Motherboard recs? Stability and affordability.

[mammothbaby]

Hey Folks:

My three year old Thunderbird system is in its final throes, and I've thus decided to try to build my own system. Many of the components from my old system are still usable (NIC, hard drives, RAM), and I've decided to buy all of my other components from NewEgg (seems easiest). I'm looking to build the system for around $500, focusing on upgradeability and cost effectiveness. I don't need a bleeding edge system -- just one with lasting power (okay, okay, and it should be able to run HL2 and Doom 3).

I've decided on the Athlon XP 3000+ for my processor, and a Sapphire Radeon 9800 Pro for video. For a case, I've gone with the Antec Black ATX Mid-Tower .

My knowledge of hardware falters when it comes to motherboards, so I need some recommendations on what kind of MB to combine with this processor/video card combo. As you can see from my other selections, I'm trying to find the best combination of price/performance, but with the added factors of stability (very important) and upgradeability. I won't be overclocking anything in the system, so heat and OCing shouldn't factor into your recommendations.

Thanks in advance!

Aidan

 

[mechBgon]

Can I suggest an Athlon64 2800+ instead of AthlonXP? For DoomIII and HL2, I'd take the A64 for sure. Even in 32-bit mode, it should be the better gamer.

If you do want to stick with the AthlonXP 3000+, the Abit NF7-S is a proven board worth looking at.

 

[mammothbaby]

mechBgon:

Thanks for the quick reply! I'll be honest: I didn't know that the Athlon 64s were so cheap. I'll definitely switch over to the 64 2800+ instead of the XP 3000+. If I go with the 64, what type of MB do you recommend?

Thanks,

Aidan

 

[mechBgon]

It will depend partly on the feature set you're after. I got an Asus K8N-E Deluxe myself. The Asus K8V would be a good basic board with fewer bells & whistles. Both of them have passive cooling and 3-year warranties. The K8V doesn't have Firewire, as an example of where feature sets come into play.

 

[jkresh]

have you tried overclocking the k8n-e yet? If so have you found a way past the 220mhz wall? Asus has a new beta bios out 1003.1004 havent tried it yet, probably will later, if you have, has it made a difference?

 

[mechBgon]

Originally posted by: jkresh
have you tried overclocking the k8n-e yet? If so have you found a way past the 220mhz wall? Asus has a new beta bios out 1003.1004 havent tried it yet, probably will later, if you have, has it made a difference?

It's a work tool. No OC'ing.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

If you go A64 have a look at the EPOX 8KDA3J under $100 nF3 250GB=

 

[Kerers]

I'm also looking for help choosing a motherboard. I had begun my first build with a asus p4p800 deluxe mobo and a powercolor Radeon 9600 pro. I have a 2.8ghz intel processor.

The system was very unstable and would randomly restart. There were other problems with the mobo so I sent that back to NewEgg, but I never fully resolved if it was that board or the board in general that was incompatible. I'd like to spend less than $200 on a new mobo which will be compatible with the rest of the parts I already have.

I'm not going to overclock or anything. I just want a system that is stable and can run the two games I play (Everquest and SimCity4).

Here's the full specs:
P4 2.8C Ghz
2 X 512 DDR Corsair Value Select
Powercolor Radeon 9600 Pro
Western Digital 80GB HD 7200RPM
Sound Blaster Audigy 2
Windows XP Professional

Thanks for your help!
Keri

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Originally posted by: Kerers
I'm also looking for help choosing a motherboard. I had begun my first build with a asus p4p800 deluxe mobo and a powercolor Radeon 9600 pro. I have a 2.8ghz intel processor.

The system was very unstable and would randomly restart. There were other problems with the mobo so I sent that back to NewEgg, but I never fully resolved if it was that board or the board in general that was incompatible. I'd like to spend less than $200 on a new mobo which will be compatible with the rest of the parts I already have.

I'm not going to overclock or anything. I just want a system that is stable and can run the two games I play (Everquest and SimCity4).

Here's the full specs:
P4 2.8C Ghz
2 X 512 DDR Corsair Value Select
Powercolor Radeon 9600 Pro
Western Digital 80GB HD 7200RPM
Sound Blaster Audigy 2
Windows XP Professional

Thanks for your help!
Keri

Given that info I'd recommend the

Intel D865PERLL Make certain you have a good quality power supply too. Lack of one could explain most of your problems up till now.

 

[mechBgon]

Originally posted by: Kerers
I'm also looking for help choosing a motherboard. I had begun my first build with a asus p4p800 deluxe mobo and a powercolor Radeon 9600 pro. I have a 2.8ghz intel processor.

The system was very unstable and would randomly restart. There were other problems with the mobo so I sent that back to NewEgg, but I never fully resolved if it was that board or the board in general that was incompatible. I'd like to spend less than $200 on a new mobo which will be compatible with the rest of the parts I already have.

I'm not going to overclock or anything. I just want a system that is stable and can run the two games I play (Everquest and SimCity4).

Here's the full specs:
P4 2.8C Ghz
2 X 512 DDR Corsair Value Select
Powercolor Radeon 9600 Pro
Western Digital 80GB HD 7200RPM
Sound Blaster Audigy 2
Windows XP Professional

Thanks for your help!
Keri

My first question is what power supply (brand + model) you're using. The quality of the PSU can make or break an otherwise-wonderful system.

Beyond that, for DDR400 you should manually set your RAM voltage to 2.6 volts and consider 2.7 volts if problems persist (in my opinion). Memtest86 is a free non-Windows-based memory-testing utility that can test your RAM overnight to help determine if it's going to work error-free or not.

I see you also have a SoundBlaster Audigy 2, which duplicates some of the motherboard's own functions (Firewire, MIDI, Gameport, audio) and also can be fussy about its IRQ sharing, so depending on what motherboard you have, there may be an optimal PCI slot to put the Audigy2 into, and you will probably want to disable your motherboard's own Firewire, MIDI, Gameport and audio features in the motherboard BIOS menus.

 

[Kerers]

Originally posted by: mechBgon
My first question is what power supply (brand + model) you're using. The quality of the PSU can make or break an otherwise-wonderful system.

I actually replaced the first powersupply I had in the system because of the restarts and got a CompUSA 400 Watt Atx Power Supply. It stopped the total restarts but not the BSOD.

DAPUNISHER, the suggestion you gave me seems to be exactly what I need, so I'll probably go with that unless someone has another suggestion.

Thanks for all your help.

 

[mechBgon]

I suggest an Antec PSU if you're a CompUSA shopper. If you're planning on a sane amount of hardware, then an Antec SL350 (aka SmartPower350) would be nice. A little extra wattage never hurts, if you prefer to over-engineer a bit. I use Antec TruePower 430's in my home and work systems now, definitely overkill ...but hey, it's my money. (yes, I am trying to hint that you should use your CompUSA-brand 400W PSU for a doorstop )

If you're ordering online, Enermax, Fortron and PC Power & Cooling are some more good brands to check out.