What is the most stable, easy to build AXP motherboard?

[fibes]

Hello,

This is going to be a budget gaming system, so I would like to keep the cost of the motherboard under $60. Overall, costs of the system itself will be under $600. Specs I plan to use:

Aspire Turbo II case(stock PSU)
XP 2600
Cosair 3200 512MB Value Ram
80GB Western Digital HD
9600 PRO Video Card(manufacturer TBD)

He is going to use the system for light gaming, internet use and school. The board can be bare bones basic. No need for Raid or 6 channel audio, just a reliable machine that will last him a few years.

I heard good things about....
Shuttle AN35N-Ultra
AsRock K7V88

Please add any others that you may suggest. The most important factor is it has to be a stable board.

Thanks for everyone help!

 

[globalcitizen]

ASUS A7N8X is a very stable one and highly recommended for an Athlon XP

 

[fibes]

Originally posted by: globalcitizen
ASUS A7N8X is a very stable one and highly recommended for an Athlon XP

Thanks!

 

[fibes]

Any other suggestions?

 

[Rhagz]

While I will probably be run off the forums for this.. my AMD2500+ Barton is on a Soyo Dragon Plus.. it installed easy, setup was simple and has been rock solid stable for a year now. It doesn't have any real overclock features, voltages are all locked.. you can set the memory timings and you can tweak the FSB a little, but I can't get more than 205-210 without instabilty.. probably due to my crappy generic CompUSA ram. So for a non-overclock, I would say that Soyo is a cheap and reliable option.

 

[fibes]

Thanks guys! Now is there any motherboards I should stay clear of?

 

[MDE]

My Abit NF7-S Rev 2 has been solid. Avoid the NF7-S2 though, it's supposed to be buggy from what I hear.)

 

[fibes]

Originally posted by: MDE
My Abit NF7-S Rev 2 has been solid. Avoid the NF7-S2 though, it's supposed to be buggy from what I hear.)

Yes. I love the Abit NF7-S. However, it's a little over priced for my friend's budget. I'm thinking of using this board for my new system. I'm torn between the Abit NFS-S and Shuttle AN35N-Ultra.

The Abit is a great choice. Thanks! :beer: