[J3Vr6]

Well, my dreams of having a faster computer than my 450 is dead for now.  If you remember from this thread, I was given a computer that wasn't working and they told me that if I got it to work that I could keep it.  After struggling to get it to work, I finally decided to bring it to the IT department at work.

Yesterday they fiddled with it and returned it, telling me that it looked like the motherboard was dead.  So I'm stuck with my psychotic 450 that doesn't even work right

I was thinking of just buying a new motherboard for the computer, but I don't know crap about that and don't want to spend too much money on it.  Can someone help me figure out a good motherboard that will let me upgrade later on to at least XP 2600 processor?  I went to e-bay and pricewatch, but I can't really understand any of it anyway and don't know one brand from another...

[Liberator]

The MSI 745 Ultra support up to 2400+ after a BIOS update.  You can get it here for less than $50 if you're on a budget.  If you're not on a budget, I recomend one of MSI's Nforce2 boards.

[redmenace]

http://www.partspc.com/store/product3417.html - $108.00 American.
That is the Microstar K7N2 Delta-ILSR (MS-6570) Socket A AMD (400FSB) DDR Motherboard (MB)
It was ranked fairly high on tomshardware.com. The only down side is that it sucks when it comes to compression like divx.
here is the article: http://www6.tomshardware.com/motherboard/20030523/nforce2_11boards-05.html
and the conclusion
http://www6.tomshardware.com/motherboard/20030523/nforce2_11boards-19.html

[Skippy]

Or an Asus A7N8X Deluxe ...
http://www.partspc.com/store/product324.html

[J3Vr6]

If I'm gonna buy a motherboard, it's gotta be waaaay cheaper.  I don't use the computer at home enough to justify spending $100 on it.

This is so depressing.

[redmenace]

well new motherboards are also going to require memory and other things as well.

[IceFire]

Asus A7N8X....its great!

[aldo_14]

Originally posted by IceFire
Asus A7N8X....its great!

Yep.  Asus has one of the best boards by reputation.  I have an abit kf-7s (also an nforce2 board), which had been pretty reliable so far.

[J3Vr6]

I saw on tiger direct a motherboard by the company Syntax.  It was $10.00 after $29.99 rebate.  It was 266 FSB, DDR memory up to 3 gigs, and upgradable to 2600xp.

But that's the problem.  I don't know if "you get what you pay for" holds true for motherboards also.  What would make this one so bad compared to an asus or something?


EDIT:  And remember, I don't wanna spend a lot of money.  I will only really be using the computer for games and even then I go into spurts of playing and just letting the computer sit there.  I won't be doing any internet surfing for a while, either...

[Liberator]

I know from experience, if you're going from an pre-2001 system you will likely have to spend more than $100.  I built a new system recently, I ended up spending just over $200.

MSI 745 Ultra(MS-6561) - $38.00 shipping included from
http://www.cnetpc.com/productinfo.asp?item=MB-MS6561
They take money orders if you don't have a credit card.

Kingston 256MB DDR333 - $40.00 from Amazon.com
VData(unbranded) 128MB DDR333 - $22.00 from a local store

AMD AthlonXP 1800+ - $60.00 from the same local store

OEM ATX Mid-Tower case w/ 400 amp PSU - $45.00 yet again from the same local store.

Everything else was recycled from my previous case.  In you shopping try not to stray from the Asus/Abit/MSI area as they often package extras in for the slightly high price.  Gigabyte, Shuttle, Chaintech, and Biostar might also be good.  Read LOTS of reveiws before you decide on which one to buy.

Basically recycle what you can and go from there.

[Stryke 9]

Um, you only pay for pre-2000 parts if you're a total sucker or live out in the sticks. Go visit your local garbage dump, there'll be literally dozens of pre-2000 systems lying around from when some company finally upgraded and at least half will have working motherboards.

'Fact, so long as you're not too picky about things being latest generation, and at least a little patient, you really never have to pay for hardware at all, 'side from the occasional pissing little thing like a replacement fuse or whatnot.

[Grey Wolf]

MSI is probably the best brand currently, in my opinion. Very stable and quick to release products like Asus, but they overclock nearly as well as an Abit.

[J3Vr6]

I am recycling.  I'm recycling my Geforce 2mmx, my cd burner, my cd player, my 2 harddrives, 256mb of memory, the case, and the 1400xp processor.  So all I need is the motherboard.

I don't know if this tech was pre 2000 or 2001, but I can't find an Asus or biostar for less than 60 beans that's upgradable.

Greywolf, is that motherboard upgradable to 2600?  I want something that will last me at least a little while.  Plus what would overclocking do?  I've always heard about it, but never seen it done or know what it really does.

[redmenace]

with that old motherboard you might need a newer power supply. I am not sure though.

[J3Vr6]

The motherboard is only 2 years old...

[redmenace]

my understanding is anything about a PIV including the AMD processors have a newer power factor. I am not sure.

[kasperl]

what type of mem?

[J3Vr6]

It's DDR, 184 pin...  I don't know if it's 2100 or whatever.

[kasperl]

doesn't matter, you just need to know if it;s DDR, RDRAM, SDRAM and if your mobo takes it.

[J3Vr6]

So help me out guys, that MSI looks decent for 38.00 but it doesn't say if it can go up to 2600.  It just says it's 2000+.  It looks like this one has no shipping charge, not sure.

The syntax one does say it goes up to 2600 and is 10.00 after a $30.00 rebate, this one is $11.00 shipping.  What would you guys do?