OT: I'd like your opinion

[cthulhu]

I know this should be in GH but since the desire to cruch more wu's is fuelling this I posted here first.
I've thought about building another pc for awhile. The pc will be for backing up files and crunching seti. I'm thinking about replacing the case of my wife's pc. Therefore, I'd have a spare case, a Duron 750 , a cdrom, and an 80 gig hdd. All I need is a mb, ram, and a kvm switch. I was looking the following motherboards: Asus A7N266-VM and Epox 8KMM3I. I like that they have onboard sound, vid, and lan. I was leaning towards the epox becuase it supports higher fsb than the asus - for any future upgrades. My other question is which ram to get? I don't think pc2700 will be fully utilized by the duron but it gives me room to grow. What do you think?

 

[MoFunk]

IMHO you cant go wrong with Epox. I built a PC for my neighbor using the 8KMM3I and it is a darn fine little board! I would also say get the PC2700 since the higher FSB will like it!

 

[Soggysocks]

Either would be a good choice. As for myself....I'm running a board that is pc2100 rated....but I have pc 3200 running with no problem. Look at the overclockabillity......which one will give you more, should be the question! And what is you final goal, processor and memory upgrade or a system upgrade. Look to the future.

 

[RaySun2Be]

If you are going to invest in a MB, pick the one in your price range that gives you the most upgrade options later.

You know you will upgrade, it's only a matter of time.

 

[cthulhu]

Thanks for the replies. I think the epox is my best bet. I'll be placing an order today and hopefully by end of the week I'll have another cruncher up and running.

Yea Ray, I have these spare parts because of upgrading.

 

[gistech1978]

i have an epox 8RDA and i love it.
great board, imho.

 

[skrjones]

I have been checking around and the ASUS A7V8X-VM offers the same spec. Does the Epox have any overclocking options as that is a major downer on the ASUS. (USB2 also, 333Mhz FSB.

A cheap upgrade would be to use a Duron 1600 that may run at 166Mhz (2000 Mhz) so with that in mind get AT LEAST 2700DDR ram.

I have the 266-VM and while it is a great board it needs modding before the BIOS can be used to overclock (upto 181Mhz FSB) however it is not foolproof and can kill your board if not done properly. :Q

 

[Silverthorne]

If you're looking for a KVM switch I'd say go with a Iogear, I had one and liked it alot. Now I'm using a Belkin and seriously dislike this switch. With the Iogear you could switch between comps using the ctrl key, now with the Belkin I have to use the scroll lock and then hit a number key. It reall sucks and will probably get rid of this Belkin and go back to the Iogear.

 

[cthulhu]

I've heard alot of good things about Iogear kvm switches and was going to get one.
I have an epox 8k7a and an asus a7n8x deluxe. I like them both.
Thanks for the replies.

 

[Slapstick]

I'm going to get some flack for this but if your looking for a cheap board with decent graphics check out the Biostar M7NCG 400 , uses the nForce2 chipset. I just put together another cruncher for D2ol using this board and an XP 2400. I had no problems with it. It has some over clocking ability, dual channel support, and supports Bartons up to 3200+, (but you can't use the onboard graphic at 200 FSB). Overall for $67 it's not bad for mATX board.