Come on in and help me select a mobo

[Aaron_J]

I need a motherboard to finish putting together a system.

This system will only be a backup in case my first system goes down so bleeding edge tech isn't necessary.

My requirements:

Cheap
Support for Duron 1300
DDR Ram

I found the following 3 mobo's from reputable dealers for under $40 shipped. Would you select any of the following? If so, which?

PC CHIPS M811LU
KT266A / VT 8235 Chipset, 266FSB, DDR RAM, Audio, 5 PCI, 1 AGP(4x), 2 USB, ATX.


Biostar M7VIP <<<(I am leaning toward this one)
KT333 chipset PC2700 for AMD Athlon XP, Athlon MP, Duron, 1AGP, 5PCI, 1CNR


Syntax SV266AD
Socket A, VIA KT266A chipset, DDR, 5 PCI, 1 AGP, 266fsb , ATX, Audio, LAN

Your help is appreciated.

[phrozen_dreamz]

The 266a would probably be your best bet. Does the Duron support the 266fsb? I dont think it does so the KT333 would be an option if you wanted a further upgrade.

[Aaron_J]

Yeah, the fsb on that Duron is 200mhz. I haven't run it for a while but I recall it running fine at 133(266)mhz just fine at a lower multiplier so I will definitely do this for the mem bandwidth.

[wallie_x]

For $40 USD I don't think you can beat this board:HERE!
It is stable as hell with just as good of performance as the Via KT 266A, but with out the compatability H/A of Via chipsets.
And ECS has improved their quality quite a bit.

Or if you want to spend $20 more check this one out.
Its rev. #00 though so.....
HERE!

[blubomber]

Aaron_J,

I would suggest looking at a Duron 1400, or 1600. Newegg has them for around $40 and i am pretty sure they run on a 133MHz bus (266). Those new Durons are also based on a new core. I cant remeber the name but it is not the Morgan core. And i also have read that you can over clock them to around the 2GHz mark. Oh, and the 1400, 1600 numbers are actual clock speeds, they are not Pro rated.

Happy Halloween!!!

[Aaron_J]

Well, the thing is, I already have the 1300.

Wallie: I will look into that board. Right now it is my top choice with it's features.

Essentially it boils down to this. I recently started doing web design as a "real" job and I can't be held hostage by having only one computer. I only need the backup computer to be able to run Photoshop, Flash, Dreamweaver, etc in a pinch. If I have work to get out on a deadline, the last thing I need is for my only computer to die on me.

A 1300 Duron w/512mb of ddr is more than up to the task.

I have the Duron, the ram, the hard disk, the case w/power supply, a vid card, cd drive, and floppy drive. I just need a cheap mobo.

I appreciate your responses. Any more help from people that have one of the mentioned mobo's would be great though.

[John Prophet]

Well I was going to say the Biostar before even looking at the specs. Then I did look at the specs..besides the fact that the Biostar is a "333"...I see it also has firewaire and RAID?? (maybe they are options)

If that is true then there is no choice, lol. Biostar.

http://www.digital-daily.com/motherboard/biostar-m7vip/