new motherboard

[charlescpc]

My old motherboard bit the dust and I was looking for a new one.
One that would support a AMD thunderbird 900 socket A
I have found some deals on Syntax, Pc chips, and Chaintech.
I don't know anything about any of these boards.
If anyone has info on these brands I would appreciate a heads up.
I'll probably just stay with a brand that I know more about.
I have a shop that I usually get parts from but I don't know whether they would have a motherboard that old. And I would prefer getting one from someone I can deal with in person.
Does anyone have any opinions about the boards I mentioned above.

thanks

[Platypus]

Of those I'd really just have to say avoid PC-Chips. But then in the budget area you're never really sure who PC-Chips is manufacturing for anyway. I used a few Chaintech boards some years ago without any real problems. I don't think Syntax boards appear here in Australia, but it looks like they have some link with Lucky Star - I have used some of them too in the past.

[charlescpc]

thanks for the info......
thinking about getting a decend board I can grow into.
decisions decisions.....

[Grandpapa]

thanks for the info......
thinking about getting a decend board I can grow into.
decisions decisions.....

MSI builds very good boards


http://www.msicomputer.com/product/a...oductindex.asp

[charlescpc]

Thanks for the info!!!
I'll check into MS

[TRICKPLAYER]

MSI is a very good brand, also ASUS, but if the budget is tight I have worked with a few SYNTAX SV266A boards and they are very stable and good value.

[Major Kong]

Check the MSI KM2M Combo-L. It supports the Athon 900 T'bird and it also supports both DDR & PC 100/133 SDRAM (you can use older RAM and then upgrade to DDR RAM later). It's a Micro-ATX board but has onboard sound, LAN & video (it also has an AGP slot for a video card). It's a very good board. It's only limitations is that it does not support the newer Barton or Thorton core processors, but does support up to a Athlon 2600+ T'bred.

Another good "lower end" board is the ECS K7S5A-Pro board. Though ECS is associated with PCChips this board is actually a lot better than the normal ECS offering. I've built several PC's with this board without a glitch. It too supports both RAM types, has onboard LAN and sound. It has the same limitations as the MSI board for future upgrading.

As you live in my old stomping grounds you should be able to pick up either board at a pretty good price from either newegg or zipzoomfly with free shipping (you lucky Lower 48er you). I would expect the ECS to be a little cheaper, but the MSI has more features.

[charlescpc]

thanks for the info...
I got lucky and probably won't need the mb as i thought. I thought a bad power supply fried the board. It couldn't find all my memory booting up and the heat sink was very very hot. Also, checked the cpu and the thermal pad was gone, probably because it got so hot.

Got a new PS and put some thermal paste on the cpu.
Now everything seems to be back to normal.

I had just replaced my old PS with one from Comp Usa. I guess that's what I get for getting one from Comp Usa

But I do appreciate the advice on the motherboards and I'll put it to good use.
I have been very lucky with motherboards. I had a ASUS, ABit, and tyan all all have been great boards. Just lucky I guess.

Thanks again for the info.....

[Orangeman]

Check the MSI KM2M Combo-L. It supports the Athon 900 T'bird and it also supports both DDR & PC 100/133 SDRAM (you can use older RAM and then upgrade to DDR RAM later). It's a Micro-ATX board but has onboard sound, LAN & video (it also has an AGP slot for a video card). It's a very good board. It's only limitations is that it does not support the newer Barton or Thorton core processors, but does support up to a Athlon 2600+ T'bred.

As you live in my old stomping grounds you should be able to pick up either board at a pretty good price from either newegg or zipzoomfly with free shipping (you lucky Lower 48er you). I would expect the ECS to be a little cheaper, but the MSI has more features.

I'm using that exact board (MSI Km2m Combo-L) right now. You're right, it IS a good board. Its also fairly cheap, about $85, less than the cost of my 2400 AMD XP+ processor ($95)