please help me find my perfect motherboard

[verytasty]

I need to get a motherboard with the following features:

-MicroATX form factor
-built in sound
-built in LAN
-built in 1394/firewire
-1 AGP slot
-Doesn't matter if it's socket A or 478
-2 or 3 PCI slots

I've been searching forever and I can't find one. The Asus P4S-333-M has everything but the firewire, but I need all of the features! Can anybody pleaseeee help me find the perfect motherboard?

 

[Peter]

You'll have to sit still for a while, until SiS finish their "962" south bridge with integrated FireWire. That paired with a 650 or 740 north bridge (P4 or Athlon respectively) will provide enough integration to squeeze all this onto a microATX board.

Since SiS always provides new stuff to ECS/PC-Chips first, board candidates to be upgraded to use the 962 at some point are:

http://www.pcchips.com.tw/935LR.html
http://www.pcchips.com.tw/M841LR.html

regards, Peter

 

[tablespace]

Verytasty,

The following are FlexATX form factor mainboards and barebone systems but they are the only ones in a small form factor that have everything that you want on it. The AGP is built in. It's a SiS 315 GPU, I think. I was looking for a microATX myself with similar features, except I was lookin for USB 2.0.

Shuttle SS50 Pentium 4 DDR Motherboard:
http://www.spacewalker.com/english/mcs_detail_info.asp?number=175

Shuttle SS50 Pentium 4 DDR System:
http://www.spacewalker.com/english/mcs_detail_info.asp?number=182

Shuttle SS40 AMD Athlon 4 DDR Motherboard:
http://www.spacewalker.com/english/mcs_detail_info.asp?number=174

Shuttle SS40 AMD Athlon 4 DDR System:
http://www.spacewalker.com/english/mcs_detail_info.asp?number=184

Regards,

-tablespace

 

[tablespace]

I just visited the PCCHips site and they have a new board with all of the features you want:

http://www.pcchips.com.tw/M846FLR.html

-tablespace

 

[verytasty]

tablespace,

I came cross those spacewalker boards in my search. They're perfect except that they don't have an AGP slot. I would really like the ability to upgrade my video card instead of being stuck with an onboard one. I'm looking to put this into a compucase v2100 box and I think it would look so slick..

 

[verytasty]

Indeed that board has all of the features I'm looking for except one.. needs to be micro ATX! Darn. You gave me a ray of hope there. I want to jam this motherboard into a teeny-tiny case that's virtually portable..

 

[Peter]

Yes, but 846FLR is fullsize ATX ... maybe there'll be an mATX version of that one later.

 

[verytasty]

So I guess it doesn't exist, huh..
?????

 

[gaidin123]

With the boards Peter mentioned, they contain every feature you need except for onboard firewire. I agree that when you want a semi-portable micro-atx system, integration is great. But if what you want doesn't exist yet andyou need it now, is there any real problem with buying a dirt cheap firewire card from newegg for $15-25 extra?

Gaidin