Recommend a good budget motherboard

[Inimical]

I need to replace a motherboard in my parents' computer, but I certainly don't want anything too fancy. They do not game, don't do any intensive stuff, and certainly don't plan on overclocking it. If any of you know of some good, stable (must be very stable) motherboards for an athlon xp, then I'm very curious to know what they are. I'm looking to spend around $50, but I could shell out more if the board comes from a respectable, big name company.

Onboard things like video, sound or LAN are not important. They already have a geforce2, an sblive and a decent NIC. The motherboard and its stability are key. Thanks in advance for your suggestions!

 

[Snoop]

I'm looking to spend around $50

That is rather low for a new board of ANY quality. The only one close is probably the K7s5a series boards which I have had good luck with but others consider the plague.Newegg has the this board for around 56, it can handle either DDR or SDRAM and is very stable when paired up with good components.

Do you want a DDR or SDRAM board?

You could fleabay the SB live, NIC, and Video card and pick up an EPOX 8rga+ which has better onboard video, sound, and NIC for around 130.

 

[thraxes]

ECS K7S5A

I know so many people with this board and only one had a flakey one and that was when they just came out. The board has matured considerably in the meantime and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it!

 

[Bleep]

I have built many machines using Biostar motherboards and have found them to be excellent boards. They are cheap and some within your price range.

Bleep

 

[Inimical]

I've already got a 256Mb stick of DDR ram for that computer, so a motherboard that supports it would be necessary.

 

[S0me1X]

I would consider an Nforce board with integrated video and sound. Pricewatch shows the Asus A7N-266VM (Micro-ATX + Integrated Video, Sound, LAN) foir $67 shipped. It even has an AGP port, if you ever plan to upgrade the video card.

 

[bfonnes]

Originally posted by: S0me1X
I would consider an Nforce board with integrated video and sound. Pricewatch shows the Asus A7N-266VM (Micro-ATX + Integrated Video, Sound, LAN) foir $67 shipped. It even has an AGP port, if you ever plan to upgrade the video card.

no offense, but
YOU IDIOT, GF2 is AGP. The system would have to be at least 5-7 years old for it to not have AGP.

BTW, Biostar, bleh... That's almost generic. No offense if you own stock in Biostar... Never had one. Biostar is probably SiS for sissy.
Brian

 

[NaughtyusMaximus]

Originally posted by: bfonnes

Originally posted by: S0me1X
I would consider an Nforce board with integrated video and sound. Pricewatch shows the Asus A7N-266VM (Micro-ATX + Integrated Video, Sound, LAN) foir $67 shipped. It even has an AGP port, if you ever plan to upgrade the video card.

no offense, but
YOU IDIOT, GF2 is AGP. The system would have to be at least 5-7 years old for it to not have AGP.

BTW, Biostar, bleh... That's almost generic. No offense if you own stock in Biostar... Never had one. Biostar is probably SiS for sissy.
Brian

Calm down there buddy.. I've seen plenty of motherboards with integrated video which don't also include an AGP port.

... YOU IDIOT

 

[AtomicDude512]

Originally posted by: S0me1X
I would consider an Nforce board with integrated video and sound. Pricewatch shows the Asus A7N-266VM (Micro-ATX + Integrated Video, Sound, LAN) foir $67 shipped. It even has an AGP port, if you ever plan to upgrade the video card.

That looks good, pair it with a XP 1700 Tbred-B and your set to go in my opinion.

 

[thorin]

Originally posted by: thraxes
ECS K7S5A

I know so many people with this board and only one had a flakey one and that was when they just came out. The board has matured considerably in the meantime and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it!

I'll second that. I've built a number of systems with this board no problems at all. There's also a 3.0 or Pro version out now that has USB2 support.

Calm down there buddy.. I've seen plenty of motherboards with integrated video which don't also include an AGP port. ... YOU IDIOT

Yup bfonnes needs to think before he tries to rant.

Thorin

 

[CraigRT]

You can't get anything "good" for $50.
Even the K7S5A is like more than that.. and it's not what I'd consider "good"
sure it works, but its not as good as a top tier brand like Asus or Soltek or something.

 

[moogle077]

Originally posted by: NaughtyusMaximus

Originally posted by: bfonnes

Originally posted by: S0me1X
I would consider an Nforce board with integrated video and sound. Pricewatch shows the Asus A7N-266VM (Micro-ATX + Integrated Video, Sound, LAN) foir $67 shipped. It even has an AGP port, if you ever plan to upgrade the video card.

no offense, but
YOU IDIOT, GF2 is AGP. The system would have to be at least 5-7 years old for it to not have AGP.

BTW, Biostar, bleh... That's almost generic. No offense if you own stock in Biostar... Never had one. Biostar is probably SiS for sissy.
Brian

Calm down there buddy.. I've seen plenty of motherboards with integrated video which don't also include an AGP port.

... YOU IDIOT

My computer is 4 years old and it doesn't have AGP

 

[Luhny]

Originally posted by: moogle077

Originally posted by: NaughtyusMaximus

Originally posted by: bfonnes

Originally posted by: S0me1X
I would consider an Nforce board with integrated video and sound. Pricewatch shows the Asus A7N-266VM (Micro-ATX + Integrated Video, Sound, LAN) foir $67 shipped. It even has an AGP port, if you ever plan to upgrade the video card.

no offense, but
YOU IDIOT, GF2 is AGP. The system would have to be at least 5-7 years old for it to not have AGP.

