The right mobo

[seanbo]

i'm looking for a motherboard with / that supports:

socket a - 400mhz fsb
pc3200
on-board graphics
on-board sound
on-board lan
raid 0 support


any ideas?

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[Blujacket]

I go to the AMD site that shows motherboards for their processors. It's a bit dated but the links to board makers are generally still good. Can shorten the search time.

 

[Blujacket]

The link didn't accompany the post.

http://www.amd.com/us-en/Processors/ProductInformation/0,,30_182_869_4348^4378|115_1_XP,00.html

 

[seanbo]

none of them go up to 3000+ (which i negleted to mention, will probably be the cpu)

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[TheLumberingAdmin]

Try this one, instead, and pick the Processor you want to stick in it:

http://www2.amd.com/us-en/Processors/TechnicalResources/1,,30_182_869_4348^7923,00.html?1081510730

 

[dakota81]

Your best bet is an nForce2 chipset for what you're asking, but the combination of onboard video & onboard raid is not going to be easy, in fact I don't think anyone makes a motherboard that matches all your specifications.

I would suggest picking up some cheap AGP video card if you really want that setup mentioned above.

 

[noellees1]

Check out the ASUS range i know mine is everything you want apart from i have external / AGP graphics.
ASUS A7V8x-x im not sure if it supports raid but it runs 400mhz FSB processors and pc3200 ram, even though someone on here told me it didnt the box clearly states it does!
Anyway there you go, i would consider going without the onbaord video because then you cant upgrade it with AGP you can make it better at a later date

http://www.spano.co.uk

The way web design should be

 

[TheLumberingAdmin]

I'm in definite agreement with dakota81. nForce2 chipset board is probably the way to go. I know of one board that fits all your requirements. Its also a pretty decent board:

MSI K7N2 Delta ILSR

http://www.msicomputer.com/product/p_spec.asp?model=K7N2_Delta-ILSR&class=mb

If you decide to go without the onboard video, and pickup an AGP video card, a variation on the ASUS board noelles1 suggested, the A7N8X-E Deluxe, would be another possible choice:

http://www.asus.com/products/mb/socketa/a7n8x-e-d/overview.htm

Both support up to 400MHz FSB, have onboard LAN, onboard audio, and SATA w/ RAID 0/1. The video on the MSI is a kind of crappy (definitely not built for high-end game playing) S3 ProSavage8 chip, but it has IMHO a better SATA HDD controller (Promise brand). You're probably looking at around $100 for either one of them (might be able to find a better price on pricewatch or similar site; a local computer store carries them for $130 & $120, respectively).

Hopefully that will get you started!

 

[seanbo]

a lot of you seem to be tooting the top end asus boards. i'll keep them in mind.

i'm really please about the msi-k7n2. what's all the information about the main memory? "Note: nForce2 does NOT supports x4 memory device. 1GB can be made by other density of dram chip such as x 8, x16...", and why is one memory slot a different colour?

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[TheLumberingAdmin]

Little update here... though MSI's website (which seems to be having problems with their product pages at the moment) said the K7N2 has an S3 video processor, I found a good review at FiringSquad hardware that shows it with a GeForce4 MX chip (which makes more since, with an nVidia chipset). Much better option (though still a little slow for high end games). BTW, the video onboard is actually an option on that line of boards, so if you do decide on it, MAKE SURE the one you order has it. I think the model with the onboard video may sport a "G" after the model number, like K7N2G Delta ILSR.

As for the memory slots being different colors, I believe one is for 128-bit DDR Channel, and the other two are regular 64-bit DDR slots. Not sure about the memory density bit. My advice would be to go with MSI's recommended memory manufacturers, Kingston, Corsair, and Crucial. I don't have any experience with Corsair's memory, but from what I've read some of their high-end stuff is very fast. I've used Kingston and Crucial memory, and their stuff is very very stable. I've got 512MB of Crucial DDR PC 2100 in my AthlonXP 2000+ box now, and I've never had to worry about a memory problem (which I've had many of in previous systems, since I bought cheapie no name memory from local computer stores and shows). You'll pay a little bit more for them over the cheap stuff (though Crucial's prices are usually not too bad), but I think its worth it.

 

[AnalogAnomaly]

In reply to TheLumberingAdmin's posts on the k7n2 delta ISLR, I personally wouldn't reccomend it. I like MSI, they make nice stable boards, but the K7N2 Delta L and the ISLR variant both have two things I don't like. You can run dual channel RAM on both, but you can only run one pair, putting a stick of RAM in the third slot on either kinda ruins the Dual Channel functionality. Also I use PC3200 for most of my newer machines and the machines I build for people so that they don't have to purchase new ram when they decide to upgrade the processor. PC3200 clocks down just fine on most boards. However I've found severe issues with both the K7N2 Delta L and the ISLR variant when it comes to down-clocking RAM. Thus I would not reccomend them. Personally I like the GIGABYTE 7N400, which generally retails for about $10 (USD) less than the K7N2 Delta ISLR and does more. The 7N400 features space for two sets of dual channel RAM, and down-clocks PC3200 just fine. It's a lovely board with a silicon image raid controller that does 0, 1, and 0+1. It features 4 parallel ATA ports and 2 Seriel ATA ports, has a Realtek AC'97 sound controller for the onboard 5.1 surround sound, and features an onboard 10/100/1000 Network Interface. It sports many other features and is certianly worth looking into. You can find more information about the 7n400 at

http://tw.giga-byte.com/motherboard/products/Products_GA-7N400 Pro2.htm

 

[paparazi]

I am afraid I have to agree with Dakota81 and say to my knowledge that there isn't a motherboard with all these features.
It's either Raid without integrated graphics or integrated graphics without raid (same thing)
These (mini ATX)integrated motherboards are considered "jack of all trades and master of none" my advice, like Dakota81's, is to go for a full sized Nforce 2 motherboard and add a seperate AGP graphics card, you will end up with a far superior setup as a result and lots of nice PCI slots for addon cards unlike the mini ATX's which often just have 2/3 PCI slots.

GA7-400N pro2 Gigabyte
A7N8X-Deluxe Asus
NF7-S Version 2 Abit
K7N2-Delta ILSR

I suppose you could go for one of the little integrated Nforce2 motherboards with onboard graphics and add a seperate PCI to Raid controller card but to be honest you will save yourself $10 and end up with a weaker system all round.
So I would recommend one of the above list of mainboards,
all are decent, full sized ATX motherboards with eith SATA or normal IDE raid, just add an 8X AGP card and cook for the next year or so.

Martin


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