Working on a new build? Motherboard suggestions.

[Force Flow]

Here you will find motherboards used in successful builds comparing their features and specs. Not all the features are listed, for only one or two boards may have a special feature (such as an ACR expansion slot), so you won’t find it listed.

You will find the type of CPU supported (AMD/Intel), the chipset name, CPU FSB, socket type, RAM slot specs, drive controllers (SATA/IDE), type of RAID supported, USB/Firewire(IEEE1394) jacks, onboard audio controller names (in most cases), onboard Ethernet names (in most cases) and their supported speeds, board form factor and dimensions, and a few other miscellaneous features & specs.



Also included, I noted what kind of build the board would be used in; either a budget build, mid-range or high-range. Here’s a breakdown description of each one:

-Budget- It can be: a little outdated, have onboard video; most basic features for general use; decent specs for office use (email, word processing, surfing)

-Mid - It can be: somewhat new; have all necessary features, plus a few extra; higher specs for general, all-round use (light gaming/graphics/sound use)

-High - It can be: somewhat new or brand new; have all necessary features plus all the bells and whistles; increased specs for high end use (heavy gaming/graphics/sound use)


The motherboard of your system is the most important component. You definitely do not want to cut corners with this piece of hardware. After all, everything connects to it.



As a side note, Intel FSBs are backwards compatible down to 400FSB and AMD FSB’s are backwards compatible down to 200FSB (I noticed that Abit’s Intel IC7 board was the only exception in that a 400FSB was not supported).


SATA and RAID are features that are becoming increasingly more common on motherboards, especially the inclusion SATA RAID (IDE RAID is also available. Mainly Abit sells IDE RAID boards). One nice feature of SATA is the relatively small cables, which are great for your case’s airflow instead of those wide IDE cables. As of now, SATA maxes out at ATA150, so there’s no huge advantage for transfer speed over ATA133 other than during fairly large transfers or video capturing. SATA RAID controllers have different forms of RAID, so if you’re looking for a certain mode, pay attention! For example, some boards only support RAID 0; others RAID 0 and RAID 1; RAID 0, 1 and 0+1; and even RAID 0, 1, 0+1, and JBOD (In the motherboad data chart here, this last form of SATA RAID is abbreviated as “ALL”). No boards as of yet include SATA RAID5. Please see PCMech’s RAID: Your Guide article for details on the different forms of RAID.

Again, when comparing ATA speeds, IDE’s ATA100 and ATA133 are the two that are most compared. I wouldn’t go out of my way to get ATA133 unless, again, you do a heavy amount of data transfers or video captures. With either speed, 80-line IDE cables are needed since 40-line IDE cables only support up to ATA66. All ATA speeds are backwards compatible down to ATA33. Optical Drives only operate at ATA33 (though some at ATA66) so an 80-line IDE cable would not be needed; only a 40-line cable.



With DDR RAM, there are two different ways to specify the FSB: either with PCxxxx or DDRxxx. Here’s how the equate to each other:

  
  
  
  

    
PC notation
    
DDR notation
    
FSB
  
  

    
PC3700
    
466
    
466MHz
  
  

    
PC3500
    
434
    
434MHz
  
  

    
PC3200
    
400
    
400MHz
  
  

    
PC2700
    
333
    
333MHz
  
  

    
PC2100
    
266
    
266MHz
  
  

    
PC1600
    
200
    
200MHz
  

Please see Floppyman’s post on DDR RAM

As a side note, most DDR RAM FSB’s are backwards compatible to DDR200/PC1600, though it wasn’t always noted in manufacturer’s specifications what the lowest speed was. I only noted the lowest speed I saw for each board, but chances are that they will all be able to support DDR200/PC1600.



As a side note, all the boards listed have 6-channel onboard audio when onboard audio is present.



A note about the Asus A7V8X/A7N8X boards: The A7V8X boards are grayed out because I only stuck them in so you were aware of them. They are not necessarily “tried and tested” boards that are widely accepted. There has been some confusion between those and the A7N8X boards. The A7V8X boards have a VIA chipset, while the A7N8X boards have the nForce2 chipset. There have been a few incidents where someone wanted the nForce2 chipset, but accidentally got the VIA chipset, so make sure you are aware of which is which.


If you notice anything I missed or incorrectly stated in the table, please drop me a PM and I’ll take a look at it.


So, without further ado, here’s the meat of this informational exerpt:

[Force Flow]

Chart attached below...

[Force Flow]

[bigandy]

Excellent work FF. All I can say is "Get thee a sticky" .

[Force Flow]

Corrections:
The Asus P4P800 and P4P800 Deluxe both support hyperthreading, which was not notated in the previous chart.

Here's revision 2:

[hunter64]

I am new to this site, can somone explain how to download this zip file on motherboards?

Thanks,
Hunter

[not important]

Clik on the link. A box should pop up that says gives you the option to "Save" or :
"Open". Choose the "Save" box.

[pwm24]

hahha

[bigandy]

Originally posted by pwm24 hahha

Very rude, and quite unnecesarry. If you want to laugh at a reasonable question posted by a member, do it in the comfort of your own home, don't post it here.

