What MB

[Ferrit]

Motherboard is the heart of the system.
Thats not where I save and I will tell you why.
1: a poor chipset and or construction can really hobble a good cpu
2: mobo is the hardest to change if there is an issue
3: good motherboards usually allow for a way more options then a cheap one.
My basic systems go out with MSI K7N2 Delta motherboards (socket A)
And the better ones have the K8N NEO Platinum.(socket 754)

All in all a good motherboard with a slower cpu and less ram usually out preforms a cheap chipset.
Even though most customers dont know or cant see whats inside. I feel there is allways the possibilty some friend will come along and check out the guts and say.
You have very good hardware in there you got what you paid for .

[confus-ed]

Motherboard is the heart of the system.
Thats not where I save and I will tell you why..

I knew as soon as I'd seen you post, that you'd mis-understanand what I put.

I agree entirely, save elsewhere.

(I've worked out why nobody understands me - or one reason - here because I had originally quoted Kodiac I was still using 'you' to mean him (kodiac) & not 'you' as in ferrit & I was a comma short - gramatical confus-ed-ness now ! )

[Kodiak]

Very true the board is the heart of the machine but you can also price yourself right out of the market. If you don't sell anything you just as well give it up. The cheapest I can put one out, with the asrock board, is $775 and you make a couple hundred or less on it and it seems hardly worth your while to build. I just was looking for a solid board in the $45 to $60 range. I have yet to have any problems with any of these systems. If someone come's to me and say's I want a gamming system I won't suggest a board like that but I would go with a abit or asus or msi. Most of my quality rigs are still setting there and all my, not cheap, but less expensive rigs go out the door regularly.

[Kodiak]

OK. Just sold my last inexspensive PC in stock and time to build. Give me some suggestions here folks. Onboard video, sound, sata/raid, agp 8x and intel or maybe amd if the same fetures. I use amd myself but intel sells. I would be putting 2.4 Cel D in then or equivalant amd. This go around I will go with the consensus.

[Ferrit]

Well all I can say is I dont seem to ever be priced out of the market.
if they want it that cheap I would just as soon not build at all because along with the cheapness come all the other headaches.
Something I have learned to avoid.
As to suggestions I dont use onboard video ever but if your stil interested
MSI K7N2 Delta

[confus-ed]

How many of these boards do you intend buying ? (questions like this spring from me not understanding your 'business model' ).. I think 'my concensus' - is not to have stock !!

When I 'lay in stock' I get one to test & 'abuse' & the make my mind up how much I'm prepared to chance based on different factors that might affect my initial choice, number one being warranty & returns !! - if it takes you six months or whatever to get shut of your stock in sales, you've got progessively less manufacturers warranty left & more you might be providing - many resllers are 'wise to this' & offer 'drip stock' systems which let you have a saving on bulk purchase, but stop you at least to some extent having this issue.(not sale or return, but quotas based on yearly averages or 'whatever' {some resellers offer very complex deals !})

Personally I see stock in pc terms as dead money, as technology moves on really fast, & what was a bargain yesterday can quickly become a millstone !

My 'tip' is to advertise what you mayn't carry in actual stock, but can get 'pretty fast' & use 'build time' (which any builder knows is about 3/4 of an hour once you've got everything ready {if that!}) but customers seem to think takes 3 days ! , as your 'excuse' .

(this is brilliant really as you can clear whatever payment from them in this time & then use their money to fund your 'stock' - lots of 'big' sellers work this way & have in comparative terms virtually no working capital !! )

My current pick for an 'all onboard' m/b on just price is this .. but (there's always one of them ! ) ..

We´d like to make customers aware that AMD will soon be discontinuing the Socket A platform. So if you´re designing a PC with future-proofing and cost-effective upgradeability in mind, we strongly recommend that you look at AMD´s Athlon 64 CPUs and our range of Socket 754 and Socket 939 mainboards

[Ferrit]

How many of these boards do you intend buying ? (questions like this spring from me not understanding your 'business model' ).. I think 'my concensus' - is not to have stock !!

Brilliant game plan really. I dont carry stock at all

When I 'lay in stock' I get one to test & 'abuse' & the make my mind up how much I'm prepared to chance based on different factors that might affect my initial choice, number one being warranty & returns !! - if it takes you six months or whatever to get shut of your stock in sales, you've got progessively less manufacturers warranty left & more you might be providing - many resllers are 'wise to this' & offer 'drip stock' systems which let you have a saving on bulk purchase, but stop you at least to some extent having this issue.(not sale or return, but quotas based on yearly averages or 'whatever' {some resellers offer very complex deals !})

Personally I see stock in pc terms as dead money, as technology moves on really fast, & what was a bargain yesterday can quickly become a millstone !

My 'tip' is to advertise what you mayn't carry in actual stock, but can get 'pretty fast' & use 'build time' (which any builder knows is about 3/4 of an hour once you've got everything ready {if that!}) but customers seem to think takes 3 days ! , as your 'excuse' .

3 Days is about the norm for a build even though as confus_ed says actual build time is more like 1/2 to 1 hour
1 day or so for bench testing is about right.
Delivery the next day.

(this is brilliant really as you can clear whatever payment from them in this time & then use their money to fund your 'stock' - lots of 'big' sellers work this way & have in comparative terms virtually no working capital !! )

My current pick for an 'all onboard' m/b on just price is this .. but (there's always one of them ! ) ..

I usually use whatever current pick is my choice in a machine for me and see how it runs and feels and preforms

[Kodiak]

Mine "was" to have a couple PC's in stock but now will buy as I go and build to the customer's liking. As you said, the PC can sit on the shelve for some time. I do keep several cases for them to choose from so they get exactly the look they want. They seem to love the Platinum Systems case. Anyway I'm just looking for a all in one to try on my next PC. The Asrock seems to be solid but is limited to video cards that can be used if you need it. I would like to stick with intell and seen this one: http://www.abit-usa.com/products/mb/...es=1&model=137

as I am a Abit fan since I do have Abit in my personal machine. No Raid but it does have sata. Would like the raid option.

MSI would be fine to but seems the problem there is the sis chip. People say it's bad but I see no one giving a reason why. I have used boards with sis and have not had any problems with them but don't want to start either. I do have a customer comming this week to talk about building one so need some ideas on a good all in one intel board.

[Major Kong]

A little late to the discussion...sorry about that.
As to the motherboards I agree with Ferrit, EPoX & MSI are great. I'll also add Gigabyte to that list too.

Whats really a shame is that ASUS never came out with a newer version of their venerable A7N-266VM/AA mobo. That was an excellent budget all for one board in the Athlon family. I built 8 PC's with that board and they're all still up and running fine. Though the MSI KM4AM-V is a very close second for an all in one budget board.

As far as the SiS chipset I built 3 PC's using the Gigabyte GA-7S748 without a hitch and they all run well. I think folks like the Big 3 - Intel, VIA and nForce and sort of forget that AMD, ATI Radeon Xpress, SiS and ALi make chipsets and aren't that bad at it.

[Kodiak]

Yes and I hear all what your saying and don't really want cheap especially the MB as was said it is the mother of all so to speak. You say you save elsewhere? Where might that be? Cut back on ram, cheap video, cdrw and no cd, cheap monitor, where? What are all you charging for a complete syatem minus printer and such?