motherboard

[jjoel]

gonna build a computer for a family in my church. i want a decent but CHEAP system. i think i'll go no more than an athlon 2000+ probably an anthlon 1800 or around there.

my question is which motherboard brand do you guys reccomend. give me your top 5 choices and in a certain order for these brands.


ABIT USA

ALBATRON USA

AOPEN

ASUS

BIOSTAR

CHAINTECH-EXCEL, INC.

DFI

ECS

EPOX

FIC

GIGA BYTE

IWILL

JETWAY

LEADTEK

MSI

SAPPHIRE TECHNOLOGY LIMITED

SHUTTLE

SOLTEK

SOYO

TYAN

XFX

[ZURKE]

well I am going to say Gigabyte. Just My opion, others have them too.
Abit and Biostar have some nice equipment also. I dont know much about the rest.

[pentachris]

Asus has a good reputation among hobbyists. Gigabyte is a reputable company with (generally) less expensive price tags. But there are often duds to be found from any company...

Maybe check out a site like Toms Hardware for some reviews.

[Budfred]

I used an ECS K7S5A to build a system recently and I liked its versatility and price. It will use SDRAM or DDR. Newegg usually has a compatible AMD chip on sale too.

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduc...tby=14&order=1

Second one on page....

[CuratoR]

It depends on whats the purpose of your PC. GIGABYTE can be the best. Go for JETWAY if u want cheaper better alternative.

[jjoel]

ok let me ask another question. what are some brands to STAY AWAY from? that are on that list.

[saphalline]

Been looking into this myself lately, getting a cheapo system together. For an AMD-based cheapo system, one of the best chipsets to use is the KM266. Yes it's older, but it will work with some AthlonXP's and has onboard sound & video & LAN! All the things you need, right there. Just go to Newegg's site and do a search in AMD Motherboards for mobos using the KM266 northbridge. All are good brand names, too - MSI, Biostar, ECS, FIC, Epox, and Gigabyte.

Many of them can take both SDRAM and DDR, but if you have to buy it new, the cheapest RAM on Newegg is now DDR266 (Kingston) so having SDRAM slots isn't necessary unless you have some lying around.

[Budfred]

You can still get some good deals on SDRAM at local stores even if it is cheaper that DDR at newegg, so it may still be a better choice. When DDR can be found consistently for $25 for 256meg, the choice will be obvious....