Choosing a motherboard 1

[emceeme]

I am working on building a computer and have generated a list of parts that I am considering purchasing from newegg.com. I am stuck in a delema, I am not sure what kind or type of motherboard to buy. I already know that I will be using an AMD athalon XP 2100 as the processor. Also, will a generic case work fine as long as it will accept AMD boards? What type of board should I buy, and what are the most reputable companies? I'v got most of my list generated but most of my later purchases will be dictated by the motherboard I run. Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

[jmtjet]

Make sure your case is ATX form factor. Your power supply needs to be AMD approved and around 350 Watts. Your mothboard will have to a socket A to accept the Athlon CPU-make sure the board supports XP 2100. A good heat sink and fan are a must-must also be for XP 2100 Athlon. Good luck and have fun.

 

[paparazi]

The XP2.1+ is the last of the Palomino core Athlons and as such is the hottest, producing something like 77watts of heat? take cooling seriously, get a heatsink/fan combination that will easily cope, go for copper bottomed rated XP2.6 or above, this doesn't have to be expensive, there are excellent recommended coolers from Coolermaster, Taisol etc that cost under $16 that have copper bases.
Also on the same theme add two extra 80mm case fans (in at the front lower, out at the top rear)
Sellect a motherboard from one of the following companies: MSI, Abit, Asus, Gigabyte, Soyo, Soltek, and Chaintech.
Nforce2 chipset equipt motherboards are currently the fastest and best equipt Socket "A" platforms but also consider Via KT400 chipset motherboards (slightly slower but with great support and cheaper)
Consider the extra features some of these motherboards have, they may look expensive initially but if you need features like USB2 , Firewire and Lan they could work out better value than buying add on cards. Martin
Replying helps further our knowledge, without comment leaves us wondering.

 

[CitrixEngineer]

I'd recommend a non-generic case, if possible, to help keep that Athlon cool. It really makes a difference.

AOpen, Antec, Chieftec and Thermaltake all do great quality cases at reasonable prices. If you can stretch it, aluminium cases such as Lian-Li and Coolermaster offer even better cooling.

I own an AOpen H600A, and a Thermaltake Xaser II 5000, (which ships with 5 fans, an LCD temperature reader and USB/Firewire ports).

http://www.aopen.com/products/housing/h600-series.htm

http://www.thermaltake.com/products/cases/5000a.htm

CitrixEngineer@yahoo.co.uk

 

[emceeme]

Thank you very much for your imput, I appreciate it greatly.

 

[emceeme]

I also had another quick question. When I am comparing motherboards what should I be looking for in each one?

 

[paparazi]

Stick with one of the top manufactures
Asus, Abit, MSI, Gigabyte, Soyo, Soltek & maybe Chaintech
If you want to go for the latest socket "A" platform it really should have the Nforce2 chipset (best at the moment)
Via KT400 coming in a close second followed by KT333.
Note* chipset is very important as it effects overall performance of the system and the extras the motherboard may have.
Lastly the motherboards built in features.
New motherboards can have all or some of the following built in:
Lan, USB1, USB2, Firewire, 6 channel digital audio spif out, Raid, Serial ATA, built in graphics, Extra PCI slots, Extra memory slots, AGP pro slot, Active Northbridge cooler, compact flash and other flash media panels or pin headers, extra fan headers, extra fire wire, USB2 headers, smart diagnostic D bracket, smart key.
So you see decide what you want then go looking at the specs, just be aware some motherboards that look expensive turn out to be good value when you add up how much they save you by having features integrated.
Martin
Replying helps further our knowledge, without comment leaves us wondering.

 

[Kocky]

I can recommend the ASUS A7V8X board.
It has the VIA KT-400 chipset and supports
PC3200 memory, AGP 8X, BroadbandCom etc...

I use it together with a AMD ATHLON XP 2400+. It is mega fast and super stable.

 

[PSYSMIC]

I'm using a Soyo motherboard and have had a great experience. The bios requires a working knowledge of chipset settings, and is not for the timid. But, I've overclocked my memory, proc, and video, and once final tweaks were employed, the system has been stable for 5 months now. Heat is a big factor. Skyhawk makes a more affordable aluminum case, and it has some nice features. Just remember, your memory and processor need to run at the same bus speed. Alot of people are buying PC2100 for their AMD 2400XP, and they are overclocking their memory in a big way. So, if you buy an Nforce or Via KT333,or 400, remeber you are running a 266 bus speed on a XP2100. So PC2700 memory and up, wouldn't be utilizing it's potential(333), even if the chipset supports it. FSB speed also effects your video card's clock on most motherboards.
HAVE FUN..nothing like the smell of new hardware!