Need help selecting a Socket A motherboard for Athlon XP 1800...

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Hello. I am having some problems selecting a motherboard for a friend of mine. He runs a athlon XP 1800 cpu with 256MB PC2100 Kingston RAM and his power supply is 350W. What I would like, is to find a board that is very stable since his PC is on a lot everyday. He is NOT an overclocker or gamer. He simply uses MS office a lot and doesn't need a problematic motherboard like the K7S5A he has right now...

Sound and NIC are required on this new board.

I just want a board I can trust will run when I take it out of the box and install it and not have to touch it EVER again

And if you could recommend some vendors that would be good too!

Thanks in advance.

 

[DahDee]

Here's a good board (Abit NF7-S) ($113) at a good vendor (Newegg):

http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproduct.asp?DEPA=1&submit=Go&description=N82E16813127143

Here's another good one (Soltek SL-75FRN2-RL) that's a little less ($94):

http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproduct.asp?DEPA=1&submit=Go&description=N82E16813180039

He probably doesn't care about Serial ATA on the NF7-S, so he could look at the Abit NF7 for $93:

http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproduct.asp?DEPA=1&submit=Go&description=N82E16813127144

The Asus A7V8X-X at $65 looks like a very nice and stable board for a non-gamer:

http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproduct.asp?DEPA=1&submit=Go&description=N82E16813131451

All 3 of the manufacturers listed above are respected motherboard makers. Newegg is a great online vendor, good prices and good service (no, I don't work for or know anyone who works for any of these guys). I'm guessing you'd be happy with any of these 4 boards, and others can probably suggest additional possibilities, maybe even better ideas for your particular application.

 

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Thank you, I will consider those boards DahDee. But I don;t know if I should buy from Newegg. I have been reading some posts about some unhappy people and I would really like zero problems with the board or whatever this time around. Any other sellers you know of? Thank you very much anyways!

 

[pspada]

Try the FIC AU13. It'll support the 1800+ now, as well as any 333 or 400fsb chip down the road, and is available from Mwave.com as well as newegg.

 

[lycurgus]

For the latest socket A mobo's, nForce2 is pretty much the way to go. However, it sounds like you don't need the latest in this case. Running a 266MHz FSB Athlon and PC2100, an older board will do. I've always kinda like the ASUS A7S333 for a nice stable 'bargain' board. It has limited OC'ability, and problematic PC2700 support, but running PC2100 with a 266MHz FSB processor it should be fine.

 

[novice]

My last motherboard was a Shuttle AN35N. It is pretty cheap, and yet offers the Nforce 2 chipset and supports the 200 Mhz front side bus. While I know your friend isn't interested in overclocking, if he ever changes his mind, the Shuttle is up to the task. It supports all the AMD Duron and XP cpu's and is very stable and fast. If it is a solid bargain you are looking for, check out the Shuttle AN35N Ultra 400. I can't say enough about a motherboard that cost less than $70 shipped from newegg.com. It is also available from other vendors such as multiwave and googlegear (or whatever they call themselves now) I can't see spending a lot of money on a current new mainboard, not with the 64 bit cpu's lurking around the corner and the new motherboards they will require. The AN35N will certainly be fast enought long enough to hold anyone over until they make the jump to the clawhammer or whatever AMD elects to name their new processors.

 

[JustStarting]

Originally posted by: novice
My last motherboard was a Shuttle AN35N. It is pretty cheap, and yet offers the Nforce 2 chipset and supports the 200 Mhz front side bus. While I know your friend isn't interested in overclocking, if he ever changes his mind, the Shuttle is up to the task. It supports all the AMD Duron and XP cpu's and is very stable and fast. If it is a solid bargain you are looking for, check out the Shuttle AN35N Ultra 400. I can't say enough about a motherboard that cost less than $70 shipped from newegg.com. It is also available from other vendors such as multiwave and googlegear (or whatever they call themselves now) I can't see spending a lot of money on a current new mainboard, not with the 64 bit cpu's lurking around the corner and the new motherboards they will require. The AN35N will certainly be fast enought long enough to hold anyone over until they make the jump to the clawhammer or whatever AMD elects to name their new processors.

Another vote for the Shuttle AN35N Ultra 400. I've got mine up and running, and it's sweet. Sweet OC'ing options- FSB to 250, adjustable vcore up to 2.0v, adjustable vdimm to 2.7v, multipliers 8-22 (after flash), and onboard LAN and sound. The only thing I didn't like was that I had to flash the BIOS to get some missing multipliers (11.0, 11.5 and 12.0) in the original BIOS. The Shuttle site has great flashing instructions even though the manual does not mention it. It worked without a hitch using the .exe file on a bootable floppy. Use the Shuttle CDR bundle discount at newegg, and get the board for $64 shipped. Can't beat that for a good value.