New Motherboard

BoredAtWork · Post by **BoredAtWork** » Fri Jul 30, 2004 3:16 pm

Can anyone suggest a good motherboard that will require the minimum amount of fiddling. It's for a P4 chipset.

I've been on Overclockers but..... I haven't got a clue whats good and what isn't.

Cheers

rib? · Post by **rib?** » Fri Jul 30, 2004 4:21 pm

BoredAtWork wrote:Can anyone suggest a good motherboard that will require the minimum amount of fiddling. It's for a P4 chipset.

I've been on Overclockers but..... I haven't got a clue whats good and what isn't.

Cheers

you upgrading from what? what P4 chip you got and what memory? p4's come in many flavours.

LazyManc · Post by **LazyManc** » Fri Jul 30, 2004 7:45 pm

Anything with Abit or Asus on the tin is usually the best bet, or Intel if you aren't fussy about overclocking features. I wouldn't touch anything from MSI.

Next choice is the chipset you choose and that depends on which P4 CPU you have, and after that it just comes down to what features you want built in (onboard sound / LAN / SATA / Firewire / etc...)

I've got an Abit IC7-G myself but that's getting a bit long in the tooth now and has been succeeded by newer boards.

BoredAtWork · Post by **BoredAtWork** » Fri Jul 30, 2004 8:01 pm

I've got a p4 3.2ghz hyperthreaded

i'm getting this memery

Corsair 1GB DDR XMS3200XL Pro TwinX (2x512MB) CAS2 (MY-050-CS)
A matched pair of 512MB XMS3200XL ExtremeLow Latency (2-5-2-2) Pro memory modules - 1GB total - ideal for dual DDR motherboards.
Featuring an efficient aluminum heatsink to dissipate heat and built in LEDs to show realtime memory activity.

LazyManc · Post by **LazyManc** » Sat Jul 31, 2004 11:26 am

If it's not a Prescott chip, then i'd suggest either the Abit IC7 or the IC7-Max3 depending on what features you want and how much you're willing to spend. Both have intel northbridges and support dual-DDR ram @ 800mhz fsb (PC3200) and SATA drives.

The main differences are:

IC7 £76 inc VAT

IC7-Max3 £126 inc VAT
+ 6 SATA ports (IC7 has 2)
+ Onboard Gigabit LAN (supports standard 10/100 as well)
- no legacy ports at all (parallel / serial)

Probably not worth the extra money tbh, both boards already have 2x standard IDE channels allowing for 4 drives, and a gigabit network card isn't worth the extra unless you've got a gigabit switch to go with it. There's always the IC7-Max2 which has the gigabit lan and 4 sata for £100 if you want to go for the middle option.

Bare in mind that this is based on knowledge from about 6 months ago and there may be better cheaper boards about if you're willing to ask in the right places. http://forums.overclockers.co.uk is worth signing up for as they'll be upto date on all the latest kit.

Post by **mid_gen** » Sat Jul 31, 2004 12:37 pm

If you desperately need a new mobo now, then get one. Otherwise I'd wait around until some good PCI-Express boards have appeared.

rib? · Post by **rib?** » Sat Jul 31, 2004 6:18 pm

some of those asus pci-e boards look nice

BoredAtWork · Post by **BoredAtWork** » Mon Aug 02, 2004 8:56 am

If I get a pci-e motherboard will that still support my graphics card? There are some reasonably priced ASUS ones but if I'll have to get a new graphics card that'll be annoying.

Would there be anything else I'd have to get new?

Cheers

LazyManc · Post by **LazyManc** » Mon Aug 02, 2004 12:41 pm

Unless it's got a legacy AGP port (which most of them dont seem to have) then no, it's new (and expensive) Gfx card time.

might be worth spending as little as possible on a stop-gap mobo until you want to upgrade the full system.

BoredAtWork · Post by **BoredAtWork** » Mon Aug 02, 2004 2:26 pm

Yeah I'm starting to think the same thing. My system is pretty good already I don't really need to spend another £300 on a graphics card.

I found this ABIT motherboard that seems pretty good.

http://www.abit-usa.com/products/mb/tec ... =1&model=5

Only thing it doesn't seem to mention is IDE controllers, I'm just assuming it would have that.

shrek · Post by **shrek** » Mon Aug 02, 2004 3:44 pm

BoredAtWork wrote:Only thing it doesn't seem to mention is IDE controllers, I'm just assuming it would have that.

Yes it does have IDE there are listed under Internal I/O Connectors.

Internal I/O Connectors
- 1 x AGP PRO, 5 x PCI slots, 1 x IrDA
- 1 x Floppy Port supports up to 2.88MB
- 2 x Ultra DMA 33/66/100 Connectors
- 2 x Serial ATA 150 Connectors for SATA RAID 0
- 2 x USB 2.0 headers, 2 x IEEE 1394a header
- 1 x CD-IN, 1 x AUX-IN

Seahorse · Post by **Seahorse** » Sun Aug 08, 2004 2:28 pm

IMHO you should buy something now. If you wait for a cheap PCIX board there will be something else new on the horizon.

I'm on the verge of a new build myself - now that I definately don't have to go back to Iraq

You can save stacks of cash by buying the current stuff that has just been superceeded. Options I am looking at are:

AMD 64 3000+ - I know 734 pins are on the way out, but at the rate I change CPUs its not an issue as it will be as obsolete as the current PC come the time. What it does offer is a lot of bang per buck.

P4 3 Gig 800fsb. Also cheap & plenty of oomph.

They only fly in the ointment is I suspect the GForce 4400 is likely to bottle-neck either option, and I see no logic on blowing as much monewy on a grpahics cards as a CPU/mobo/Mem combo...

I am, as always, open to suggestions. I already know what Ze Baron's is of course...

BoredAtWork · Post by **BoredAtWork** » Sun Aug 08, 2004 5:31 pm

I got myself abit IC7 something or other with 1gig of corsair xms. It's running very nicely and should keep me going for a while

Shotgun LAN

New Motherboard

New Motherboard

Re: New Motherboard