Need most stable Socket 939 mobo for office environment

[leigh6]

Hi,

I have to build 2 systems for a friends business. Figure 939 pci or agp will be fine. Going to run a64 3000-3500 depending on what I find.

SO STABLE IS PRIME!!!! No overclocking, no gaming.

NO OVERCLOCKING!!!!!!!! That is limited to ME!!!!!!

Thanks, Leigh

 

[Peter]

939 is overkill for business PCs. Do 754 with a Sempron for about $100 less, to be spent on better monitors.

 

[mb103051]

so true ive just built 2 systems for office use and used a 754 mobo and 1 gig of ram.they run perfect and are lightning fast for office work.i used an asus k8n 754 board for 1 system and an asus k8n4-e for the bosses computer.with 1 gig of ram and an agp card for the first one and a pcie card for the second,i used an ati x550 card.i used a redeon agp 8500 for the first rig.the owners of them are thrilled and 939 would be a waste of money for this type of use.i used an a64 3000 on the 1st one and an a64 2800 on the second one.corsair xms 3200 ram all around.i was impressed as they are very smooth and fast as hell.

 

[furballi]

Best deal with onboard video is this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813138268

If you already have an AGP video card, then, I would go with this:
http://shop3.outpost.com/product/4705559

I have the ECS. Very stable board. Currently running the Sempron 3100 at 2.44GHz. The $90 deal includes the 3100 Sempron.

 

[leigh6]

I had been looking at that but remember I will NOT be overclocking these. Wondering if the L2 cache of 256 is problematic. They run 2 programs. One a tracking program for every auto part ever made and an invoicing and inventory program. The auto part tracking program is pretty intensive. My guess it doesnt take a lot of processing power though.

 

[Greenman]

Stable rules out ULI and nVidia, I don't know much about ATI chipsets, I assume they are as good as nvidia, so their out as well. VIA maybe?

 

[CP5670]

This is probably the best option for uncompromised stability, although it's rather expensive:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813151156

 

[furballi]

If the ECS can run Prime95 and Super Pi at the same time at 34% overclock, then it will not have any problem running a wimpy auto part application.

Most stability issues are caused by software conflict.

 

[Greenman]

Originally posted by: furballi
Most stability issues are caused by software conflict.

I dissagree. I think most stability issues are platform related. Thats one of the reasons Intel does so well, the boards they make are rock solid.

 

[leigh6]

Originally posted by: furballi
If the ECS can run Prime95 and Super Pi at the same time at 34% overclock, then it will not have any problem running a wimpy auto part application.

Most stability issues are caused by software conflict.

99% of motherboards are built to run at stock. So stability has nothing to do with overclocking. The better boards will be more stable at stock than lesser boards.

The fact that a board can overclock incredibly well (ex. DFI Ultra, EPOX Ultra +, etc) has nothing to do with how they will hold up in the long run stability wise at stock.

 

[furballi]

A stable board with ALWAYS overclock with ease and perform well with multiple hardware stress benchmarks! Overclocking places more stress on the motherboard. A board with higher quality components that can handle higher voltage, current, and temperature will remain stable at higher FSB and Vcore. Remember that heat (current and voltage) is the number one killer of electronics.

Same logic applies to CPUs. All A64 3000 will run okay at 1.8GHz. However, those chips that can hit +2.6GHz will have higher reliability and stability in the long run at stock setting.

If a motherboard is bug-free for the first month of use, then it should provide many years of reliable service. A buggy "platform" will show up within a few days of use. The Intel platform is popular because it is the number one CPU vendor. PC vendors get a better discount when they combine the Intel CPU and MB/Onboard Video. Most PC enthusiasts would not use the INTEL board because there are many better alternatives.

Software conflict is the number one cause for system instability! I usually stay away from 1st generation board and BIOS. The vast majority of 754 and 939 boards from 1st tier manufacturers are very good to excellent in stability. These vendors deal with large volume and they cannot afford to deal with RMAs.

So who are the top tier MB vendors? Asus and ECS.

 

[Steve]

Originally posted by: furballi
So who are the top tier MB vendors? Asus and ECS.

Also Gigabyte and MSI, unless that has changed since late 2004:

http://www.digitimes.com/Backgrounders/Mobos/MBHome.asp?ID=M1030922&Content=1

 

[LiquidImpulse]

DFI LANPARTY FTW