Motherboard/processor suggestions for new PC for my mom

[jtr1962]

I'm in the process of building my mom a new PC. I'm using a Lian-Li PC60 case and Seasonic power supply just like I used for the PC I built myself early in the year. The motherboard must have the following:

1) Slots for at least 3 GB DDR memory. Slots for DDR2 are OK also but it must have DDR slots.

2) AGP8X slot since I already have a spare AGP8X video card.

3) Absolutely no Pentium 4 (too hot, noisy, and costly)

4) Total cost of motherboard and processor $150 or less (<$100 would be even better)

5) Onboard NIC, sound, IDE, floppy, SATA (most motherboards these days have all these anyway)

I'd prefer something available through Newegg since I'll be ordering everything else through them. If anyone has something that I can use I'm open to buying from individuals as well.

 

[ddrueding]

If you can, go gigabyte. I've had the least bad experiences with them.

This is a nice board.

 

[Sol]

I'd say a socket 754 sempron would be just the thing. I don't think AM2 is overly likely to support AGP or DDR and you would probably be pushing to get a core2 setup for that money.

You might have some luck with a socket 939 nForce3 board though if you can't find an appropriate 754 board with the memory config you want.

 

[Clocker]

Not sure if Newegg still has it, but this was a great board I used in my dad's system.

http://global.aopen.com.tw/products/mb/vK8T800a-LF.htm

System has a lot of snap to it for a lower end Sempron 2600+. Enough so that I'll probably go VIA for my next AMD system instead of nVidia.

I've used several Aopen boards with good success and would definitely consider them again.

 

[Mercutio]

I might have an (754-pin) Athlon64/3000 + Biostar board here in the next few days; I know I'll have it by the beginning of January, but it's a matter of when I can take the machine down to pull the parts.

 

[Clocker]

I've gotten stuff from Merc before and it is good.

 

[Mercutio]

So has jtr.

 

[jtr1962]

So has jtr.

And it's been working out very well!

BTW, please let me know when the Biostar board arrives and how much you want for it. I'm assuming the board can take DDR and has a AGP8X slot. The older graphics card I have should be fine for her uses. Somehow I don't think she'll be playing any 3D games.

 

[Mercutio]

Unfortunately, I can't take it out of service until the 22nd. I could not ship it until after Xmas.

 

[jtr1962]

Unfortunately, I can't take it out of service until the 22nd. I could not ship it until after Xmas.

No problem at all. I'm aiming to get the machine set up by roughly New Year's but there's really no hard schedule.

 

[Mercutio]

jtr, if you'd rather, I can furnish an AthlonXP/3200 + 512MB RAM + either a Gigabyte SiS board or a Soyo KT600 (has SATA ports, but it's a Soyo), instead of the A64.

It's still not 100% definite when I can get the A64, and I have the XP3200 in hand right now.

 

[jtr1962]

jtr, if you'd rather, I can furnish an AthlonXP/3200 + 512MB RAM + either a Gigabyte SiS board or a Soyo KT600 (has SATA ports, but it's a Soyo), instead of the A64.

That sounds like a good idea if the A64 will be on hold for a while. Just a few questions:

Am I correct in assuming based on your post that Soyos have an issue with SATA ports? I checked the specs for the Soyo board and it seems to match what I'm looking for, SATA issues aside. What is the model number of the Gigabyte board so I can find the specs on that?

 

[Mercutio]

Soyo has issues with being Soyo. Like Abit has issues with being Abit.
The Gigabyte board is a GA-K7S748. It does not have an onboard NIC but it does have sound.
I gave one to Clocker, once. They have an absurdly fast PATA implementation; they're completely vanilla but are wonderful hardware.

 

[Clocker]

That board works great & is still in service. Highly recommend it.

 

[jtr1962]

Since I have a few spare NICs and SATA isn't terrible crucial right now (I don't even own a SATA drive yet much less my mom) I'll go with the Gigabyte.

 

[Mercutio]

jtr, there is now a packed box with a Soyo (the Gigabyte board has a nonfunctional PS/2 mouse port) board, an XP/3200, Spire fan and 512MB of PC2700 RAM sitting out in my car, waiting to be shipped.

 

[jtr1962]

jtr, there is now a packed box with a Soyo (the Gigabyte board has a nonfunctional PS/2 mouse port) board, an XP/3200, Spire fan and 512MB of PC2700 RAM sitting out in my car, waiting to be shipped.

That's great news! I'll be looking forward to receiving it. And my mom will be thrilled to have a better system than the old Pentium 200 she's been using.

Now on to Newegg to order the rest of the parts for the system....