Shuttle MK40VN (KM400) Mobo @ Geeks $33.95

[Samus]

I've been ordering these a few at a time since early January, so this has been the price for quite awhile. I've been so pleased with the board's stability (and its light overclocking potential) that I've been using it exclusively in sub-400 dollar machines I build. It supports all current Athlon XP/Duron/Sempron processors and is well served for $40 shipped.

I'm typing on a Athlon XP-M 2400+ o/c to 2250MHz (166FSB/166MEM/1.6v) using this board now. Past 24 hours memtest86+ and 24 hours prime95. I'm happy.

There are a few bioses that let you tweak the cpu more, but the default options are adequate (doesn't have mem voltage, ect.)

http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=MK40VN-N&cat=MBB

On a side-note, I've been buying these to replace failing emachines/gateway boards as of late. QDI is a solid company dating back to the early 90's. Very solid stuff, they pioneered a lot of cool stuff like LogoEasy and SpeedEasy (jumperless config, before ABIT did SoftMenu)

http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=2PE800-PRO6AL-N&cat=MBB

I'm not sure it does 800MHz FSB, but I have run it at 533 with a 2.8GHz chip, no problem. Unfortunately it isn't a 865 or 875 which would be 10-15% faster, but for <$30, who's complaining, its a solid board. Even includes extra's you usually don't get in this price range (a good manual, 2 IDE cables, not one, 2-port USB dongle for the board, ect)

-Tim

 

[cw42]

am i able to put this into a regular ATX case instead of a shuttle box? I'm wondering if I should buy this cheap mobo, put some kinda AthlonXP for ~100$, 30$ psu, take ram and hds from my pc, and BAM! instant server!

also, is unichrome grafx good enough for DVD playing?

edit: btw does geeks charge tax?

 

[JafCo]

Geeks tax in CA only, afaik.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Originally posted by: Samus
On a side-note, I've been buying these to replace failing emachines/gateway boards as of late. QDI is a solid company dating back to the early 90's. Very solid stuff, they pioneered a lot of cool stuff like LogoEasy and SpeedEasy (jumperless config, before ABIT did SoftMenu)
http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=2PE800-PRO6AL-N&cat=MBB
I'm not sure it does 800MHz FSB, but I have run it at 533 with a 2.8GHz chip, no problem. Unfortunately it isn't a 865 or 875 which would be 10-15% faster, but for <$30, who's complaining, its a solid board. Even includes extra's you usually don't get in this price range (a good manual, 2 IDE cables, not one, 2-port USB dongle for the board, ect)
-Tim

Hmm, glad that you like the QDI board. I just picked one up last week, has a P4 mobile chip booting in it right now, and amazingly, it does work. Still looking for a workable heatsink though, so I can't run the system for more than about 10sec before thermal shutdown occurs. (Bad, I know.) Once I get that squared away, I plan to run my SL6FK at 12.0 x 200Mhz = 2.4Ghz / 800Mhz effective FSB speed. I'll try to let you know if that works. Board says it does 800Mhz FSB, so I believe it, although I don't think that I believe "Prescott Ready", seeing as how the CPUs VRMs are only two-phase, and not very beefy at that. (Plus, on my board, out of each group of three VRMs per phase, one VRM is unpopulated on the board out of the group. Cost-cutting, or did these boards fail QC? I'm not super-familiar with QDI, and it is "made in China", but otherwise, it looks like a fairly cleanly-engineered and solidly-built, if a bit spartan, board. (I'm slightly worried about it also using cheaper chinese-made caps on the board though, and failing a year or so from now. Guess I'll find out.)

Btw, after I had already placed my order(s) to both Compgeeks and Directron, I discovered that Directron is selling an FIC-made 865PE-based board as well, for only $30. Looks like a slightly better deal, all things considered. But either way, the QDI board seems decent. It's a full-size ATX board, with a full compliment of slots, plus onboard sound+LAN. No SATA though, and only two DIMM slots.

 

[marvdmartian]

Not a bad price, thanks for pointing it out!

Closest in price is Newegg, advertising on Pricewatch as $42 shipped. Weird thing is that ZipZoomFly, who normally is fairly close to the 'Egg in price, is showing it as $50.

As far as the question of what you can use this board in, it's a micro-atx size. It'll fit into pretty much any case that'll take a regular atx mobo, it just won't be as long as an atx board.

 

[Samus]

Onboard video is acceptable. It's a Savage4 3D/Stealth2000 2D hybrid. The Stealth's 2D quality is phenomonal, equal to Matrox if implemented correctly, but unfortunately the Savage4 has pretty crappy DirectX/OpenGL performance, probably on par with a TNT2.

Playback of DVD and DivX is great, and there is MPEG/MPEG2 motion comphensation.

Overall its a great board.

 

[RaNDoMMAI]

does this mobo have any problems recogizing semprons?

~RaNDoM

 

[ScrapSilicon]

Originally posted by: RaNDoMMAI
does this mobo have any problems recogizing semprons?

~RaNDoM

http://global.shuttle.com/Support/SupportList.asp?Item=MK40V/N

 

[AMDMaddness]

have any links to the hacked bios's that allow OC'ing? I have the PCCHIPS version (which is identical) The SOYO SYK7VME, SHUTTLE MK40VN, PCCHIPS M581LU, and the MATSONIC MS8188E are all the same. very good price for the mobo I run the M581 in a HTPC.

Pete

 

[Samus]

the jumpers on the board allow for a 166fsb lock, then in the stock bios you can go up from there. the oc bios simply gives you vcore adjustment, which isn't really required unless you plan on really oc'ing the crap out of your processor (modern cores don't need a voltage bump until your 15-20% beyond the stock clock, in my experience.

 

[bupkus]

Resellerratings not impressive. $10 shipping, so only a couple bucks less than newegg.com. NE resellerratings... impressive.

 

[RaNDoMMAI]

duh, check the company page, my bad

thx alot ScrapSilicon

~RaNDoM

 

[freshspace]

Originally posted by: cw42
am i able to put this into a regular ATX case instead of a shuttle box? I'm wondering if I should buy this cheap mobo, put some kinda AthlonXP for ~100$, 30$ psu, take ram and hds from my pc, and BAM! instant server!

also, is unichrome grafx good enough for DVD playing?

edit: btw does geeks charge tax?

Yes, you can put it in a regular ATX case

 

[todpod]

mwave has it for $31.50

linky