"js5895" said:
I'm upgrading my 7 year old computer and I'm a novice at this. I'm
mostly shopping at Newegg and Tigerdirect
but I don't know which motherboard is the best for no more than $60.
The processor I think I'm going with
is the Intel Pentium D 805 2.66GHz, 533MHz FSB. I want to try to get a
board with today's technology so, later,
I have the option to expand. I also need support for my old hardware.
My current hardware is:
200W ATX 20 pin (might need a 24 pin with a higher wattage)
Pentium 3 500Mhz
60 GB UATA 100
13.5GB UATA 66
Toshiba 6x DVD-ROM
HP 9700 CDRW Writer
ATI Radeon 9200 8X AGP (Only 2 years old)
STB TV Tuner card (needs an aux header for sound)
I have some below that I might be considering. Most of them, even the
ones below, have some bad reviews
which makes me wonder if there good or not. Can anybody agree on the
best board, It doesn't have to be the one's
below.
Thank you for your time and help.
1. Gigabyte 8I865GME-775 Intel Socket 775 ATX Motherboard
2. Asus P5VDC-MX Via Socket 775 MicroATX Motherboard
3. Mach Speed X-Caliber PT88BS Pro Via Socket 775 ATX Motherboard
4. ECS P4M800Pro-M Via Socket 775 MicroATX Motherboard
There are probably several motherboards like the 8I865GME-775.
The Gigabyte board is based on the 865G Northbridge, which
supports AGP 8X, has built-in graphics if you don't have an
AGP card, and uses DDR memory. Asus has one called P5P800 SE
which is based on 865PE (no built-in graphics), but that board
is slightly above your price range. The 865/875 chipset is
dual channel, so you get the best performance with a pair
of sticks of memory (if you wanted 1GB memory, you'd split
the purchase into two 512MB sticks, and generally there should
not be a price premium by doing that).
Items (2) and (4) use the P4M800 Pro from Via. In the Asus
manual, it says for their board:
"Note: Due to chipset limitation, the Intel Enhanced Intel
SpeedStep Technology, C1E, and TM2 are not supported in
this model
The characteristics of the 805 are listed here, and the 805
has EIST. A board that supported EIST, might run a bit
cooler when the computer was idle.
http://processorfinder.intel.com/details.aspx?sSpec=SL8ZH
http://www.intel.com/cd/channel/res...op/proc_dsk_p4/technical_reference/203838.htm
When I run item (3) through my favorite search engine, it
shows "Jetway" as the source of the board. They are a
disreputable supplier of electronics, taking reference designs
from the chip makers (nothing wrong with that), buying up
leftover stock of chipset/parts (nothing wrong with that).
In some cases, they've used the wrong chips and their
adverts did not reflect what you were truly getting.
They would be on my "do not touch with a bargepole" list.
So, if they attempted to change their name to "Mach Speed",
I'd stay even further away
******
This Asrock board uses VIA PT880 PRO - 775Dual-VSTA $59
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813157092
You can see some VIA chipsets in this table. The PT880 Pro
supports a real AGP slot, but the PCI Express interface is
only x4 (four lanes), and not the x16 used on Intel chipsets.
(The PCI Express interface is like AGP 4X in effect.)
That means a slight loss in performance (maybe 10-15%) if you
were gaming with a PCI Express video card, in a motherboard
like that.
http://www.via.com.tw/en/products/chipsets/p4-series/comparison_p4-series.jsp
The board has two DDR slots, and two DDR2 slots, but
you can only use one RAM type at a time. The board is dual
channel, which means it works best with two matched sticks
installed. The motherboard picture also suggests it can take
a range of processor types. It might take Conroe some day
soon (after Conroe is launched, and a BIOS update is offered).
(One of the two Asus boards P5VD1-X and P5VDC-X mentions EIST,
so it may be supportable. No way to be certain. It could
be that EIST is only on the PT880 Ultra ?)
http://www.asrock.com/support/CPU_Support/show.asp?Model=775Dual-VSTA
******
Maneuvering though the budget motherboard list is a minefield.
Take your time, read the customer reviews on Newegg, check the
CPU support list on the manufacturer web site, and validate
the slots by checking into the chipset (not all video card
slots on budget motherboards are "real" slots, and some of them
are a low bandwidth kludge).
For your power supply, I'd probably pick up something in the
350W minimum class. The ratings are printed on a label on the
side, and for P4 processors, 12V@15A is a bare minimum (if all
the current was available on one unified 12V output). The
805 dual processor is 95 watts at stock speed. With 90% efficient
Vcore conversion circuitry on the motherboard, that is
(95W/12V)*(1/0.90) = 8.8A from +12V just for the processor.
The newer ATX 2.0+ power supplies, split the 12V into two outputs,
and generally, you end up buying a bigger power supply to
meet the requirements, since the outputs cannot be shared
when one output has current that is not being used.
This one is sort of the class I'd start at. About $50 will
keep you out of the bargain area. 12V2 powers the processor
and there is 18A max available for your 8.8A processor load.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817104954
(Some info on the newer ATX 2.0+ power supplies - these are
becoming more common than the ones with the 20 pin connector)
http://www.formfactors.org/developer/specs/ATX12V_PSDG_2_2_public_br2.pdf
Good luck,
Paul
