Motherboard Advice?!?

[CC21]

Hello everyone,
I am building a new machine and was shopping around for a motherboard. I came across the Chaintech 9EJL4 478Pin DDR the other day. I could not find any reviews online and was wondering if anyone had any input on whether or not this would be a good buy? If anything, any comments on if Chaintech is a reliable and/or efficient producer of motherboards??? I would really appreciate any input.

Thanks,
a rookie PC builder

 

[franklin97355]

If you can't find any reviews there must be a reason.

 

[dakota81]

Of course there "must be a reason", could be a new board, could be nothing special about the board (good or bad), could be that Chaintech doesn't send free boards to reviewers. Remember, search for PC-Chips reviews and they're all over the place! Doesn't mean that company is good, most reviews are highly negative.

Chaintech makes lower performing products with less features, but the plus is they're usually cheaper. I've never picked up a Chaintech board, just because there's so many others to choose from, and you can usually find like an MSI board pretty cheap too.

 

[Nate1749]

Never heard of them. I've never had any problems with ASUS and have had problems with Gigabyte & ELITE (or something with elite in the title). Just my 2cents, I'd say if it's a good deal then it's worth the risk. Don't forget ebay though (make sure u check the s/h price too, sellers like to charge $$$$).

-Nate

 

[JasonYip]

I have to agree with Nate1749. Asus is a good brand and MSI isn't bad. I've heard Soyo was pretty decent, but I've never had one.

I guess it also depends on your proc too. If you have an AMD, Asus or MSI is your best bet; For Intel, Asus and Intel are your best bet. Intel chips can get cranky when they are being used with another company's mobo (ie GigaByte).

STICK WITH A NAME BRAND! Don't spend $80 on a piece of junk budget board when $100 will get you something like an Asus budget board (which will destroy the mobo for kicks).

If you can't find any info on your prospect mobo, keep looking. It's there somewhere. Just be prepared to be disappointed too. It may turn out that your prospect isn't well known because it's crap and belongs off to the side with the rest of the discarded hardware.

 

[dakota81]

True, Chaintech in no way is the cream of the crop; but it's not exactly bargain basement junk either. Their boards will run reliably, just not as fast and not as feature packed. The benefit being a lower price tag.

I've never purchased an Asus board and don't see myself doing so in the near future, because I don't care to spend Asus prices. It's all about money and just how fast a board you want. And, most motherboards are separated by less than 5 percent in high performance tests, most people can't tell the difference unless sitting there with a stopwatch or frame-rate meter.

 

[CC21]

Hello again everyone,
thanks for all of your valuable input. Just to let you know i came across an ASUS mobo for a good price and will most likely opt for that. Heres the catch...it has a micro-atx form (9.6”x 9.6”). Would this be compatible with a regular ATX case.

Here a question I have yet to answer; maybe your input will help me decide:
would you rather have
1 - a faster processing speed (2.8 ghz) and 533fsb
OR
2 - a not-so-fast Proc speed (2.4 ghz) but with an 800 fsb

 

[dakota81]

A micro-atx board fits into a standard atx case, so you're fine there.

In terms of processors, I would tend to the lower speed, higher fsb because the processor will then put out less heat. The other factor looking at the two fsb speeds will be the cost and performance of the memory, good performance ddr400 is going to cost you more money, while poorer performance ddr400 kinda defeats the whole advantage of the higher fsb.

There are applications that run faster with higher clock speeds, and others that run faster with higher fsb speed, so it's tough to say which one is definitively better.

 

[ceh4702]

Micro ATX boards tend to have the video integrated. If you plan on adding a video card make sure it has an AGP slot.

May take on this is if you want a Motherboard with integrated video a nice motherboard with integrated video is just fine. If you want to add a video card for gaming buy a motherboard with no integrated video. It will save you from the hassle of figuring out how to disable the onboard video.

Usually the Asus motherboard models with integrated video will have a "-VM" designation.

If you do not like my post feel free to point out your opinion or my errors.

 

[JasonYip]

I agree with dakota81 that you should go with a slower clock speed in a processor to ensure you don't overheat your system.

I've had some pretty bad experience with working on micro-atx mobos but as stated above; if you're using it just for work, integrated video is nice and easy to work with, but for gaming you're going to need an AGP slot and card... onboard won't cut it. Also, your upgradability options are also limited for that mobo. You're given either 2 PCI or 1 PCI 1 AGP and that's it. Look at the money, and performance and ask yourself this question before you purchase your mobo: am I going to need a new board in a year because of mine lacks upgrade options?

 

[CC21]

alright guys...here are the specs of the would-be mobo

Chipset
Intel Springdale-G MCH
Intel ICH5
Front Side Bus
800/533/400MHz

Memory
Dual channel memory architecture
4 x 184-pin DIMM Sockets support max. 4GB PC3200/PC2700/PC2100 non-ECC DDR SDRAM memory
VGA
Next generation integrated Intel Extreme Graphics 2

Expansion Slots
1 x AGP 8X
3 x PCI
IDE
2 x UltraDMA 100/66/33
Serial ATA
Built-in ICH5 supports 2 x Serial ATA

Audio
ADI 1980 6-channel audio codec
S/PDIF out interface

LAN
Intel 10/100 Mbps LAN
H/W Monitoring
Winbond 83627THF
2 FAN sensors and 2 Temperatures monitoring and 4 Voltage monitorings

Special Features
Wake on Ring, Lan, USB, Keyboard & Mouse
STR (Suspend-to-RAM)
STD (Suspend-to-Disk)

Back Panel I/O Ports
1 x Parallel
1 x VGA
1 x PS/2 Keyboard
1 x PS/2 Mouse
1 x Line In / Line Out / Microphone ports
1 x COM1
1 x RJ45
4 x USB 2.0

Internal I/O Connectors
2 x USB 2.0 connector support additional 4 USB 2.0 ports
S/PDIF out connector
Game/MIDI port connector
CD / AUX audio in
CPU / Chassis FAN connectors
20 pin ATX Power connector
4 pin ATX 12V Power connector
20 Pin Panel connector
10 Pin Intel Front Panel Audio connector

BIOS Feature
2Mb Flash ROM, AMI BIOS, PnP, DMI2.0, WfM2.0, SM BIOS 2.3, ACPI

Industry Standard
PCI 2.2, USB2.0

Manageability
WfM 2.0,DMI 2.0,WOL by PME,WOR by PME

Support CD
Drivers
ASUS PC Probe
Trend Micro? PC-cillin 2002 anti-virus software
ASUS LiveUpdate Utility

Accessories
User's manual
1 x UltraDMA 133/100/66 cable
2 x Serial ATA cable
1x FDD cable
I/O shield

Form Factor
microATX Form Factor 9.6”x 9.6” (24.3cm x 24.3cm)


.....well I have an AGP 8x (what does the 8x signify?). What video card do you all recommend (not too costly and for gaming purposes?). Lastly, for ceh4702, how much of a hassle will disabling the onboard video be?

Thanks again everyone, your help is simply awesome

 

[JasonYip]

Actually, I think that it may not be too bad a board to pick up. It offers quite a bit and it would appear that you would have a lot of options for upgrading in the future. That's just my take on it.

Jason