Help picking out motherboard.

[Marinski]

I was planning on building a computer. Probably going with the amd athlon 64 3000 or 3200, right here http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103535

Can anybody with some experience recommend a mobo to go with this? I've read the ASUS is good. Not really looking to break the bank though since its a first build. Under $100 is reasonable. With atleast a few slots. Already got 2 dvd drives and a 200 gig hd. So i gotta get the case, ps, mobo, cpu, floppy, memory, OS, whatever else. Overall i want to spend around 400 or less. Not going to put video or sound card in. Integrated is fine for now maybe i'll add something later. Just looking for something thats easier to build. thanks.

 

[InlineFour]

are you planning on overclocking?

 

[DaveSimmons]

Most full-size motherboards don't include onboard video, only the micro-ATX ones do.

I'm happy with my Asus A8N-E so far after a few weeks. I run at stock speed.

If you're certain you want onboard video, an nvidia 6100 / 6150 chipset (Biostar TForce or MSI xxx) is a good choice but you do give up slots.

 

[Operandi]

Do you have a preference for S754 or 939? Before you ask; socket 939 is dual channel and is currently the performance AMD socket. 754 is single channel is mostly reserved for low-end to main stream parts.

With such a low budget I'm going to suggest 754 for economical reasons as well as longevity, S754 CPUs should actually be easier to find in the future.

This MSI looks nice, PCI-E, NVIDIA GeForce 6100 chipset, solid MSI quality. The board I linked is an ?open box? return so you get an extra discount.

 

[DaveSimmons]

Originally posted by: Operandi
This MSI looks nice, PCI-E, NVIDIA GeForce 6100 chipset, solid MSI quality. The board I linked is an ?open box? return so you get an extra discount.

It does save $14, but could be missing the CD, cables, or I/O shield from the regular "closed" box

 

[ScrapSilicon]

Originally posted by: DaveSimmons

Originally posted by: Operandi
This MSI looks nice, PCI-E, NVIDIA GeForce 6100 chipset, solid MSI quality. The board I linked is an ?open box? return so you get an extra discount.

It does save $14, but could be missing the CD, cables, or I/O shield from the regular "closed" box

hiya DS
why not suggest (for a 1st economy build) the ecs nf3/a64 3000+ retail $99 combo@ outpost ? as far as graphics there are plenty of cheap agp cards around

 

[Operandi]

Originally posted by: ScrapSilicon

Originally posted by: DaveSimmons

Originally posted by: Operandi
This MSI looks nice, PCI-E, NVIDIA GeForce 6100 chipset, solid MSI quality. The board I linked is an ?open box? return so you get an extra discount.

It does save $14, but could be missing the CD, cables, or I/O shield from the regular "closed" box

hiya DS
why not suggest (for a 1st economy build) the ecs nf3/a64 3000+ retail $99 combo@ outpost ? as far as graphics there are plenty of cheap agp cards around

How about because ECS is junk.

 

[Marinski]

I was considering the a biostart and that Asus mentioned above. Is there a serial? or does it connect to front? Not too familiar with MSI. Is Gigabyte any good? Not adding on any cards except maybe a sound card or somthing else in the future so 2 slots should be good. Dont really do any gaming so im just using this PC for word processing, sufin the net, watchin dvds, photoshopping. I just want something thats affordable, fairly easy to configure, will last a few years, and perform good. Thanks.

 

[Operandi]

Originally posted by: Marinski
I was considering the a biostart and that Asus mentioned above. Is there a serial? or does it connect to front? Not too familiar with MSI. Is Gigabyte any good? Not adding on any cards except maybe a sound card or somthing else in the future so 2 slots should be good. Dont really do any gaming so im just using this PC for word processing, sufin the net, watchin dvds, photoshopping. I just want something thats affordable, fairly easy to configure, will last a few years, and perform good. Thanks.

I assuming you mean "Bio Star"? They are ok if you are on a really tight budget, 90% of your meals consist of ramen noodles. Gigabyte is pretty decent, better then Bio Star most likely.

MSI though is one of the top tier manufactures, right up there with Asus. The board I linked to uses the very good GeForce 6100 chipset which should aptly handle your needs. The onboard audio is also HD so you don't have to worry about adding a sound card.

 

[DaveSimmons]

MSI though is one of the top tier manufactures, right up there with Asus. The board I linked to uses the very good GeForce 6100 chipset which should aptly handle your needs. The onboard audio is also HD so you don't have to worry about adding a sound card.

Yep, and for word processing and medium PhotoShop use you could get by with a Sempron 3000+ if you need to save the $30 over the A64 3000+.

> serial?
The MSI has 4 x USB 2.0 and one COM port, and probably at least one motherboard header for front USB but you'd need to download the manual from msi to be sure of that.