So I have an old Socket A Athlon 1700+ laying here...

[KDOG]

Actually I have two. One is an older "brown" 1700 DLT3C and the other is the newer green 2100 DUT3C. I was thinking of making either a car PC or a compact server PC. Looking for a good mobo for it. I can't decide if I want to use integrated video for a really low profile PC, or get one I can throw my aging 9500PRO in as any excuse to upgrade to a PCI-X graphics card in my currect PC (which has both AGP and PCI-X). Any suggestions?

 

[Malladine]

ECS K7S5A Pro without a second thought.

There are no socket a agp/pci-e boards that I know of

 

[Spike]

I actually use my AXP 1800+ in a game server and torrent rig. I used it as a CS S and UT2K4 server and it works quite well. The mobo I have is the ECS K7S5A but mine is the original version, I bought it when the board first came out. Still works to this day but don't EVER put a creative sound product in it as it liks to corrupt files on the HDD if you do this.

I also have a Barton AXP 3200+ sitting here besides the AXP 3200+ that I use in my main rig. My plan is to get a Aspire Q-Pack microATX case, some socket A mobo and pop my Radeon 8500 in it along with a 120gb hdd. That will make a decent HTPC for just watching divx, listening to MP3's, and maybe some light gaming on the big screen.

-spike

 

[Malladine]

Well yea, the original k7s5a is good too but unavailable now i think.

 

[Spike]

Originally posted by: Malladine
Well yea, the original k7s5a is good too but unavailable now i think.

I think I would much prefer the pro, the original has ALOT of bugs in it that I would not mind being fixed. However, since I don't feel like spending any more money on such an old setup I will have to live with this board.

-spike

 

[imported_Kiwi]

Originally posted by: Malladine
ECS K7S5A Pro without a second thought.

There are no socket a agp/pci-e boards that I know of

Not for Socket A. But there is an Asrock dual 939 with both video slots. How'd you miss hearing about it? Been hiding in a convent the past six months? (Re-read the original discussion, where the OM refers to his "Current PC".) Never having heard a lot good about ECS, I always wonder why that one particular board got so much attention. Biostar kept making a couple of their MB's with both kinds of RAM slots (suposedly an advantage of that ECS) longer than ECS did, and the VIW would accept (Barton) XP 2600's/333 MHz while that ECS was topped out at about XP 2000/266 fsb.

 

[Malladine]

I know about that, he wants socket a though.

the k7s5a takes 2600+ 266fsb chips with a bios update. The pro version doesn't need the update.

 

[John P]

I would go with a cheap NForce2 board. They can be found for around $40. Stay away from KT600 chipsets, they can have problems with newer NVIDIA video cards (which does not appear to be an issue for you).

I had a k7s5a but it became unstable for some reason, I even replaced the chipset heatsink and could never get it to run stable again. Both my kids rigs are running cheap NForce2 boards (ECS and Biostar) with Athlon XP 2500+/2800+ and Geforce 6800 video cards and run great.

You could actually make a spare gaming rig with that chip - my spare machine with an Athlon XP 1600+ and a Geforce 4 Ti4200 runs HL2/CSS fine for when my kids have friends over.

Here is one for $39.99 at computergeeks

 

[KDOG]

Originally posted by: John P.

Here is one for $39.99 at computergeeks

Thats' pretty cool. I like that one. Thanks for the link! I may have to pick that one up on payday!

 

[KDOG]

I also like this case for it...InWin

 

[OfficeLinebacker]

Originally posted by: John P.
I would go with a cheap NForce2 board. They can be found for around $40. Stay away from KT600 chipsets, they can have problems with newer NVIDIA video cards (which does not appear to be an issue for you).

I had a k7s5a but it became unstable for some reason, I even replaced the chipset heatsink and could never get it to run stable again. Both my kids rigs are running cheap NForce2 boards (ECS and Biostar) with Athlon XP 2500+/2800+ and Geforce 6800 video cards and run great.

You could actually make a spare gaming rig with that chip - my spare machine with an Athlon XP 1600+ and a Geforce 4 Ti4200 runs HL2/CSS fine for when my kids have friends over.

Here is one for $39.99 at computergeeks

That's really cool and now it's on sale for $35!