which motherboard

[Shank]

Time to upgrade but confused by all the MB, chipset and memory options. Last
time I upgraded I could easily narrow the options to 3-4. Nowadays it's gone
crazy! Seems like there's a BUNCH of different MBs with another BUNCH of
options per each MB. Lost!

My last upgrade was an ASUS P4PE w/1.6Ghz w/512MB. It's been great but it
seems the software I use is demanding more and more memory. Sometimes to the
point of choking the processes. I want to upgrade to 2GB RAM, but not
interested in spending the money without upgrading the processor speed too.

So my wishlist would be something like...

1) 2GB memory
2) 3.2Ghz - 3.4Ghz (depending on the price breaks)
3) 4 IDE HDD ports would be nice but I could live with 2 again
4) I don't want an outdated Socket
5) I prefer Intel over AMD
6) More than 2 USB ports would be nice. I'm using 2 hubs now.

I do absolutely no gaming.
I will be using my existing video card and HDDs.
I do a lot of database and graphics software.

thanks!

 

[Michael W. Ryder]

Time to upgrade but confused by all the MB, chipset and memory options. Last
time I upgraded I could easily narrow the options to 3-4. Nowadays it's gone
crazy! Seems like there's a BUNCH of different MBs with another BUNCH of
options per each MB. Lost!

My last upgrade was an ASUS P4PE w/1.6Ghz w/512MB. It's been great but it
seems the software I use is demanding more and more memory. Sometimes to the
point of choking the processes. I want to upgrade to 2GB RAM, but not
interested in spending the money without upgrading the processor speed too.

So my wishlist would be something like...

1) 2GB memory
2) 3.2Ghz - 3.4Ghz (depending on the price breaks)
3) 4 IDE HDD ports would be nice but I could live with 2 again
4) I don't want an outdated Socket
5) I prefer Intel over AMD
6) More than 2 USB ports would be nice. I'm using 2 hubs now.

I do absolutely no gaming.
I will be using my existing video card and HDDs.
I do a lot of database and graphics software.

thanks!

I upgraded from a 2 Ghz P4 on a P4T-E to a 3.4 GHz P4 on a P5P800 with
one GB of memory for under $600. Nowadays you could get the extra GB of
memory for the same amount or less. It used all my old peripherals with
no problems. I didn't even change the PSU out to one with a 24 pin
connector. Doing a repair install of Windows XP Pro was all that was
needed to get everything up and running after the transplant.
This board has 2 IDE connectors for a total of 4 devices and 2 SATA
connectors for adding more hard drives later. It also has 4 USB 2.0
ports on the back panel along with connectors on the board for an
additional 4 USB 2.0 ports.

 

[BC]

Time to upgrade but confused by all the MB, chipset and memory options. Last
time I upgraded I could easily narrow the options to 3-4. Nowadays it's gone
crazy! Seems like there's a BUNCH of different MBs with another BUNCH of
options per each MB. Lost!

My last upgrade was an ASUS P4PE w/1.6Ghz w/512MB. It's been great but it
seems the software I use is demanding more and more memory. Sometimes to the
point of choking the processes. I want to upgrade to 2GB RAM, but not
interested in spending the money without upgrading the processor speed too.

So my wishlist would be something like...

1) 2GB memory
2) 3.2Ghz - 3.4Ghz (depending on the price breaks)
3) 4 IDE HDD ports would be nice but I could live with 2 again
4) I don't want an outdated Socket
5) I prefer Intel over AMD
6) More than 2 USB ports would be nice. I'm using 2 hubs now.

I do absolutely no gaming.
I will be using my existing video card and HDDs.
I do a lot of database and graphics software.

thanks!

Hi,

from Newegg.com, a list of Intel compatible Asus boards with an AGP slot:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...ce=&MaxPrice=&SubCategory=280&Submit=Property

Looks like the Asus socket 775 P5 series all has 3 ATA connectors for a
total of 6 devices, but, these need DDR2, and a PCI Express video card.

These two boards, an ECS and a Soltek use DDR, have an AGP slot, and
have 3 ATA connectors.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...ice=&MaxPrice=&SubCategory=22&Submit=Property

A Highpoint or Promise IDE/ATA controller with two ports is only about
25 bucks:

* PROMISE ULTRA100TX2 PCI IDE Controller Card - Retail

Features: Ultra ATA/100, Ultra ATA/66, Ultra ATA/33, EIDE; Ultra
DMA 5/4/3/2/1/0; DMA 2/1/0; PIO 4/3/2/1/0; Up to 100MB/sec burst data
transfers (with Ultra ATA/100 drives); provides 200MB/sec bandwidth when
used in a 66MHz; Dual IDE ports support separate timing and optimum
speeds of attached drive(s) or ATAPI device(s); Bus mastering offloads
Internal Connectors: 2 x ATA 100
Operating Systems Supported: DOS 5.x, Windows 3.1x, Windows
95/98/Me, Windows NT4/2000, Red Hat Linux 6.2/7.0, Netware 3.12/4.1x/5.0
* Model #: ULTRA100TX2
* Item #: N82E16816102026
* ** This item is warranted through the product manufacturer only.

* $25.00

This board, with an additional PCI controller card might work:

* ASUS A8V Socket 939 VIA K8T800 Pro ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail

AGP Slots: 1x AGP 4X/8X
CPU Type: Athlon 64
DDR Standard: DDR 400 (PC 3200)
Dual Channel Supported: Yes
FSB: 1000MHz Hyper Transport (2000 MT/s)
Maximum Memory Supported: 4GB
Number of DDR Slots: 4x 184pin DDR
PCI Express x16: None
PCI Slots: 5
South Bridge: VIA VT8237
* Model #: A8V
* Item #: N82E16813131541
* In Stock
* $1.99 Three Day Shipping
* $81.00 *

It's socket 939 (good for a while), but, still takes the AGP card you have.

If you have 2 x 256MB memory modules, you could use those, and another 2
x 1GB, for a total of 2.5GB (assuming the 512 you already have is DDR400
(3200)

HTH,

BC