Which motherboard?

[Hi Ho]

I am thinking about buying a new motherboard and CPU for my other computer so I can play LAN games of Rise of Nations, MOH, COD, etc. The K6 533mhz just doesn't cut it. I will move the K6 to a new case along with a hard drive and CD-ROM so I can have a third PC strictly for internet. Now, I want to keep this as cheap as possible. Around $100 for the CPU and motherboard. I am normally an Asus guy but their Nforce boards don't fit my budget. I have been looking at the following boards. Which one would you pick? I will be installing an Athlon XP 2000+ and an extra 256 MB stick of PC2700 RAM I have sitting around here. I might add that the Abit NF7 is stretching my budget. If any of the others will do well I would rather spend less.

BIOSTAR "M7NCD" nForce2 400 Chipset Motherboard for AMD Socket A CPU -RETAIL - $50

DFI "NFII 400-AL" nForce2 400 Chipset Motherboard for AMD Socket A CPU -RETAIL - $56

CHAINTECH "7NIL1-SUMMIT" nForce2 Ultra 400 Chipset Motherboard for AMD Socket A CPU -RETAIL - $56

EPoX "EP-8RDA3I" nForce2 Ultra 400 Chipset Motherboard for AMD Socket A CPU -RETAIL - $61

ABIT "NF7" nForce2 Chipset Motherboard for AMD Socket A CPU -RETAIL - $67

[Force Flow]

Even though it's the most expensive one of the bunch, I think I'd go with Abit's NF7 board. I've worked with a couple of them and they seemed to be nice boards, not to mention all the good feedback I've heard about them.

[bigandy]

I agree with Force on the NF7. Abit, as well as that particular board, have a rock solid reputation. I've heard some good things about the DFI board, but I don't know all that much about it. I haven't heard much about Chaintech (although they do make some cool looking boards), and Biostar and Epox MB's are now made by ECS, so I'd steer clear of them.

[Hi Ho]

Hmmm... Well it looks like it will probably be the DFI board because I just remembered that I need to buy a new PSU as well. The Enlight 250w I have in there now won't cut it. It's too bad that Epox is being made by ECS. I have an older Epox board in there now and it is the most stable PC I have ever seen. Not so much as an application error in four years. If I do go through with this plan it won't be right away. I can think about it more and maybe stretch my budget a bit more. Thanks for the advice. Any other opinions are welcome as well.