What's a good mainboard with built in video good enough for lite gaming?

[bupkus]

What's a good mainboard with built in video good enough for lite gaming?

We've been using ASUS boards based on the nforce1 chipset but there may be better options now. It's for kids ages 8 - 11.

 

[wicktron]

Anything based off of the nForce2-IGP

 

[Jeff7]

Originally posted by: wicktron
Anything based off of the nForce2-IGP

And use more than one stick of RAM, to use Dual Channel mode, which will really give the graphics a boost over a single stick.

 

[Vette73]

I like the shuttle MN31N as it uses the MCP-T southbridge so you get better sound and firewire header. Juts use 2 slabs or Ram so you get dual Ch memory.

 

[Killrose]

Originally posted by: Jeff7

Originally posted by: wicktron
Anything based off of the nForce2-IGP

And use more than one stick of RAM, to use Dual Channel mode, which will really give the graphics a boost over a single stick.

What they said

 

[Jhhnn]

If you're building from scratch, then yeh, a Nforce2-igp board is the answer, in dual channel mode.

If you're trying to upgrade the performance of an existing system, then the purchase of something like a ATI 9600 card might be worth the slight extra- they support DirectX 9, while none of the integrated solution do, iirc.

 

[Zepper]

Yeah, ATI 9600, slight extra - right??? The dang things cost nearly twice as much as a good integrated mobo.
bupkus,
. Check out the DFI based on the KM400 over at monarchcomputer.com (<$60.). It has got the latest southbridge (8237) and the P4 Aux connector (so you won't need such a hefty PSU). And it has an AGP slot in case the integrated video doesn't cut it for you.
.bh.

 

[bupkus]

Originally posted by: Zepper
Yeah, ATI 9600, slight extra - right??? The dang things cost nearly twice as much as a good integrated mobo.
bupkus,
. Check out the DFI based on the KM400 over at monarchcomputer.com (<$60.). It has got the latest southbridge (8237) and the P4 Aux connector (so you won't need such a hefty PSU). And it has an AGP slot in case the integrated video doesn't cut it for you.
.bh.

Onboard Video: Integrated S3 2D/3D/Video accelerator, Shares 8MB to 64MB of the system memory
Onboard SATA/RAID: 2x SATA, SATA RAID 0/1 and JBOD
KM400 @ newegg.com
Is this what you meant?

 

[Zepper]

Yeah, that's the one. But it wasn't there yesterday. They must have just got 'em in.
..bh.

 

[Bonesdad]

Picked up an NF7-M refurb for $59 at Newegg...onboard graphics. Haven't put it together yet though.

 

[Boogak]

Yuck, you'd be downgrading from your existing nForce1 video if you went to this S3 integrated motherboard. Stick with a nForce2 IGP solution. FYI I had a KM266 based motherboard that scored a 592 in 3DMark2001, I'm pretty sure it's the same S3 integrated video on both chipsets (KM266 and KM400).

Originally posted by: bupkus

Originally posted by: Zepper
Yeah, ATI 9600, slight extra - right??? The dang things cost nearly twice as much as a good integrated mobo.
bupkus,
. Check out the DFI based on the KM400 over at monarchcomputer.com (<$60.). It has got the latest southbridge (8237) and the P4 Aux connector (so you won't need such a hefty PSU). And it has an AGP slot in case the integrated video doesn't cut it for you.
.bh.

Onboard Video: Integrated S3 2D/3D/Video accelerator, Shares 8MB to 64MB of the system memory
Onboard SATA/RAID: 2x SATA, SATA RAID 0/1 and JBOD
KM400 @ newegg.com
Is this what you meant?

 

[DevilsAdvocate]

Originally posted by: Boogak
Yuck, you'd be downgrading from your existing nForce1 video if you went to this S3 integrated motherboard. Stick with a nForce2 IGP solution. FYI I had a KM266 based motherboard that scored a 592 in 3DMark2001, I'm pretty sure it's the same S3 integrated video on both chipsets (KM266 and KM400).

Originally posted by: bupkus

Originally posted by: Zepper
Yeah, ATI 9600, slight extra - right??? The dang things cost nearly twice as much as a good integrated mobo.
bupkus,
. Check out the DFI based on the KM400 over at monarchcomputer.com (<$60.). It has got the latest southbridge (8237) and the P4 Aux connector (so you won't need such a hefty PSU). And it has an AGP slot in case the integrated video doesn't cut it for you.
.bh.

Onboard Video: Integrated S3 2D/3D/Video accelerator, Shares 8MB to 64MB of the system memory
Onboard SATA/RAID: 2x SATA, SATA RAID 0/1 and JBOD
KM400 @ newegg.com
Is this what you meant?

 

[Zepper]

No it's not the same video as the KM-266. A whole new design on the KM-400.
.bh.

 

[goobee]

Yeah, I concur. KM266 does only hit ~500 or so in 3Dmark2001.

 

[bupkus]

Maybe I should just cycle in a few of my older boards without video onboard.
If I do, which video card would do the job, the same as an nforce2 w/ ipg?