BTW, Biostar, bleh... That's almost generic. No offense if you own stock in Biostar... Never had one. Biostar is probably SiS for sissy.
Brian

Calm down there buddy.. I've seen plenty of motherboards with integrated video which don't also include an AGP port.

... YOU IDIOT

My computer is 4 years old and it doesn't have AGP

ditto

 

[Luhny]

sorry double post

 

[CChaos]

Have you considered a refurbished board? There are some cheap AMD boards at newegg that are refurbs.
I don't know AMD's well, but a $39 Asus shipped free sounds like a deal. http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduct.asp?submit=manufactory&catalog=22&manufactory=1315&Type=Refurbish&sortby=14&order=1

 

[dnoyeb]

Asus A7N-266VM

Their is no question. This is a cheap board ~$75. It has networking and video and sound built in. That means just 1-2 sets of drivers. The fewer drivers the better in my book. Plus fewer things to diagnose. My mom does not use the network port either. Plus it is an Asus, and they make some very reliable products. You want to spend a few extra dollars on reliability unless you want your parents calling you on the phone 5 days a week...I build 1 for my mom, wife, and my moms frient, all with this MB. Its rock solid.:beer:

 

[Booster]

Wanna go the P4 way - get an ECS P4S5A/DX+ board. It's absolutely amazing... Costs right about $50 now, all the bugs are ironed out in the latest BIOS, it supports FSB533 Hyper-threaded P4. Of course, it isn't anything like 800FSB, but hey it's $50 for a board with onboard LAN and audio, 6 USB 2.0 ports and firewire (only if you're lucky - my rev. 5.2 didn't come with it )

 

[Psychosylph]

I'd look at what you want to do and what you currently have. If you want to just replace the board, check what chipset you have and try to stick with it - if you have VIA and stick with VIA you may not even have to reload the OS. But if you want to look toward the future, spend a bit more - spending an extra $50 now to get an nForce2 mobo now will allow you to upgrade to the latest and greatest processors later when they become affordable and you need the upgrade, thus saving you dollars in the long run. Plus, the Chaintech 7NIF2 and new Shuttle micro-ATX (MN31N or something?) come with everything built-in for about $100. Just my two cents.

 

[thorin]

You could also consider one of these , which you can likely find for ~$68 (I just ordered one for $105 CDN).

Thorin

 

[GregMal]

I also would recommend the ASUS A7N-266 VM. I put togethere a new system about
1 month ago and am very satisfied with it. Make sure you use XP or 2000 though.....
Greg

 

[SuperSix]

http://www.msicomputer.com/product/detail_spec/product_detail.asp?model=K7T266_Pro2U

Available dirt cheap - USB 2.0, ATA133....

Check Pricewatch/Pricegrabber

 

[mboy]

Originally posted by: bfonnes

Originally posted by: S0me1X
I would consider an Nforce board with integrated video and sound. Pricewatch shows the Asus A7N-266VM (Micro-ATX + Integrated Video, Sound, LAN) foir $67 shipped. It even has an AGP port, if you ever plan to upgrade the video card.

no offense, but
YOU IDIOT, GF2 is AGP. The system would have to be at least 5-7 years old for it to not have AGP.

BTW, Biostar, bleh... That's almost generic. No offense if you own stock in Biostar... Never had one. Biostar is probably SiS for sissy.
Brian

Actually, u are the idiot.
The ASUS board (which I also recommend) is perfect for what he wants. Has integrated G2 AND has the option of upgrading to a better video card thru the AGP slot. Get that board and ebay your current g2 card to recoup some of the cost for the MOBO, could aslo ebay the SB live as the Asus has decent on board digital sound.

 

[SuperSix]

Originally posted by: mboy

Originally posted by: bfonnes

Originally posted by: S0me1X
I would consider an Nforce board with integrated video and sound. Pricewatch shows the Asus A7N-266VM (Micro-ATX + Integrated Video, Sound, LAN) foir $67 shipped. It even has an AGP port, if you ever plan to upgrade the video card.

no offense, but
YOU IDIOT, GF2 is AGP. The system would have to be at least 5-7 years old for it to not have AGP.

BTW, Biostar, bleh... That's almost generic. No offense if you own stock in Biostar... Never had one. Biostar is probably SiS for sissy.
Brian

Actually, u are the idiot.
The ASUS board (which I also recommend) is perfect for what he wants. Has integrated G2 AND has the option of upgrading to a better video card thru the AGP slot. Get that board and ebay your current g2 card to recoup some of the cost for the MOBO, could aslo ebay the SB live as the Asus has decent on board digital sound.

Good recommendation - I forgot about that one.

 

[Malladine]

Already too many posts for this i'm sure, but I have to recommend the ECS K7S5A board as the best budget mobo available today.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

I have to agree with those who suggest the A7N266-VM as IMHO there just isn't anything for sktA that can match it's value right now. Great nvidia sound w/ Dolby 5.1 AC3 included and S/PDIF bracket, G2MX graphics onboard, rock solid stability as MechBgon can attest to since he has over 20 of these in workstations, and very good harddisk performance as well. However, the one draw back is if you are using win98 it's a bit of a pain to set up requiring even the RAM controllers be manually installed (unless the unified 2.03's fixed that as I haven't set one up with those in combo with 98 before) and it just didn't perform or play as well with 98 as it did wwith XP for me.