Help recommend a no-frills motherboard for Intel

[SIGcurious]

I've been out of the mobo game for a while. Just to give you an idea, the last mobos I researched were the i440BX and the i815E.

I'm looking to (finally) upgrade my current P2 system to one of the newer Intel P4 boards. There have been so many changes in chipsets, features, etc. ... it's all pretty confusing. I thought about buying used P3 components, but figure why not drop just a little more change and be current for a while. So I'm looking for a new(ish) board that will last for a good while. Here's what I will/won't be doing with it:

- Won't be overclocking
- Won't need high end graphics
- Won't need integrated sound ... already have outboard sound hardware
- Only feature I might want is onboard RAID (for backup purposes)
- Needs to be rock solid stable
- Needs to be pretty easy for me to setup

Any of your suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

[rise]

what cpu are you getting?

 

[SIGcurious]

Not sure ... just know that I will be using an Intel. Socket 775 or 478 ??

 

[rise]

well, i got an asus last year but no raid. had the 865g chipset. anand has reviewed a bunch of them in the mobo section tho. i think the p4c and p4ps are what you would want but you'll need to wade through them as you haven't decided on your cpu.

asus are nice and stable tho. if you can find one reasonably priced, a northwood p4c would be a good cpu. try to stay way from the prescott and their heat.

 

[o1die]

Socket 478 northwood 512 cache will run cooler, but you'll have to do a search for a "c" series p4 in pricewatch, and buy the heatsink separately. If you want a 3 year warranty, get a retail boxed socket 775. I'm using a 2.8c now with an msi 865 board, but if I were buying right now, I would get the retail boxed athlon 64 venice core 939 ($154 shipped at newegg) with a chaintech nforce4 board. For agp boards, the epox nforce3 solutions are pretty good. Both the cpu and board will run you about $250. Amd will run cooler than socket 775, and give you excellent performance.

 

[imported_2x]

For rock solid stability and easy set up - in my opinion nothing beats an Intel board. Go to the intel site and use their motherboard configurator to help you choose one. The configurator can be used to find non intel brands as well if you choose to but for what you are looking for, Intel beats them all hands down. A little more expensive, but I have never had a stability issue with an intel made board, and ease of setup is second to none. Nobody here talks of them much because they are not designed for overclocking.

http://indigo.intel.com/mbsg/default.aspx - link to configurator

 

[The Pentium Guy]

Get a socket 775, and get a 6XX series procsesor (runs WAY cooler than the 5XX series) - and get an Intel motherboard for stability

 

[SIGcurious]

Thanks ... looks like I'll go for an Intel branded motherboard. Now I just have to sift through the information on Intel's site to match a good motherboard with my needs. It's difficult, however, to get away from all the onboard accessories. Most boards seem overkill for what I want, but don't have much of a choice I guess.