mATX Mobo suggestions please.

MithShrike

Diamond Member
May 5, 2002
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My friend has a Sony VAIO from a few years back and he wants to upgrade his motherboard and RAM. Currently his setup is:

Athlon 1.0 Ghz T-Bird
192MB PC100
32MB TNT2 AGP
...and whatever the hell else is in his computer.

I know his case takes mATX and I was trying to think of a pretty good Athlon mobo for him. A mutual friend of ours has some extra PC2100 so this friend doesn't have to worry about the RAM. I ruled out the KM266 boards and thought about the A7N266-VM. My friend wants to pay about $50 so if any of you know of a motherboard that is mATX, about $50, and is at least of KT266A quality please LMK over this thread or through PMs. Thanks much. :beer:
 

Vette73

Lifer
Jul 5, 2000
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I would go with the Biostar M7VIZ
It is a KM400 board with a SATA, 6ch C-Media sound card, ethernet, and Uni-Chrome video card
It goes for $59 shipped at newegg.com


Just make sure his power supply is a TRUE atx one. It might be, but just because the plug looks the same does not mean it is.
 

optimistic

Diamond Member
Apr 29, 2001
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I would definitely get this mobo $62. I wouldn't worry about the extra $12 because this motherboard is worth it. You'll get USB 2.0 over the A7N266-VM you have chosen, plus Dolby integrated sound, and better onboard video than what your friend has now with that external TNT2 card. This board takes DDR memory and to get the most of the onboard video go with the fastest ram you can afford.

But if you really MUST spend $50, I wouldn't get anything less than this. $52. Abit one of the most trusted name in the biz, and the KM400 chip is very stable and fast. You get integrated LAN, 6-ch audio, USB, 2.0, Barton & DDR333 support as well, but no nvidia video. But that doesn't really matter at this point, because if your friend cared about video, he'll be buying a separate card anyway. Also what's curious about this board is that it has an extra 12-volt 4pin connector to supply extra power to the processor (more stablity?). Other AMD KM400 boards don't have this extra little feature.
 

brentkiosk

Member
Oct 25, 2002
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I recently followed Marlin's suggestion and got a M7VIZ. First impressions are positive - system went together well and on board functions seem pretty good.
 

Boonesmi

Lifer
Feb 19, 2001
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Originally posted by: brentkiosk
I recently followed Marlin's suggestion and got a M7VIZ. First impressions are positive - system went together well and on board functions seem pretty good.
ive also built several systems using the m7viz :)
a very easy board to work with!! just like the m7vig that i used many of before the m7viz was released (m7viz = km400.... m7vig = km266)
 

tcsenter

Lifer
Sep 7, 2001
18,716
432
126
Unfortunately, the KM400 is probably not going to be much of an improvement if any over the TNT2 external graphic card. The greatly increased CPU utilization alone can actually make the new system seem LESS responsive than it was before the upgrade.

I can't say if that will be true in this case, but going from a fairly decent albiet dated external graphics card to an anemic integrated solution like the KM400 might have this risk. I would recommend a motherboard that has an AGP slot, whether or not it also has integrated graphics, just in case.
 

Boonesmi

Lifer
Feb 19, 2001
14,448
1
81
the km400 has awesome video (its not designed for gaming, so its not super fast, but sometime read the spec sheet!!!, which includes hardware mpeg accelerating. its designed to accel in multimedia )

plus all km400 boards do come with an agp slot, so future upgrades arent a problem
 

tcsenter

Lifer
Sep 7, 2001
18,716
432
126
Originally posted by: Boonesmi
the km400 has awesome video (its not designed for gaming, so its not super fast, but sometime read the spec sheet!!!, which includes hardware mpeg accelerating. its designed to accel in multimedia )

plus all km400 boards do come with an agp slot, so future upgrades arent a problem
KM400 ProSavage DDR graphics core is certainly improved over ProSavage 8, but you wouldn't have guessed it by the benchmarks. ;-)

 

Boonesmi

Lifer
Feb 19, 2001
14,448
1
81
Originally posted by: tcsenter
Originally posted by: Boonesmi
the km400 has awesome video (its not designed for gaming, so its not super fast, but sometime read the spec sheet!!!, which includes hardware mpeg accelerating. its designed to accel in multimedia )

plus all km400 boards do come with an agp slot, so future upgrades arent a problem
KM400 ProSavage DDR graphics core is certainly improved over ProSavage 8, but you wouldn't have guessed it by the benchmarks. ;-)
what benchmarks are you talking about? games? its not a gaming system so its kinda pointless to use games as the benchmark (add a vid card if you want to play games)

 

jjyiz28

Platinum Member
Jan 11, 2003
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well for me biostar has been problematic. had to RMA exchange the M7viz, then did RMA refund. the epox (km400) 8kmm3i has been top notch first time.

km400 integrated don't work to well with 2k server, in my personal experience.
 

tcsenter

Lifer
Sep 7, 2001
18,716
432
126
what benchmarks are you talking about? games? its not a gaming system so its kinda pointless to use games as the benchmark (add a vid card if you want to play games)
Hmm...so you're advising to use an external video solution if the KM400 isn't up to snuff?

Its weird, I could swear this very same advice has already been said by someone in this thread some where. I just can't seem to remember....
Unfortunately, the KM400 is probably not going to be much of an improvement if any over the TNT2 external graphic card. The greatly increased CPU utilization alone can actually make the new system seem LESS responsive than it was before the upgrade.

I can't say if that will be true in this case, but going from a fairly decent albiet dated external graphics card to an anemic integrated solution like the KM400 might have this risk. I would recommend a motherboard that has an AGP slot, whether or not it also has integrated graphics, just in case.
I wish I could remember who advised that a video card may be a better solution than the KM400. Anyway, thank you Boonesmi for this great advice!
 

MithShrike

Diamond Member
May 5, 2002
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Thanks for the advice people. My friend was planning on keeping the TNT2 anyway so whatever. :beer: For all you people arguing. :D