Remember Socket 754?

[Fern]

Thanks for looking,

I wanna put together an inexpensive sckt 754 combo (wanna use an AGP card etc).

I have used Chaintech b4, but can't find any now.

I'm mostly looking for stability, need an AGP slot (no AGR, SLI, or onboard gfx wanted etc.)

What do you guys think is the most stable chipset? NF3-250, Via or SIS? Recommend me a mobo pls.

HERE'S a link to what the "Egg" has.

TIA,

Fern

 

[tcsenter]

Top of the list: ECS 755-A2 with SIS755 fits the bill.

PC Chips M870 listed further down is the exact same board (v2.0) and $15.00 cheaper after rebate.

 

[krose]

Hmm some of those on your search are PCI-E, not AGP. Here's what I found. Out of these, anything but NF3-250 and SiS 755 are going to have integrated graphics and be micro-ATX. I also see an Asus board with the ULI chip listed but I would avoid it. The Biostar NF325-A7 has a lot of decent reviews if you can trust them.

 

[tcsenter]

Don't overlook the ASRock K8Upgrade-NF3 based on nForce3 250 for $40.00 shipped. It features the special CPU upgrade slot for S939 CPU or AM2 CPU daughter board.

According to a couple reviews, performance with the ASRock S939 or AM2 daughter boards is only slightly less than similarly configured S939 or AM2 boards.

 

[pkme2]

I still have an ASUS K8V in my FC5 rig. It will be short lived because I'm upping my Linux machine to a 939 mobo w/ my old 3500+.

It will still find life as a Linux rig in another case. It served me right, but you know how that goes, progress has a way of catching up.

IMO, We will watch the 754 fade away now, like the 939 in a year or so. Since C2D arrived with its low prices chip prices, AMDs 754s are a dying breed. The 939 replaced it and newer innovations are coming fast and furious.

Even my 939s will be old too, but just like me, it still gets the job done; steady and true.

 

[Fern]

Thanks guys

The mobo/ CPU is for my father. He only does email and surfs, so no real need for a fast CPU.

The grandkids, when visitng, sometimes wanna play PC games. I have a 9800pro I can give him, thus the need for an AGP slot.

But, mostly he requires stability. Just something trouble-free so he doesn't get aggrivated I believe he is of the opinion that his nF2/Barton rig is unstable, so I'm gonna switch it out for him on his B-day. Think I'll get him a good PS (FSP) and a backups unit (the battery thingy) as well.

Thanks,
Fern

 

[Agent11]

I have a gigabyte K8ns rig, very nice. I would DL the newest bios though.

 

[foxbat1979]

Early this year I built someone a really low-budget system based on the ECS K8M800-M2 with VIA K8M800 chipset. Used the onboard graphics which was fit for purpose (e-mail & internet) although its easy to disable by just putting an AGP-card in.

The board worked right out of the box, no issues at all. Board can be had for just under $40.

 

[kmmatney]

I would go for the DFI with Nvidia NForce3 chipset:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813136167

 

[tcsenter]

Originally posted by: kmmatney
I would go for the DFI with Nvidia NForce3 chipset:

This DFI board hasn't had a BIOS update since the initial production release in 2005. Active support phase for DFI's value "AL" series boards typically gets discontinued within one year of initial release.

 

[nacheeze]

I have a Socket 754 AMD 3000+. I used the DFI Lanparty 250GB (NF3) motherboard and it was awesome. "WAS"... now 13 months later its dead. Well... it did not die completely but first the LAN stopped working then the PCI slots acting up. But... it was a sweet motherboard while it lasted. Now i just upgraded to EP-8NPA and i can't figure out a lot of things. It give me trouble booting... and my computer runs a lot slower now. If i could i would return it and get the DFI again.

my two cents.

 

[kmmatney]

Originally posted by: tcsenter

Originally posted by: kmmatney
I would go for the DFI with Nvidia NForce3 chipset:

This DFI board hasn't had a BIOS update since the initial production release in 2005. Active support phase for DFI's value "AL" series boards typically gets discontinued within one year of initial release.

Well, you probably don't need any BIOS updates for Socket 754. I never needed updates for my Abit Socket NV8 754 board (still running fine). I'd still take it over any PC Chips motherboard. I don't have any recent experience with SIS chipsets, but NVidia chipsets have always worked well for me.

 

[hurtstotalktoyou]

Originally posted by: tcsenter
Don't overlook the ASRock K8Upgrade-NF3 based on nForce3 250 for $40.00 shipped.

I concur with this recommendation. The nForce3 250 chipset is probably the best you can get for a socket-754 & AGP setup. ASRock seems to have a solid reputation--I recently bought one for an associate, and it works perfectly. Plus the K8Upgrade-NF3 can overclock up to FSB300, which is pretty nice considering the headroom on Sempron CPUs. You can get a Sempron 64 2800+ also for $40 shipped and should be able to run it at 2.2 GHz or darn close to it with stock voltage and cooling. Just Prime95 it for 24 hours and you'll have a 100% stable PC running at Athlon 64 3000+ speeds while spending only $80 total on the CPU & motherboard. If you're lucky you may even push it to 2.4 GHz like I did mine, a virtual Athlon 64 3300+.

 

[tcsenter]

Originally posted by: kmmatney
Well, you probably don't need any BIOS updates for Socket 754. I never needed updates for my Abit Socket NV8 754 board (still running fine). I'd still take it over any PC Chips motherboard.

ABIT NV8 had four BIOS updates. I can think of no sound reason Socket 754 designs would be any less prone to BIOS flaws than any other motherboard.

As for PC Chips (ECS) motherboard, which would you prefer among the following mainboards:

ABIT KV-85 or ECS K8M800-M2

ABIT NF-95 or ECS C51G-M2

ABIT SG-80 or ECS 661FX-M7

ABIT NF-M2S or ECS GeForce6100SM-M


Correct answer below!

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They're all rebranded PC Chips boards. DOH!

 

[ronsss]

 

[ronsss]

this is a decent socket 754 board-
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813127220

and i am using a epox 8npa-sli
no problems with it,,
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813123257

 

[BlingBlingArsch]

dfi 250gb, buy it cheap via ebay.

 

[Pretty Cool]

I need a 754 board also, but since the credit only works with a certain a vendor, my choices are limited to these. Anyway, is there any OPINIONS of these boards? Never even heard of PCPartner and Biostar has a poor reputation, so my guess is that Abit would be the best choice. Is that correct? Thanks.

1. ABIT NF8-V2

2.PCPartner RX480AK7-A69X

3.PCPartner RX480AK7-Z03X

4.Biostar NF325-A7

 

[Texun]

I've built several budget rigs using the mATX MSI K8MM-V with Sempron 3100's and 3400's and couldn't ask for better stability at any price. Not one of them has given me a moment's trouble. It's around $40 if you can find it. N-Egg is OOS at the moment.

 

[coolpurplefan]

I was wondering what anybody thinks of the Abit NV8. I actually have one and haven't installed it yet. Just want to know what people think. It will be paired with a 3700+ and 2x1GB OCZ Platinum RAM.