The Perfect Motherboard

M

Mushroom Prince

Gawd
Joined
Feb 20, 2004
Messages
532
For the past few weeks I have been plotting a $350 web/word machine that I am going to build for a lady friend of mine who is a junior in highschool. I am perfectly decided on just about all the parts I want to use except the motherboard and the video card.


THe problem I have is that when your building the cheapest possible computer video cards really start looking expensive, especially when your considering that the user has just about NO use for games what so ever but needs something to plug the monitor into and give some help with the operating system ( better than nothing right ? ). $20 is almost too much for a video card. I was thinking something like a radeon 7000 or a geforce 2.






Until I found thisthis. I couldn't ask for anything more. I've found some decent reviews on ecs boards ( all made in taiwan anyways right ? ) and this one has built in video with a agp slot for a good price tag.



But if youl look closely you will see that this is not ... an atx motherboard but infact a Microatx motherboard.



:eek:


WTF ? The last time i checked microatx cases were lame... the kind where you have a horizontal tower that you put your monitor on top of. OMFG i can't believe they still sell those things ! >.<


Last time i checked on newegg i couldn't find a cheap motherboard with intergrated video anywhere unless i felt compelled to build a microatx computer.


Help me ..


Just please ... help me
 
wait, so your saying that a microatx board will fit perfectly fine in any good atx case ? It just happens to be smaller ?


that is good news for me :D
 
Yeah, it has the standard mounting holes. If your customer is just going to be doing web surfing and e-mail and processing, a Integrated solution would be fine. For a painless setup, I would suggest a p4 or celeron 2.2 or 2.4 with a Intel 865GBF motherboard. Both parts have 3 year warrentys through intel, which right there pays for itself incase of a burnout. Great performance, and Intel designs a great motherboard and has a very good integrated video solution.
 
The ECS board looks fine. Slap a 2400+ Sempron in there and you're good to go.
 
I'd skip the skanky brands. For the purpose described, go with a cheap Intel mobo with integrated Intel video. Reliable and painless to set up. There are LOTS of them on newegg.com, including ATX.
 
theres nothing wrong with Matx, they are just smaller, they arnt all desktop computers, they are just mini tower computers.


I have an ECS mobo. It's pretty good, its the same color as that one, I can tell you, the purple is alot shinier then it looks in the picture... be careful though, I dunno if this will happen with socket A, but on mine, the retention thingys, holding the Cooler on, snapped, I currently have a long stick, with some styrofome, pressing the cooler on the cpu, along with 2 Zip ties...
 
I suppose now that you know MicroATX boards will suffice, you may find one even cheaper if you research a little more.
 
Well as far as P4 ECS boards we have had a bunch of those come into work with broken cpu hold downs.... so i would prolly just stick with that socket A havn't had any probs with those. BTW one of the boards that broke the cpu fried when the heat sink didn't come in contact wiht the cpu entirely which ment a nice ~$200 P4 paperweight for the customer since for some reason the thermal shut off thing didn't work or fried on that board.
 
lentic said:
Well as far as P4 ECS boards we have had a bunch of those come into work with broken cpu hold downs.... .
Click to expand...


Exactly what happened to mine, looks like it's a common issue...
 
hey hatebot, when u getting that new system as stated in ur sig?
 
Just get something nForce 2. NF2 has a built-in video card, sound card, and networking in a dependable package. Really great for cheap builds.

I got the (mATX) Shuttle MN31N for my little brother for a nice cheap build. It was refurbed at Newegg for really cheap. Throw in a nice Sempron, some RAM, and a decent hard-drive, and that's a computer.

Edit: just for illustration purposes, here are some pictures of the computer with the side off, so you can see what an mATX board looks like inside a fullsize case.

compopen.jpg


Here's the space between the edge of the motherboard, and the edge of the full-size case.

mobospace.jpg


See those gold things sticking up? You just line up the ports with the backplate, and then screw them in. It's as simple as installing any other motherboard. :)
 
Pkirk618 said:
hey hatebot, when u getting that new system as stated in ur sig?
Click to expand...

In about 3 months.. :(

I have about $1900 right now, but Im waiting for the R520s, and for the Venice cores.

By the time I upgrade, I should have a nice $3000 (ive worked up the $1200 in 2 months, I had $700 from before) so ya...

That might not seem like much, but I work part time, for minimum wage, which means I work ALOT...

barely have time to see GF, friends etc... except for weekends and such...
 
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