Motherboard for my dorm PC

[KnickNut3]

Hey. I'm building a PC for my dorm room, and I need a motherboard. When we get into this section of computers (northbridge, southbridge, capacitors, etc.) my head starts to spin. I'd call myself... hmm... a high end user so it gets a bit shady for me in these parts, so I'm not quite sure how to chose between the nForce boards.

Right now I believe I'll be hooking this up to it:

Athlon XP (the best I can afford when all is said and done)
Alpha PAL8045
512 MB Crucial PC2700
Geforce4 Ti4400 (I'll probably upgrade this first, in about 6 months to a year, with 2nd best tech at time)
Seagate Barracuda V
Audigy 2 (or 1, maybe)
Lots of USB stuff

I'm especially concerned about stability (computer problems 3 hours before a paper is due will NOT be fun), running temps (see previous parenthesis, add no AC in NC), game performance (I want some fun ), and loudness, if that's a factor. Yes, I know those are pretty much the major factors, but take my situation into account haha .

I don't think I can wait for the next chipset, unless I am strongly convinced otherwise. I'll have time to build this in late March, so I can't really wait longer unless there is a major factor.

Thanks for your suggestions.

P.S. Any suggested mid-tower cases, while we're at it? haha...

 

[wicktron]

Almost anything based off the nForce2 will do you good.

 

[Vette73]

Originally posted by: wixt0r
Almost anything based off the nForce2 will do you good.

Yea, look at the abit nForce2 board. Also get 2 sticks of 256Mg so you can run Dual Ch memory. And use the on-board sound and save your money

 

[KnickNut3]

So they're pretty much all about the same? I have a KT7A now, so getting another ABIT might be easier because I'm more familiar with the BIOS, etc...

And there's not much of a difference between the onboard sound and a real sound card?

 

[wicktron]

The onboard sound on the nForce2's are comparable to the Audigy, that is if you get motherboards with the MCP-T Southbridge which has Soundstorm on it. This usually comes in the higher flavor model of motherboards (ie: 8RDA vs 8RDA+ and NF7 vs NF7-S). The + and the -S have the Soundstorm whereas their brethren do not.

 

[Shimmishim]

they also have network so you don't need a network card either...

HOWEVER!

i will say this..

you can stick with 1 stick of ram if money is gonna be a problem... dual channel ddr isn't a huge advantage over single channel... only a 3 to 5% difference

processor:

the best bang for your buck is the 1700+

some people (like me) have been lucky enough to get one running at 2.3 ghz .... with the 2100+, there's no guarantee that you'll even get 2.3 out of a 2100+ (the first 2100+ i had only could do 2125 mhz)....

 

[BarryAZ]

One thing I don't see mentioned in the replies so far -- make sure you get a good power supply. It has a signficant effect of system stability. I see way too many 350W supplies offered for AMD XP systems -- 400W or more doesn't cost that much.

 

[mechBgon]

Also, if you want quietness, an Antec TruePower 380 or 430 would have lots of quality power while running quietly. If you do pick the ABIT board, make sure it's the 1.2 revision that has holes for the Alpha PAL8045, not the revision with no holes.

All things considered, my default recommendation would be the EPoX 8RDA+. I'm using an Alpha PAL8045 on mine since I already had one. I did need to snip a bit off the edge of one plastic washer. If you don't already have the Alpha, maybe get the Thermalright SLK-800 instead, since it has a nice six-lug clip and cools as well as the Alpha, or maybe better. No bolt-down hassles. This is a good board for $100!

If you got the 8RDA+ you might want to remove the northbridge heatsink first thing, and replace the stock phase-change thermal pad with some Arctic Silver 3 (do a test fit, it takes a lot to fill the gap because the northbridge is a little recessed in the center). Personally, I opted to upgrade the northbridge cooling to one of these. I have a low-profile heatsink that will go nicely on the southbridge too (there are pinholes around the SB for attaching heatsinks with spring pins too).

 

[KnickNut3]

Originally posted by: mechBgon
If you got the 8RDA+ you might want to remove the northbridge heatsink first thing, and replace the stock phase-change thermal pad with some Arctic Silver 3 (do a test fit, it takes a lot to fill the gap because the northbridge is a little recessed in the center). Personally, I opted to upgrade the northbridge cooling to one of these. I have a low-profile heatsink that will go nicely on the southbridge too (there are pinholes around the SB for attaching heatsinks with spring pins too).

Woooosh! (whole paragraph flies over my head )

 

[KnickNut3]

Okay, so I'm now torn between getting the EPOX 8RDA+ and the ABIT NF7-S. Since I need to get one with onboard video for the one I'm building for my father, I'd like to get an NF7-M as well, which makes me lean towards the NF7-S, since the 8RGA+ isn't out yet. Can I have any more suggestions for either? How is one better than the other? Which is easier to set up, especially with the processor/heatsink/fan, the area at which I am least experienced (I got a kit last time). Any suggestions for a CPU fan to go with the Thermalright SLK-800? Is the SK-7 heatsink good for the computer with the onboard video that I won't OC? Thanks again.

 

[lbmcleod]

Hmm, thought the 8RGA+ was out? ah well.

Just to complicate things even further, i say go for a MSI ferrari red board, If you need 6-ch sound, sata, etc then you'd have to go for the IGP (integrated graphics version) K7N2G-LISR, even if you dont want to use the graphics onboard, but if you want a good board without the extra features and no onboard nforce graphics, the K7N2 will do for a stable board.



Good luck