hi

[ZippyDan]

looking to build a cheap system around the $52 Athlon XP 1600 they have at newegg

i need everything, so the A7N266-VM newegg has for $81 seemed attractive... as it already has built in video, sound, lan...

which is cheaper than getting ECS k7s5a for $55 and a Geforce2 MX for $50

the Asus nforce board has Geforce2 MX built in, and Athlon + Geforce2 MX can handle any of today's games... and i can upgrade when it cant

unfortunately after reading reviews of the nforce 220-D, i see that the video performance of the integrated video on that board is very bad, maybe not good enough to run today's games

anyone have any other suggestions for cheap (but quality) boards that have video/sound/lan etc? im looking for the best bang for the buck... so if you have suggestions for video card/mboard combos ill take those too

~Zippy!

 

[GoodRevrnd]

The GF2MX integrated video is probably the best onboard vid you can get atm. I'd start looking at used parts to save money and get a real video solution if you're remotely serious about games. Could probably get the ECS for $30-35 used.

 

[ZippyDan]

i have several desktops

i just want to build a desktop that can handle games NOW, and i can upgrade in the future

also, how much system memory does the onboard GF2 use up? 32MB or 64MB?

and is the 440 nforce only better than the 220 for video? all other benchmarks seemed the same...

~Zippy!

 

[spanky]

my suggestion is keep an eye on the newegg refurbs. they restock on the ecs k7s5a's (usually between $31-$35) and u can pick up a 3rd party radeon 7500 for about $35 too.

 

[kgraeme]

Originally posted by: ZippyDan

and is the 440 nforce only better than the 220 for video? all other benchmarks seemed the same...

~Zippy!

Yes, and even then only if you use paired memory. The nForce uses the paired memory to effectively double the available bandwidth. That lets the built-in video on the 440 get more than on the 220 or any other integrated board.

As for gaming, it's feasible to game with the onboard video, particularly on the nForce440 systems. However, as I'm sure you've seen from reviews it doesn't score the best either. It should be acceptable at lower resolutions until you can scrape up money for an add-in card.

While the waiting game with tech is always going to happen, keep in mind that the nForce2 is literally right around the corner. They should be coming out around the end of the month or early October.