesn't matter to me as I am not a overclocker or a gamer. For my needs nForce chipsets dont seem worth the extra cost/noise/heat, VIA has never really impressed me, the ALi chipset (back in the K6 days) was wonderfull just like the SiS chipsets have been for the last few years. I know I must sound out of my mind to the average ATer, but when you aren't concerned with overclocking and games you get a different perspective on things.
 
nick1985

nick1985

Lifer
Dec 29, 2002
27,153
6
81
how does a motherboard with no fan on it make "noise"??? also, the cost is about the same, and there would be no extra heat, they are the same socket. i simply dont understand your argument
 
J

justly

Banned
Jul 25, 2003
493
0
0
"how does a motherboard with no fan on it make "noise"??? " it doesn't but a lot more nForce boards come with fans than other chipsets.

"also, the cost is about the same" just a quick check of Newegg shows 3 nForce based boards in the first 40 (based on price) and two of them place 38th and 39th, also the most expensive board is ...you guessed it nForce.

"and there would be no extra heat, they are the same socket" I am not talking about the CPU, I am talking about the chipset. I don't recall ever hearing anyone brag about how cool a nForce chipset was, even their notebook chipsets didnt get that many wins (why do you think that was?) be it price or heat it does at least support what I said in one way or another.

I have nothing against Nvidias nForce chipsets, its just that they don't suit my needs as I'm not a overclocker or gamer.
 
S

StormRider

Diamond Member
Mar 12, 2000
8,324
2
0
Originally posted by: Tostada
Originally posted by: SynthDude2001
Originally posted by: Nomada
PC Chips are built by the largest mobo manufacturer in the world. They are fairly reliable boards. I wouldn't hesitate to buy one on a budget. I'd suggest the k7s5a(I think it's called).
Click to expand...

Yeah...the ECS K7S5A is a good reliable entry-level Socket A board, and I bought one for $55 in 2002....should be even cheaper than that now.

Edit: Doesn't have onboard video though....you might see if you could find a cheap nForce2 IGP board if you need that.
Click to expand...

The K7S5A is a TERRIBLE motherboard. That board has single-handedly caused several people I know to never buy an ECS board or a SiS chipset ever again. Damn Tom's Hardware for recommending it.

I have built 7 machines with the K7S5A. 3 of them had total board failures. Of the remaining 4, one of them lost the secondary IDE channel, one of them scrambles its BIOS settings half the time you boot, and two are doing fine.

I am truly embarrassed that I ever used that board to build anybody a computer. I have two friends in IT who have both built 10+ machines with that board and had very similar experiences (more than half the systems having total failures or serious BIOS issues). The issues aren't limited to just the first version of the board, either. I think there were 3 major revisions that all have problems.
Click to expand...


That's strange. That's what happened to my K7S5A -- the secondary IDE channel went bad.
 
T

Tostada

Golden Member
Oct 9, 1999
1,789
0
0
There's certainly nothing wrong with an NF2 board, but keep in mind that the onboard video can give you problems if you're not running dual-channel, so you'd have to pick up 2x256MB (or whatever) which will add another couple bucks.

NF2 is the best chipset for Socket A, but at this point anybody building a Socket A system isn't concerned with getting the best hardware.
 
Z

Zepper

Elite Member
May 1, 2001
18,998
0
0
What I said about the Via chipset drivers is true - just ask all the people that have had problems with nV's IDE driver - there have been no such problems with any of the Via drivers for at least two years.

.bh.
 
T

Tostada

Golden Member
Oct 9, 1999
1,789
0
0
Originally posted by: Zepper
What I said about the Via chipset drivers is true - just ask all the people that have had problems with nV's IDE driver - there have been no such problems with any of the Via drivers for at least two years.

.bh.
Click to expand...

Sorry to get OT, but do you have a good link to info about this? I've never had any problems with NV IDE drivers (running an NF3 250Gb myself), but I did setup a machine for a friend using a NF3 250Gb board, and his NEC 3520A has real problems with the buffer being constantly empty (it's running on the same IDE cable as his hard drive). I was thinking this might be a problem with the IDE driver. I installed all the regular NForce unified drivers.
 
CrackRabbit

CrackRabbit

Lifer
Mar 30, 2001
16,642
62
91
If you live near a Fry's look for an ECS K7VTA3, very fucntional, yet simple and inexpensive KT333a board.
They often run combo specials with a Sempron and that board for $40-70.
 
pradeep1

pradeep1

Golden Member
Jun 4, 2005
1,099
1
81
Asus K7V600-X - cheap on Newegg.com, cheaper ($35) used on for sale/trade forums.
 
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