Whats the current Value Athlon board?

[Johnbear007]

Okay, I need to upgrade my Wifes p3 800

I have an athlon xp 1700+ on a k7s5a that I can hand down to her, and then I can upgrade a little maybe. I have pc2100 DDR ( I am not upgrading this anytime soon)

So is there a good combo out there right now? I am on a tight budget, so should I just go with another K7S5a?

 

[ElFenix]

k7s5a is ok but the epox 8rda is $85 at newegg

 

[Lord Evermore]

I was going to suggest the Asus A7N266VM, but either the price went up or I'm forgetful, and it's certainly not a value at 75 bucks, unless you're dead set on guaranteed stability and compatibility.

If you want something in the same price range as the K7S5A Pro (which is significantly cheaper than the regular K7S5A), the Biostar K7VIT Pro looks nice and has a lot better feature set. (The non-pro is the same price as the K7S5A Pro, but has no LAN; for 10 dollars more the onboard LAN is just a hassle-saver.)

Past that, The 8RDA is probably a good deal, or the Abit KD7. The MSI K7N2-L is also nice.

 

[SUOrangeman]

nForce2 is the way to go.

-SUO

 

[Johnbear007]

Originally posted by: SUOrangeman
nForce2 is the way to go.

-SUO

Nforce 2 is not really a budget board, and also I own and Audigy 2, that I just bought, so I have no desire to use the soundstorm, on top of that, I only have one stick of DDR, so dual channel would be wasted. I would not benefit from any of the features of an Nforce 2 board, nor do I want to spend teh 150$ on one.

I am really looking in the 50 - 60 $ range

 

[Remedy]

You need the Biostar M7VIT. Newegg might have one in stock. But I just pull this board from where I can get them as my customers need.

 

[FearoftheNight]

8rda is not $150...and no soundstorm on that so get ur audigy

 

[Johnbear007]

Should I be scared of the VIA chipset with my audigy 2?

 

[Johnbear007]

Originally posted by: FearoftheNight
8rda is not $150...and no soundstorm on that so get ur audigy

I still can't utilize the dual channel. I also don't want to spend more than 60$ or so

 

[Remedy]

You don't have to be affraid of that combo Johnny. It's a myth if anything as I can recall. Live stress free and go VIA.

 

[Lord Evermore]

You only need to be afraid of the Audigy itself.

 

[Johnbear007]

Originally posted by: Lord Evermore
You only need to be afraid of the Audigy itself.

hehe

The audigy 2 has actually been a great card for me. I upgraded from a Diamond MX300 and I couldn't be happier. I love the EAX 3

 

[FearoftheNight]

Originally posted by: Johnbear007

Originally posted by: FearoftheNight
8rda is not $150...and no soundstorm on that so get ur audigy

I still can't utilize the dual channel. I also don't want to spend more than 60$ or so

Well I hear they are making a budget nforce2 board w/ dual channel and some of the frills. Seeing how some of the original nforce2s are in the 80s and 90s I anticipate maybe the stripped down version will be less than that amount.

 

[majewski9]

8RDA all the way ! There is absolutely no reason to buy the ECS k7S5A anymore. The ECS SIS 746 board( what is it L7SA2 or somnething like that ) is reasonably priced. I'd still go with Epox.

 

[Macro2]

two words...

soltek

nforce2

 

[Remedy]

I am really looking in the 50 - 60 $ range

soltek

nforce2

Pray tell where you can find an Nforce2 for $60? I'd really like to know where everyone seems to think there is an Nforce2 for $60 that Johnbear is asking for? A KT400 @ $60 is his best bet at the moment. IMO atleast.

 

[Johnbear007]

Originally posted by: ReMeDy{WcS}

I am really looking in the 50 - 60 $ range

soltek

nforce2

Pray tell where you can find an Nforce2 for $60? I'd really like to know where everyone seems to think there is an Nforce2 for $60 that Johnbear is asking for? A KT400 @ $60 is his best bet at the moment. IMO atleast.

Indeed. If there is an Nforce 2 for 60$, then point me in that direction. So it looks like the 8RDA is the best bet eh? Just out of curiosity is the barton out yet? and are there any board out currently that will run it?

 

[Remedy]

Barton with a 333mhz FSB is already out. Barton with a 400mhz FSB is not out yet.

 

[Cerb]

ECS L7S7A2: $66 (egg). Nforce2 performance except where the NF2's dual-channel memory helps out. Supports the 166MHz Bartons, and overclocking results have been good.
Epox 8RDA: $85 (egg)
Soltek SL-75FRN-L/75FRN2-L: $93
Epox 8RDA+: $96 (egg). We know all about this one...

 

[Johnbear007]

Originally posted by: Cerb
ECS L7S7A2: $66 (egg). Nforce2 performance except where the NF2's dual-channel memory helps out. Supports the 166MHz Bartons, and overclocking results have been good.
Epox 8RDA: $85 (egg)
Soltek SL-75FRN-L/75FRN2-L: $93
Epox 8RDA+: $96 (egg). We know all about this one...

Ok, so it looks like everything except for the ECS is out of my price range

 

[Bleep]

I have built many systems with Biostar motherboards and can tell you they are stable, easy to set up and very inexpensive, Have a look at them.

Bleep

 

[Remedy]

Biostar link to newegg.

 

[ProviaFan]

I'm very happy with my Epox 8RDA.

 

[boomerang]

Hey ReMeDy{WcS}, I'm looking for a board with O/B video. Micro ATX would be ideal. For my sister-in-laws young children to play kids games. They've already got a system for themselves. This will be solely for the kids.

I'm not at all well versed in AMD boards. Appreciate any advice you could give.

 

[Remedy]

Boomerang. The best $60 MicroATX board you can get on the Market based around AMD is the Asus A7N266VM which as LordEvermore pointed out is around $75. But it features everything you need to get up and going except USB 2.0 and Firewire(which isn't hard to find for 10 dollars) It has USB 1.1. The next best board after that is the Biostar M7NCG, which is the second generation Nforce and probably the best price/performance ration around. But cost buck($100) and change. I've dealt with most of the boards mention here in bundles of 20 or greater for clients. Depends on how much you want to spend.