Mini-ITX LGA 1155 board is hard to find..

[nisryus]

So a few months ago I got my kid the RX 560 for him to play MS flight sim. His setup was i5-3450s, 16 GB of DDR3 RAM, a ADATA SX850 SSD. His old board was a BIOStar TH61.

Well his board lost its NIC last month along with two of the USB 3.0 ports. Later two of the USB 2.0 ports died as well. Now a few days ago won't recognize one of the RAM module.

I swapped out the RAM to test it on my board and it is working just fine.

Looking around for a mini-itx board, I only found a few on ebay. (I don't trust some of those no brand boards from China)

The AAEON EMB-H61A looks interesting, but it uses SODIMM...
https://www.ebay.com/itm/AAEON-EMB-...364225?hash=item2606a6fcc1:g:56gAAOSwA~1bx3IA

Many are HP boards without PCI-e, or Intel boards which doesn't support 3450s.

So i narrowed down to three.. One is foxconn
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Foxconn-H6...:v7cAAOSwR0hbSERm:sc:USPSPriority!78665!US!-1

The other is Alienware (???)
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-Alien...282120?hash=item3fa726dec8:g:decAAOSwawtbZHy6

And finally a Gigabyte
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Gigabyte-T...201169&hash=item442a0aa844:g:YikAAOSwMuZbu9qC

I am leaning toward the foxconn but kid doesn't want it because of the company's reputation on how they treat their workers... but the price is right.

That Alienware... it is listed as new, but how do they get a hold of a legitimate Dell Alienware board? I doubt Dell would honor the warranty and the company that sells is only offers 30 days warranty. It has USB 3.0, while the foxconn doesn't. Getting him a new system is too much, so... thoughts on the Alienware?

 

[Charlie22911]

I wouldn’t even consider the Dell (Alienware) board. They often use proprietary connectors for things like USB and even can headers.

The Foxconn is the better of the 3 IMO and is the one I’d pick. Another option to consider would be to use this as an opportunity to upgrade the system to something modern instead of propping up a long dead platform. You could even use it as a parenting tool, make the whipper snappers mow some lawns or something; but that’s just me lol.

 

[nisryus]

Oh, I didn't know that Alienware board use proprietary connectors. Thanks Charlie.

i guess it is the Foxconn.

We are trying not to spend too much as he is not playing the latest and greatest games, and the 3450s and 560 were great enough combo for him to do all of his school works, internet surfing, MS flight sim, Fornite, and even Rise of the Tomb Raider. He will be using it for at least two to three more years.. or beyond if Windows supports it.