Which M/B to buy

Hi all
A friend has asked me to build her a computer (new Hard Drive Unit Only) As I have just built one for my children I thought I would give it a go. The mother board I put in the children's was a Asus A7V8X-X/Lan with onboard sound
The processor was a AMD Athlon XP1900 + 1.6GHZ
What I would like is a M/B that also has onboard graphics as my friend is not a gamer she just needs it to do office type work, down load her photo's etc, I thought with onboard graphics I could do away without having to get a seperate card. The processor above i cant seem to find on the dabs web site anymore so would need to know of another one. Though not slower.

Any help is appreciated.

PS Is there any other sites on the web to purchace parts or is dabs the best (UK)

Stitch

 

Are you wanting to stick with an AMD platform?

For the AMD Platform you need the Asus A7N8X-VM/400

Onboard Audio: Realtek ALC650 6-Channel Codec
Onboard Video: GeForce4 MX GPU + TV Encoder
Onboard LAN: Realtek 10/100Mbps

For the Intel platform you would need

Asus P4P800-VM

Onboard Audio: AD1980 6-Channel Codec
Onboard Video: Intel Extreme Graphics 2
Onboard LAN: Intel 10/100Mbps Fast Ethernet
Onboard SATA: 2x Serial ATA

Or:
Asus P4R800-VM

Onboard Audio: AD1888 SoundMAX 6-Channel Codec
Onboard Video: ATI RADEON 9200-based graphics(Max 128MB Memory)
Onboard LAN: 10/100Mbps Fast Ethernet

All of the above are Micro ATX form factor so you can use the mid tower cases instead of the full tower cases.

 

I didn't get the impression that she only wanted an Asus. If not, many more possibilities are open - almost all of them cheaper than Asus. I've been building for a quite a long time and have never found the need to pay more for an Asus. Given the meager needs of your friend, I'd bet she/he wouldn't either.

A good way to start your search would be to look for mainboards using the nForce2 IGP chipset - IGP meaning integrated graphics.

 

I just assumed Stitch wanted Asus since he refered to an A7N8X

 

The board i mentioned is the one I put in my children's computer and i wanted to get a (not brilliant but good enough) graphics card for it so that their games would play. My friend is not into games so could get away with something different ie cheaper and with both sound and graphics onboard. This because I thought that boards with onboard graphics and sound tended to be that bit cheaper as the onboard bits were not as good as the parts that you add on.

ANY more sugestions.
I will look up the boards mentioned above
Thanks
Stitch

 

Ya know I thought that but went back and edited my post because I thought I was incorrect.

 

Ok folks
I think I have decided on a mother board and other bits but would appreciate your input. I could have read everything incorrectly and non of the pieces may not go together so here they are.
Two different machines

1. To play childrens games and occasional office type work. But cheap.

ASRock Inc K7S8X M/B Dabs quick linx 2FC4
Athlon XP 1800+ 1.53 Ghz Dabs quick linx 2H5Y
Crucial 256mb 184pin PC2700 DDR RAM Dabs quick linx 226x
geForceFX 5200 128MB DDR AGP RP Dabs quick linx 2GM9
Processor Fan to get from local shop

All other pieces eg HDD, Floppy, CD Rom is to be taken from old comp.

2. To use for office type applications and surfing the net. To be used as a back up for main comp.

Asus A7V8X-MX Dabs quick linx 2P38
Athlon XP 1800+ 1.53 Ghz Dabs quick linx 2H5Y
Crucial 256mb 184pin PC2700 DDR RAM Dabs quick linx 226x
Processor Fan to get from local shop

Please tell me I haven't gone to far wrong.

Stitch

 

Suggest you increase the RAM in both systems to 512. Either 2x256 or 1x512 (whichever is cheaper). You should expect 5-10+% performance increase with this alone. It may also future proof the systems a little for new games/apps. Many current (high end) games will use more than 256, and I suspect the next version of windows, due late 2005? will probably have a recommended minimum of 256 RAM. In other words it will run slow with 256, like XP/W2K do with the recommended minimum of 128, and W2K's is only 64!

 

Hi
These are childrens games that she wants to play ie barbie, bill and ben, peter rabbit etc so wouldnt the 256 do. that is all i put in the comp my children use for the same games.
thanks
Stitch

 

Hi Pete
On the one with onboard graphics he has 98se or ME not sure which and on the other she has 98se. As they basicly low budget they didnt want to go out an buy XP. Thanks for the tip on where to get the 256, thought i had already checked the prices with crucial and found no difference will check again though. Thanx
Stitch

 

I concur! If you run XP, add another stick:
"Friends don't let friends run XP with less than 512MB "

Are the mainboard brands available in the UK different than the US? No offense intended but what in the name of Mother Earth is an Asrock?? I've heard the name but it seems to remind me of the cheap boards PC shops used to maximize their profit...e.g. Amptron, ECS, PCChips. Pardon my kibitzing here but it's another one of those "friends always help other friends with their mainboard selection" - one of the underpinnings of our society.

I know the economics are different but I got my Epox 8RDA+ for less than $80US. Epox is my "Rolls-Royce" of board makers. Biostar and Shuttle and many other quality boardmakers can be found for even less.

Gary

 

I must admit i did see the board in a local supplyers shop and he had it priced up at 3.5 times the amount i can get it for on Dabs web site. I just thought that if this was one that is used in all his machines it cant be all bad and might be ok for the budget machines needed in this instance.
He even tried to flog me 256mb at twice the price, as I had bought some recently i knew how much it was realy. I know these small places need to make a profit (and do) but i dont think bumping the prices that high is right.

anyway if anyone has any points to make as regards the asrock board i am always willing to learn.
My first and only home built comp was done with the help of PeteC and i did look at the specs first to see why the pieces he recomended went with each other, this time i have picked out the parts and ask for guidence in making sure that they are all compatable with each other. Not much point in an pentium processor on a AMD board is there (or is there???)
Stitch

 

I was under the impression that Asrock was an economy line of Asus.

 

The reason a board is used in a local shop is because the shop can maximize their profit on it. In other words, they buy the most dirt-cheap board they can and then mark up the price significantly. That's how it works here in the states and I would guess in the UK as well.

In the states, local shops tend to use Amptron, ECS, and PCChips just for the reason I've mentioned. They also sell Jaton PCI cards - avoid them. A couple of things I've learned in this business:

- don't buy anything that has the "economical" label. You can find top-tier parts for amazingly low prices if you look hard enough.
- don't tell people you fix PCs. People will come out of the woodwork. The problem is that when you tell them that they will have to pay, they're outraged. This story is likely familiar to many of you.

I looked at Dabs' mainboard selection and it's so extensive there's absolutely no reason to buy an "economical" board. I mentioned Asrock to another PC builder and I cannot repeat what he said in this forum. Trust me, karma will bite you if buy "economical" motherboards. Again, don't know about the UK but you can buy excellent Biostar and Shuttle mainboards for $60US in the states.

Am I a bit intense on this subject? Yes Do you need to heed my advice on it? Of course not. Will an Asrock board perform admirably for years and years without trouble? Odds are yes - but why chance it?

Gary