[hunter64]

The reason I asked how to dwnld this zip fille is that I tried to click on the zip file icon - dble clicked and single clicked to no avail. If I right click on the zip, I can only save the image or the page itself.

The only dumb question is one not asked.

[glc]

pwm24 - this is an official warning. Disrespect is not tolerated here, read the forum FAQ. Post padding is also frowned upon, go find a chatroom if you want to play the haha games.

- Moderator -

[fedz]

Can you put in the mobo prices as well in rev3?

And: More overc'ing: Does anyone know some good, reliable software that I can use to overclock my laptop radeon and where to dload it? The laptop's got a good fan so that's not a problem

[glc]

fedz: You have posted this question about overclocking your Radeon in 3 separate threads, none of which have anything to do with overclocking a video chip and 2 of which aren't even your threads. Next time, please start a new thread for a new issue. Thank you.

I understand that you may be new to the forum business, so you might want to look over the thread in General Discussion about posting etiquette - this should help you a lot.

[fedz]

ok.
p.s. Do you have an answer to this?

[glc]

If I did, I wouldn't post it in THIS thread!

[Force Flow]

fedz, I decided against including prices because they fluxuate week to week. That's a lot of work trying to get the prices for each board every week.

[fedz]

I know. Maybe listings - least to more expensive?
meh don't bother, I was just checking

[Wing]

What exactly is "front panel audio"? I own a ASUS p4C800-e DLX and have no idea what that is.

[Cricket]

Originally posted by Wing What exactly is "front panel audio"? I own a ASUS p4C800-e DLX and have no idea what that is.

You can connect that motherboard to audio ports on the front of your case...if your case has front audio ports, not all cases have this feature.

Cricket

[Shepherd1000]

You probably would have been better off starting a new thread to ask this question. But since you've already asked it here: front panel audio refers to the audio jacks that are sometimes found on the front panel of computer cases. To be functional, these need to be connected to the appropriate pin outs on the motherboard.

[It_Boyz]

WHERE CAN I GET A GOOD MOTHERBOARD WITH A DUAL CHANNEL

[Tin]

Originally posted by It_Boyz WHERE CAN I GET A GOOD MOTHERBOARD WITH A DUAL CHANNEL

AMD or intel? for intel, youll want something with the 865/875 chipset, and for AMD you either want nforce2 or KT880.

[WolfPac_Ite]

I downloaded the file, But it says it's an .xls file type, I guess that mean sI need Microsoft Excel right?

[Force Flow]

Yes, it is an excel file, which needs MS excel to open

[glc]

If you don't have Excel, you can download the free Excel viewer.

http://office.microsoft.com/download.../xlviewer.aspx

[pillainp]

For those looking for a value system with a pretty good level of performance, I would also suggest the Intel D865GBF motherboard, based on Intel's 865G chipset. It has onboard video and audio, so a user not particularly interested in gaming would find this pretty good buy. Plus it is ATX, so has a lot of expandability (6PCI, 1AGP), and supports SATA and Dual Channel DDR.

[Force Flow]

Revision 3

The Intel D865GBF has gotten a lot of good feedback on the boards here, so I'm adding it to the list.

Here's revision 3:

[biglawdog1]

I hope its not inappropriate to post this here but recently did a build with a retail Asus PC4C800-E (make sure to get the -E btw) and it is by far and away, the most fantastic mobo I've ever owned or done a build with.

First, the retail box came with literally everything you could possibly need or want in doing the build. Sata cables, IDE cables, screws, pins, discs, good looking leggy blondes, you name it. I've done a couple of builds and by far, the ASUS comes with everything you could possibly want (and then some- I have quite a few parts left over).

The board is unbelievably easy to install and set up. The bios is simply the best I've dealt with. Not only is it uncomplicated its extremely detailed, with some nice help prompts for the stuff you dont know if you should fiddle with.

The board runs duel channel memory and I invested in a matched set of Corsair 3200-Pro LL's -holy crap, its fast. And for the noobie (like me =)), the board has an overclocking feature built in - allows overclocking in 5, 10, 15, 20 % intervals. I'm running my board overclocked at 10% and its up for a 3.4 PIV to a 3.75 PIV. Even un-overclocked, the board, memory and processor scream. I've noticed a big difference in just about every application and game I've run (new processor and new memory contribute significantly I'm sure but still...).

Plus, lots of room for expansion. Next purchase is a second raptor to set up a RAID.

The board is pricey - 185 from new egg- but so many helpful folks on this board and elsewhere said "start with a good motherboard" and so I did - and I couldn't be more pleased with my purchase.

(Admin/Mod- sorry if this is an inappropriate place ot put this- feel free to move it elsewhere if necessary)

[Smidget]

About the ordering A7N8X vs A7V8X... in my case it was a local computer supplier which didn't notice (and are still blatantly ignorant) of such differences. I sent for one and got the V, then they tried to charge me for restocking for returning it. I told them to go to hell, when it was their ignorance.

[brassplan]

i didnt see that motherboard on frysoutpost.com or newegg.com .... the closest i could find was Asus P4C800 Deluxe "Canterwood" Motherboard, which is the one i have...