What Mother board should i get?

[NewbieLaw]

i want to try and build my own Computer...i think i have enough knowldge and friends that i can do this and with prices the way they are now with the NASDAQ down this seems to be a good time to go for it..

this is what i am after and mabey some imput from you readers will help..

i want DDR ..i want a P4 1.7GIG...i would like to be able to use 1024Megs of RAM with a FSB of 500 or faster..(i have a 500mghz that has a 512 and it runs much faster then my 1Gig AMD) ..plenty of PCI slots (5) ..and any imput on BIOS would be good...this will mainly be a gameing computer so i am looking for speed and ability to go with high graphics cards and sound cards..i am no wiz with motherboards so i am here to get as much input as possible..

-price is a issue ..(no more then $250) ..i am trying to build a rocking comp. at a reasonable price..both my other comps i have spent $2500 to $3000 ..which i wont do again..

thnx NewbieLaw

 

[Boonesmi]

currently there are no ddr pent4 boards
via hopefully will have one soon.

so basically you need to go with either rambus and a pent4 or ddr and athlon

personally i would pick the athlon with ddr anyday, and not just cause it cost less, but it is a great performing combo.

 

[NewbieLaw]

ok i will buy that but which motherboard do you suggest?...i know it is a personal choice ..but if you had 250 to spend what would you buy..(name brand and model)and the AMD only reaches 1.4gig right?..will it be possible to upgrade to a high processor in the future..or will i have to buy another motherboard(again your oppinion)

 

[Boonesmi]

ok

first, current amd socketA boards will support future cpu's including the new athlon4 (palomino)

yes the current fastest tbird is 1.4ghz, but remember that an athlon clock for clock is a good bit faster then a pent4. 1.4athlon would compare very well to a 1.8pent4 (in some benches the athy would win, in some the pent4)

also i dont know if i would spent $250 on a board in the near future we will have the new sis chipset and the new nvidia chipset, and both of those look to dominate the current stuff, but.... as far as current chipsets the amd 760 is probably the best, but with the new revision of the via kt266 just hitting the streets who knows, maybe the via will be faster

but if i was buying a board today it would be with the amd 760 chipset
if you want to overclock:
gigabyte 7dxr (about $200)
epox 8k7a+ (about $150)
both of the above boards have onboard raid, and even though im not a big raid fan i do like having the extra ata100 controllers, supporting up to 8 ide devices

if i didnt plan on overclocking i would pick:
asus a7m266 (about $180)

 

[NelsonMuntz]

I like the way boonesmi thinks. For overclocking capability you can't beat the Epox EP-8K7A either with or without RAID. If you are not interested in that, I would lean toward the MSI K7 Master which is cheaper than the ASUS.