Here I go again

[Old Man River]

Here I go again

With my inexperience, all I have to go on is what I read in reviews about processors, motherboards, and such.

Having never built a computer before, I?ve decided on trying it and I?m still in the stage of selecting what I think I may want.

I?m tired of the HP, Compaq, and Dells that have crashed and burned in the past that are almost impossible to fix, or upgrade and I would like to build one that is more reliable for at least five, or more years. In doing so, I am sure I may have a power supply, CPU, or Motherboard, or something that will go down, but at least it can be replaced.

I?m at the point where I?m hesitant on selecting the Motherboard. All I need is onboard audio and Video; I don?t need to play games, or listen to supper sound.

Here is what I am uncertain about.

My two choices:

1.
$53.00 ASUS ?A7V8X-MX SE? KM400 Motherboard for AMD Socket A CPU ?RETAIL
http://www.newegg.com/app/View...=13-131-489&depa=1

2.
$66.99 BIOSTAR "M7NCG 400" nForce2 IGP Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/app/View...=13-138-234&depa=0

My system:
$99.00 ANTEC Life Style Series Black Case With 380W PS, Model "SONATA"
$10.49 Thermaltake 80mm LED Fan, Model "A2016"
$103.00 AMD Athlon XP 2700+, 333MHz FSB, 256K Cache Processor

$53.00 ASUS "A7V8X-MX SE" KM400 Motherboard for AMD Socket A CPU ?RETAIL

Or:

$66.99 BIOSTAR "M7NCG 400" nForce2 IGP Motherboard

$71.25 Corsair Value Select 184 Pin 512MB DDR PC-3200
$71.25 Corsair Value Select 184 Pin 512MB DDR PC-3200
$115.00 ViewSonic 17? CRT Monitor
$86.00 Seagate 80GB 7200RPM IDE Hard Drive, Model ST380013A-RK, Retail
$24.00 Lite-On Black DVD-ROM
$26.50 Lite-On CD-RW Drive Black
$7.00 NEC Floppy Drive
$6.50 Zonet V.92 56K PCI Data/Fax Modem
$45.99 Logitech X-230 2.1 Black Speaker System ?RETAIL
$89.00 Windows XP HOME Service Pack 2 ?OEM

$780.73 Approximate Total, Plus Tax & Shipping.

First; will I be better off with the ASUS MB for simplicity of building, or the BIOSTAR?

Second; will this all work if I follow the directions given, or rather, should it work compatibly together?

I?ve posted before on this subject, but not on the Motherboards.

 

[ScrapSilicon]

1st go here then think a little more on this project. I've used 4 of the M7NCGs with no issues in other builds..all working nicely. p.s. you'll still not beat this bundle for $480 before rebates..after rebates..$379.94
This Compaq Presario PC and monitor package includes:
AMD Sempron Processor 2800+
? 256MB DDR RAM ? 40GB hard drive ? CD-RW drive
? 56K (max) modem ? 10/100 Ethernet card
? Compaq FS7550 17" flat-glass CRT monitor (16" viewable)
? 9-in-1 card reader ? Windows® XP Home Edition
? $609.96 - $130 instant savings - $50 PC easy rebate - $50 monitor easy rebate = $379.94
Compaq SR1200NX/SKU 583808/594673, Compaq FS7550/SKU 485465

 

[bendixG15]

86.00 Seagate 80GB 7200RPM IDE Hard Drive, Model ST380013A-RK, Retail

Check out Best Buy this week, I believe they have a 80 gib 7200rpm 8 mb cache drive drive is going for $30.00 after rebates

 

[ts3433]

Originally posted by: ScrapSilicon
1st go here then think a little more on this project. I've used 4 of the M7NCGs with no issues in other builds..all working nicely. p.s. you'll still not beat this bundle for $480 before rebates..after rebates..$379.94
This Compaq Presario PC and monitor package includes:
AMD Sempron Processor 2800+
? 256MB DDR RAM ? 40GB hard drive ? CD-RW drive
? 56K (max) modem ? 10/100 Ethernet card
? Compaq FS7550 17" flat-glass CRT monitor (16" viewable)
? 9-in-1 card reader ? Windows® XP Home Edition
? $609.96 - $130 instant savings - $50 PC easy rebate - $50 monitor easy rebate = $379.94
Compaq SR1200NX/SKU 583808/594673, Compaq FS7550/SKU 485465

That's a very good deal, actually--I'd just prefer a little more RAM (another 256MB stick should be about $40-50). For this low of a price it's hard to beat an OEM, unless you're looking to upgrade it for uses that demand more of your system later on (like gaming, where you can use the onboard video of the M7NCG 400 for now but add an AGP card later--sometimes low-end OEM boxes don't come with an AGP slot).