HELP NEEDED. I need an AMD motherboard for my office machine...

[DevilsAdvocate]

UPDATE - Just bought a 2600+ / ECS nForce2 motherboard combo at Fry's for $99

Is this stable enough? This system is temporary until I am big pimping, and I can get a new Dell

..............

I am opening my own law office, and I need a mobo for my 2600+ Barton CPU. I do not overclock... this rig MUST be stable.

I am looking for the most bang for my buck. I am exceptionally poor at the moment, and I need to get the most bang for my buck

I want a KT600 or an nForce2... please make suggestions.

 

[mechBgon]

If it were one of the 266MHz-based CPUs then I'd nominate the A7N266-VM/AA, because I have a large sample to judge by (30 now and 6 more coming, with some of these having been with us a couple of years now) and they are as stable as pie, given ordinary Crucial PC2100 and a good Antec power supply. Talk about an easy-to-support board, this is the one.

Since you have the CPU already and it won't work on that board, I can vouch for my Asus A7N8X Deluxe, after abusing one for about a year down at work (server + workstation duties with 1.5GB RAM, 2500+, & dual 15000rpm SCSI... no sweat). Is it cheap, certainly not, but it's been stable.

My Shuttle AN35N Ultra is both cheap and performing beautifully, and most people are saying the same for theirs, so that might be another one to look at. They don't have anywhere near the frills of the A7N8X Deluxe and come in at close to half the price, leaving you $$ to pick up a respectable power supply if you need one.

So that is my 2¢ worth on the subject. If you need any more office rigs and don't need USB 2.0, Firewire, etc, consider those A7N266-VM/AA's with 2400+'s on them. HTH

 

[MDE]

Just about any nForce2 board will do just fine.

 

[Zepper]

I'd pop for a KT-600 mobo - MSI KT6V-LSR, Abit KV7 or Soltek SL-KT600-RL which all have the P4 aux power connector. The aux connector will allow the board to work well on a lower power PSU than it otherwise might - a very good quality 250W or an average 300W PSU will do just fine. It's also nice to have the 8237 south bridge in case you ever want to run SATA drives. I've been running MSI mobos in my own machines for the past year or so and have no complaints. I'd even look at a KM400 solution for office work - don't have to mess with a separate video card, saving even more $s. I've used the MSI KM2M Combo L (KM266 based) before and it was more than adequate - but it can't run Barton while the KM400 can.
. The Via drivers (hyperion) have been very stable for some time now - so that's no longer an issue and performance is right on par with nforce running single channel DDR (and gross overkill for most office tasks!) - check any of the recent KT600 mobo reviews for confirmation. Of course, nForce based mobos are OK too as most have the aux connector (started the trend on AMD mobos) but they are usually a bit more expensive.
. You may also want to reconsider your processor choice. See the recent review on Anandtech of budget processors. I'm running a Duron 1600 (not OC'd yet...) right now largely based on the results from that review (and the comments in the "Customer Reviews" on newegg) and can't imagine anyone being unhappy with its performance on typical office tasks. That is, of course, unless $$$ is no object... Leaves you with extra $s to splurge on more RAM and/or a higher performance hard drive, both of which will have more impact on user experience than processor speed.
.bh.

 

[DevilsAdvocate]

Cool Now I just have to pick one. Any good KT600 boards out there?

 

[Zepper]

You may have missed my post (just above yours) as I was editing it when you posted.
.bh.

 

[jdogg707]

Grab the Shuttle AN35 Ultra, it's got a great feature set, is cheap, and has the Nforce2 Ultra 400 NB. I have built five machines using this board and haven't had an issue with any of them.

 

[lsman]

2600+ for a law office machine?
a lot for a desktop...

if you want cheap, go for a onboard video solution like nforce2 IGP or KM400 (KM600 not out in us?)

 

[Peter]

If that's going to be an office box, shove an ECS L7VMM3 in, sorted. (Everything onboard, including a well fast enough CPU - currently an Athlon XP 1900+, mobile version).
Save that Barton for where its power is useful, or sell it off. That mainboard, including CPU, fan and heatsink, is only a few $ more than this processor alone!

You're building this to get office work done, right? Not 3D gaming?

 

[DevilsAdvocate]

Originally posted by: Peter
If that's going to be an office box, shove an ECS L7VMM3 in, sorted. (Everything onboard, including a well fast enough CPU - currently an Athlon XP 1900+, mobile version). Save that Barton for where its power is useful, or sell it off. That mainboard, including CPU, fan and heatsink, is only a few $ more than this processor alone! You're building this to get office work done, right? Not 3D gaming?

I got the barton for a song I want to be able to play a game or two on slow days

 

[CraigRT]

Soltek SL-75FRN2-L
dirt cheap.
rock stable.

you literally CANNOT go wrong.

 

[thedarkwolf]

The Shuttle an35 board also has the P4 power connector

 

[Bonesdad]

nother vote for an35n...got a video card??? You may want something in the integrated graphics arena...

 

[Shimmishim]

i vote for the epox 8rda+ v 2.0

just in case you decide to overclock it one day

 

[DevilsAdvocate]

I have a new Antec 300W PSU, and I am only considering boards with the extra 12V plug.

 

[MDE]

The Asus A7N8X series doesn't have the extra plug, but they're rock solid, fast boards.

 

[Rukkian]

I dont personally have 1 but the shuttle an35 ultra is probably your best bet if you want the price lower. I love my NF7-s, but you are not overclocking and probably dont need the soundstorm audio.

 

[DevilsAdvocate]

Up for a new question.

 

[Peter]

Why not append your progress and new question at the bottom, please!? That'd be much less confusing. Keep the timeline linear!

So you now got TWO overkill processors and an equally overkill mainboard, and still no graphics unit? You're not THAT exceptionally poor if you can burn money like that, right? Those same $99 would have bought you the L7VMM3 complete with onboard everything, CPU, and fan/heatsink.

Anyhow. Stability comes from your assembling the stuff properly, using good and flawless RAM, and an adequate power supply.

 

[DevilsAdvocate]

Originally posted by: Peter
Why not append your progress and new question at the bottom, please!? That'd be much less confusing. Keep the timeline linear! So you now got TWO overkill processors and an equally overkill mainboard, and still no graphics unit? You're not THAT exceptionally poor if you can burn money like that, right? Those same $99 would have bought you the L7VMM3 complete with onboard everything, CPU, and fan/heatsink. Anyhow. Stability comes from your assembling the stuff properly, using good and flawless RAM, and an adequate power supply.

Wow... that was nice.

I paid $100 for the motherboard and CPU. I had a heatsink lying around that works just fine. I got a FX 5200 128MB for $30.

It may be overkill, but in my opinion it will be a better machine longer.