Which budget all-in-one board?

[brentkiosk]

I need a budget box. It will use an available 1.2 GHz tbred and gaming, overclocking are not issues. I need integrated video, audio and LAN and probably will never upgrade these features. I have found ASUS A7N266-VM and A7V8X-MX boards at about $60 (high as I want to go) and am leaning toward the A7V8X. But, there are some boards about $15 less - like Biostar M7VKQ, ASRock K7-VM2. My questions. 1) are there other boards around $60 besides the ASUS boards? 2) How about the cheaper boards (or others)? What experience has anyone had with these?

 

[mdcrab]

If you are willing to go $12 higher the Shuttle MN31N is a great integrated micro ATX board.
Normally it's around $85 to $87 but there's a $15 MIR to bring it down to $72.
Read the ratings/votes at this site MN31N

 

[mdcrab]

Found the MN31 N is offered at AccuPC for $84 minus the $15 MIR brings it down to $69.
AccuPC has free Fedex Saver Shipping similar to Newegg.
AccuPC
and pretty good reseller rating 9.02

I purchased it a week ago at Newegg for $83 - 15 MIR plus free Fedex Saver Shipping plus free T-Shirt (still available).

mdcrab

 

[brentkiosk]

That's a good thought - I'll check it out. I have been using an ak31a based system at work for a couple of years and it has been absolutely trouble free.

 

[mdcrab]

For the $ I don't think you can beat it. It actually has two firewire ports as well as four USB 2.0 ports.

mdcrab

 

[Vette73]

The best board for what you want is the...

Biostar M7VIZ
Is a KM400 chipset, has usb2.0, Video, sound, ethernet, SATA ports. Only cost $55.99 shipped at newegg.com


Yes the Shuttle MN31N has more features and has a better 3D video card, but it sounds like those features will go to waste. That and it cost more then $60 shipped.

 

[brentkiosk]

Just checked out the MN31N Newegg reviews and it does sound like a good board. But Marlin's point is good. This box is for my daughter, and the only game is Sims. Mostly, it will be IM and schoolwork and surfing computer (and a lot of MP3's but with pretty low end speakers). Now, what's the difference between the KM400 and SIS 740 chipsets in performance. I've actually been pretty happy with this SIS 735 based machine. But, is the KM400 basically better?

 

[Vette73]

Originally posted by: brentkiosk
Just checked out the MN31N Newegg reviews and it does sound like a good board. But Marlin's point is good. This box is for my daughter, and the only game is Sims. Mostly, it will be IM and schoolwork and surfing computer (and a lot of MP3's but with pretty low end speakers). Now, what's the difference between the KM400 and SIS 740 chipsets in performance. I've actually been pretty happy with this SIS 735 based machine. But, is the KM400 basically better?

Yea the KM400 is better. Supports 333mhz FSB Athlons, so you could pop in a Athlon 2500+ and still have a upgrade path. The Video on teh KM400 has a built in DVD and media decoder, so 2D and movies should be much better. Its juts a newwer chipset.
Also the Biostar KM400 board has a AGP slot so if she ever wanted to add a real video card she could. Teh SiS740 has NO agp slot.
The KM400 is a KT400 chipset with a UniChrome Video card

Put in 512mb of ram and a Athlon 2500+ or a 1700+ running at 333mhz FSB, and you should be good to go.

 

[brentkiosk]

That answers my question about the KM400 chipset. The M7VIG is in my price range and looks pretty good right now at a few bucks less than other KM400 based boards. Thanks.

 

[mdcrab]

The Shuttle MN31N has an AGP slot and also supports 333 fsb, but it costs a little more. I do not have any personal experience with Biostar, but I have not had any problems with Shuttle and I have used quite a few of their mobos in the past. Including an old Spacewalker 486 mobo, AK31A, AN35N and MN31N.

mdcrab

 

[brentkiosk]

I looked at user reviews from NewEgg for the MN31N and for the M7VIZ as well as a couple of other KM400 boards in my price range. It's hard to tell too much, but it looks as most users were very happy with whichever board they had. I know my AK31a has been great. It was easy to set up, and it still runs all day every day after 2 yrs without bad things happening. I'll look everything over again, and probably order this weekend. Right now I'm at about $250 total (MB, case HDD, FDD, CD, KB, mouse, 512 MB) using the processor I have and an old monitor (not counting OS). That's not a lot, but it's a squeeze on what I have available. I may go with 256 MB of RAM, an old ATA 33 HDD and an ancient FDD just to get off the ground.

Again - thanks for the suggestions.