Picking a motherboard in the beginning...

[TigreKarma]

Hello Everyone,

As I learn more and more, mostly by reading your comments, I'm getting a little confused on selecting a motherboard.

I've decided to go with an Athlon 3500 processor, and a really nice guy at my local CompUsa took the time to answer some questions, and make some suggestions. He recommended:

http://www.compusa.com/products/prod...2638&pfp=srch1

After looking at dozens of different motherboards, I'm getting confused as to what I really want! Obviously, something I can upgrade later is a factor. As I compare the others, SIDE BY SIDE, with the CompUsa guy's suggestion, there doesn't seem to be much differences, but I'm sure there are.

Example:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813130484

Could you please explain to a bright rookie how I shop and compare MOBO's.

Thank you ALL, in advance.
You're GREAT help!

TK

[glc]

I agree with the choice of a NForce4-based board for that processor. The CompUSA guy is recommending the BFG because that's what they sell there. The MSI is not bad. You essentially have to shop features - read the detailed specs on each board. You also need to make sure you are buying a board from a reputable manufacturer - there are good ones, and there are not so good ones. I personally prefer Asus boards, but there are plenty of other ones that are quality boards. It's not an exact science.

[jayb1234]

One thing that you can do is go to the manufacturers website and see what kind of information they have about the board.

Download the manual and take a look at it, and see what kind of support information the site has.

If the manual and website are lousy, the product and support probably are too.

Asus seems to be the preferred brand for AMD builds, followed by DFI and MSI.

BFG isn't as popular.

[pam123]

I didn't know CompUSA sold BFG products or that BFG produced motherboards. Their usual beat is nVidia graphics cards, and they do a good job there.
Going by their site : http://www.bfgtech.com/ (click on products, chose motherboards) the N4 boards are all they make, which means they have no track record for producing them. Also I can't find any reviews.
That said the price and the features all seem to be in order, always a good sign, and if CompUSA is close and the board flakes out on you it should be easy to return ( What is the return by date and is the store offering a warranty?).
I'd be willing to gamble but it's your money and your time.

[jfk]

I'd still take a ASUS board, especially if this is your first build. Look at the A8N-E or A85N on Newegg for very nice N4 boards. All the features you would want except firewire at a very reasonable price. I trust ASUS over BFG, mainly due to length of time in the mobo business.

[marknsaw]

I just did the same thing TigreKarma!
I went with the Asus A8N-E motherboard ( has plenty of USB2.0 ports, instead of firewire.. which is fine by me ). If you have an extra $30-$40.00 look into going with the AMD 3700+ and get the full use of the 1MB L2cache support!