Need Help Buying A Mobo

[Rand Dusing]

I need help helping my Dad pick out a motherboard. He doesn't need anything high powered because he isn't do any gaming or major video editing.

I found two mobo/cpu combos in my local Fry's ad and he asked me which one he should get:

2.4ghz Intel Pentium 4 Processor and Motherboard- 109.99
Boxed CPU @ 533mhz FSB with fan and 3-year warranty
Motherboard featuring Intel 846P Chipset

AMD Athlon XP 2800+ Processor and Mobo- 119.99
Boxed CPU with Fan and 3-year warranty.
DUal channel support.
nForce2 Ultra 400 CHipset

I have built 2 computers on the nForce2 Ultra Chipset and would tend to go for the AMD one. But should I get the Intel instead? I'm guessing these are ECS motherboards because they usually are. I've heard good things and bad things about them. Please help me fast! I just looked at same deal on Outpost.com and it was 209.99, so I think the AMD is a good deal.

[rrcn]

Usually when they say "Athlon XP 2800+ and Motherboard", its almost always an ECS board. I would probably go with the AMD setup because I've heard many good things about the nForce chipset. But really, you can't go wrong with either one. Pick one depending on what features are on each board.

[EDIT]: Just looked at the ad, and yeah, those are almost definately ECS boards. The good thing about them is that they are really stable and great for builds for other people so that they don't always come back to you saying something isn't working. lol.

[Rand Dusing]

Ok thanks. I know the AMD one is ECS and most likely the Intel is also. My Dad only needs the basic features like onboard sound and basically just that.

[John Prophet]

I loathe ECS, lol....I have an ecs board I bought used....there are no new drivers for it..none newer than what comes on the 3 yr old xp disc.

Id get him a Biostar ..something like this from newegg http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduc...138-234&depa=0

just what he needs...has onboard gf4mx graphics..plenty for him...and they are sooo easy to set up cuz of the basic bios.

then just get whatever Athlon XP fits the budget

it even has 6 ch sound in case he wants to get his rave on
JP

[lobo_pac]

i've had zero problems with 5 of the famed ecs k7s5a and i recently got in on another fry's combo with an ecs board (forget the number, L7 something ) and an amd 2500+ and haven't had any problems. people like to trash ecs, but for basic builds they work great for me.

[John Prophet]

I trash em from personal experience, lol.

I mean, why take the risk?....my K7S5A didnt like a power supply that was fine on other boards...and then there was the "hmm, why doesnt the driver FROM the ecs site work" factor...then on my other ECS board, a K7ama I think....they dont even have new IDE drivers etc after several years...sad.

Sometimes there is a reason why certain boards tend to be sold mostly thru 'deals' and "promos"...

I guess if you "happen to get a good one" youre ok, lol.

[Theophylact]

I really like the Asus A7N8X-X. It's an nVidia nForce2 400 motherboard. Doesn't have onboard firewire or serial ATA, but otherwise it's loaded. NewEgg has it for $69 including shipping.

If you need SATA and IEEE 1394, the A7N8X Deluxe seems a pretty reasonable choice. Tiger Direct has it for $109.99, not including shipping.

[Rand Dusing]

So it looks like most people say the ECSs are trash. And I think when I asked for some help a while back, I got the same replys about how ECS wasn't very good. Well, I'm going to tell my Dad that lots of people say ECS is bad and not worth it.

But it's only 120 bucks and the retail cost of an AMD 2800+ on newegg.com is only 121. Should my Dad go ahead and buy it and test the mobo? And if the mobo sucks might as well by a new one. He's basically getting this mobo for free, right?

[bombledmonk]

good plan

[John Prophet]

is it coming with a decent heatsink/fan??

if it is coming with a retail box cpu with heatsink fan then you are right, you dont have much to lose.

and its not that ECS "sucks"...they are just a little "iffy" sometimes...imo anyway...