Which motherboard to choose??

[crabbyman]

I am planning on building a PC for my parents. If it was for me I would have a choice already. Since it is for them it is a different scenario. What I want to get is one of the Nforce2 boards that have the IGP chipset. They would only be using the computer for typing papers and internet really. I figured that the integrated video would be more than enough considering I did some gaming with the original Nforce. Now the question is which one should I buy? The features do not matter really. They won't use the surround sound feature and they really can't tell or care about audio differences. I really doubt they would ever need USB 2.0 or Firewire...but it would be nice to have the option. The one big concern is ease of updating the BIOS and Drivers. I have the MSI K7N420 and I know MSI's way of updating is really easy. Is there any other brand that has this kind of feature? Any and all help is appreciated! Thanks!

 

[MARMADUKE]

WinFast K7NCR18G

http://www.leadtek.co.uk/

or WinFast K7NCR18G PRO
Supports FSB 200-333MHz for AMD Athlon/XP/Barton and Duron CPU.
128-bit DualDDR memory architecture doubles the memory bandwidth for enhancing total system performance.
Supports Hardware Monitoring utility in windows & bios for observing system status.
Provides header for Smart Card Reader Interface and application program.
BIOS and hardware offers CPU Over Temperature Shutdown (O.T.S) function to protect CPU from burnout.
Support Vcore, Vmem, AGP Vddq and CPU ratio(Max to 24X) adjustment for better system compatibility.
Geforce4 MX graphics.
Supports AGP 8X interface for high-end 3D Graphics card.
Built-in hardware Dolby Digital (AC3) Encoder for providing 6-channel surround sound via a SPDIF interface and generally analogy 6-channel output.
USB2.0 controller with four USB2.0 ports onboard .
Supports IEEE1394 interface.
Supports nView, provides two independent displays, one for CRT, the other for CRT / TV.
Two Ultra ATA133 IDE dual channel interfaces, data transfer rate up to 133MB/sec.
10/100Mbps LAN interface onboard.
Best Graphics Performance Leadtek @ newegg

 

[Macro2]

Soltek all the way...

 

[crabbyman]

Do both of these brands offer a sort of "live update" where it updates BIOS and drivers without flashing by start up??

 

[Bonesdad]

You should look at the Shuttle MN31N. Nice featured board, it's a microATX, if that matters to you. Not sure about Bios updates...why is that so important? Honestly, I have never run across a BIOS update that was difficult. As long as you CAN update the Bios, what else matters?

 

[SemperFi]

I am not a big shuttle fan but I second Bonesdad's suggestion. I just put one of these together for a friend and it is a nice board. Loaded with features and cheap. It even has 2 monitor outputs which I thought was cool.

 

[Corporate Thug]

soltek or nf7-m