Looking for info for a friend on Mb's

[tjbiscuit]

I have a friend who is about to build a new computer and he is looking for more advice then I can provide (his old one just seemed to have crapped out on him). He plans on scavenging some stuff from his current PC, but will still need to buy most of the items since what he has now is pretty old by todays standards. What he is really looking for is some advice on what to choose for a motherboard.

Here is what he is thinking of buying:

AMD 1900+ (seems to be a better bang for the buck compared to Intel)
512 MB od 2100 DDR memory
Enermax whisper quiet 350 watt power supply
60 Gig Seagate Barracuda hard drive


Motherboards being considered based on recommendations we have read in the Anandtech forums:

ASUS A7V266-E
MSI K7T266 Pro2-RU

Questions these boards though... we thought we had read people recommend these boards for an AMD 1900+, but the specs we have read on them do not show that they will (the ASUS site says this board supports up to 1800+, do not remember the MSI specs right now though). He does not plan on OC'ing his machine anytime soon, though he would like the option at a later date.

Also, anyone willing to recommend a cooling fan/heatsink combo? He had one friend suggest using an Alpha PAL8045 heatsink with a Pabst fan, but we honestly have no clue if this or another option would be best.

He will be pulling his CD and CD writer, graphics card (Geforce Ultra think), NIC, from his current PC, and will be using his current case as well (assuming the new power supply will fit into it).

He plans on ordering most of the stuff through Newegg as we have heard great things about them, and been really happy with the few items we both have ordered form them.

We'd be willing to listen to any recommendations any of you are willing to share. I am interested in all this information too as I think I will building a new PC later this spring/summer and am slowly trying to learn the in & outs of what I need to do. One of the things we still need to figure out in its entirety is actually installing all the required drivers for the AMD chip since neither one of us have built a PC using an AMD before.

Thanks...

Biscuit

 

[Halflin1]

Either one of those mobo's will be fine and from what I've read about your heatsink, it will be good too.. But one thing you need to consider is to make sure that you get a powersupply that can handle the AMD processor. I recommend you going to AMD's website and looking at 'approved' PS's and getting one of those. I ran my AMD on a unapproved 250watt ps but it's a crap shot, don't take a chance. I love Newegg and they'll have them in stock..

Half

 

[Buz2b]

The Alpha cooler is one fine cooler but can be a bit large and pricey. Unless you are going to do some massive overclocking it can be considered overkill. For good price/performance you might want to consider the SVC GC68 cooler. It really has a lot going for it (even with the stock fan) and you can add a higher performance fan for a few bucks more. Don't get me wrong, a good cooler is extremely important. But you don't have to go to extremes. Another option would be the Thermalright SK-6.
Ditto on the Power Supply considerations.

Either board you mention would be an excellent option. I'd just go with whatever one was more available and better priced for you at the time he is ready to buy.