Integrated Board?

[BlakeM]

About to build a system for an office, just general word processing apps, etc. Going to go the integrated component route but I don't have too much experience with lower end/integrated boards. I need something stable with integrated audio, video and LAN. Features aren't important, but I'd like something off a recent chipset, KT266A if possible, but SiS or ALi would be ok too. Cheap and stable are the two keys here. Thanks in advance.

 

[Peter]

Well the KT... chipsets don't have integrated video.

The best all-in-one chipsets currently come from SiS, and a good place to look for something that suits your needs is the prime integraters of SiS chipsets, Elitegroup (brands ECS and PC-Chips). www.ecs.com.tw, www.pcchips.com.tw. They have a broad range of simple, reliable, and truly all-in-one boards for P4 or Athlon.

My current favorite is M841LR - any Duron or Athlon, SDR or DDR, decent VGA, 4-channel sound, LAN, and a modem card, all right from the start.

regards, Peter

 

[Booster]

I wouldn't advice PCChips, they can be hard to get stable even at default speed. If you don't want to lose your data, the best boards are made by ASUS. And the ones equipped with SiS chipsets aren't that expensive, only a little more than ECS/PCChips. Just search the forums for ECS problems, it will give you an idea. Currently, the SiS 650 chipset offers incredible value for a P4-based system. SiS 740 is the most cost-effective and fast Athlon chipset. If you get ASUS, MSI or Epox you wouldn't regret your purchase, IMO. PCChips just isn't the way to go, IMO.

 

[Peter]

The ECS/PC-Chips boards are perfectly OK and stable - they're just not as tolerant toward inadequate power supply units. However spending $50 more on a mainboard just to save $5 on the PSU doesn't make sense - and these $5 make ALL the difference.

Do have a look at those "ECS problems" in the forums, have a close look. You'll find that most questions boil down to things that aren't the mainboard's fault - and besides, the number of questions in itself is a result of ECS selling huge numbers. They've been on the #1 spot for several quarters now, outselling everyone including ASUS. (And of course the first thing that keeps a mainboard maker in the volume OEM business is making cost effective yet still reliable stuff with low RMA rates. Think about it.)

regards, Peter

 

[WalkingDead]

try Asus A7N266-VM micro ATX board. It uses nForce 220 chipset with build in LAN, VGA and 5.1 sound. I just got mine locally for $74.