what is a reliable, standard p4 motherboard?

[k3nt]

I'm putting together a new rig for my uncle that will be pentium 4 based. I am not famililar with p4 motherboards, so I would like a few board suggestions. It doesnt have to be the cheapest board ever or anything, but I dont need the most features possible either. The main thing I'm looking for is stability, not features.

I just want to put the system together with no motherboard headaches at all. What are your suggestions?

 

[o1die]

I would use an 865pe board from abit (is7, ig7, etc), albatron, or msi. I've had good luck with all of them for mobo returns. Their online rma is easy to use. Msi doesn't even require a copy of the receipt. They just check the serial number.

 

[JackHawksmoor]

Intel's boards are rock solid. To date that's what I've been using. Asus (which apparently until recently made most of Intel's boards?) is probably the other best choice for stability. If you don't care about all out performance, you could save a bit and get an i865 board over an i875 board, which is a few percent faster, depending.

Here are 3 probably really good, safe choices. You can pick one with integrated video too for around the same price, if you want that (if it's just going to do generic office stuff, that'll probably work okay unless you need DVI or super-high resolutions).

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=13-121-207&depa=0
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=13-131-492&depa=0
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=13-121-208&depa=0

 

[Zap]

Originally posted by: JackHawksmoorhttp://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=13-121-207&depa=0

That one should be fast and stable, and medium priced.

 

[jdiddy]

Originally posted by: Zap

Originally posted by: JackHawksmoorhttp://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=13-121-207&depa=0

That one should be fast and stable, and medium priced.

I third this board its rock solid.

 

[SPQQKY]

Do you have any $ limitations? If there is a set price you don't want to go over, that might help pick out a board easier. I personally would go with an 865PE board for a cost effective, yet very fast board. Maybe the P4P800 or an IS7.

 

[CraigRT]

I'd definitely go with an 865 chipset.. maybe an Intel 865PERL board. or an Asus P4P or P4C800 board.

 

[trikster2]

Not too happy with my intel retail box D865GLCK intel MATX mb. Not compatible with stock retail INTEL HSF, reliability issues, flaky ethernet, Whacky support (take your bios batter out for 12 hours??)

INTEL? If you want a foxconn made no feature MB then just get a dell.

 

[JackHawksmoor]

How do you know what Intel boards are made by what company? I've always been curious about that.

That Asus board is one of the faster motherboards out there (faster than a lot of the i875 boards even though it's an 865). Supposedly Asus is the most reliable brand, but I don't have enough experience with different brands to know first hand. (The only Asus board I had sucked, but that was probably entirly the VIA chipset).

 

[alkemyst]

the P4S800D-E for $101 is a show stopper.

 

[Vette73]

Originally posted by: alkemyst
the P4S800D-E for $101 is a show stopper.

Agreed. Lots of features, stable, and AWESOME bang for your P4 buck...



Only $101

 

[alkemyst]

Originally posted by: Marlin1975

Originally posted by: alkemyst
the P4S800D-E for $101 is a show stopper.

Agreed. Lots of features, stable, and AWESOME bang for your P4 buck...



Only $101

I am having a hard time deciding on this board versus the 875/865 offerings. You have the P4C800/P4P800, then the Abit IC7/IS7's....budget is not the concern though on these even though they are double the cost....I am thinking the cheaper board is the better one overall....I just don't know.

I don't know where the important features lie...the P4S only has the two memory slots (4 dimms) but seems to toast the competition, plus stable.

I have a mostly scsi optical subsystem and two EIDE drives + a superdisc. I am not sure which way to go. The DVD burner is making it hard as there are no SCSI ones reasonably priced and the ATAPI to SCSI adapters seem hit or miss if they work.

I have a plextor and plexwriter covering CD/CDRW and a pioneer and planned pioneer to cover the DVD/DVD+-RW. Then I have a SCSI PCMCIA reader to read my compact flash cards and an HP4c for scanning.

I could bite the bullet sell off the optical setup, buy a decent ATAPI DVD and DVD burner, run the PCMCIA adapter and scanner off a cheap scsi card (only need about 5MB/s like a $10 card instead of my Ultra Wide SCSI, LSI LSIU40SE) or the adapter off USB 2.0/Firewire ports which I heard are a lot faster than USB 1.1 flash readers. Then I'd need SATA drives and to transfer everything.

I can then get a smaller case than my Additronics 7896A monster with 6 something 5.25 and 1 3.5 external bays and at least a half dozen internal if not closer to 12 once you use the add on drive hangers.

I just don't know how ATAPI works now...I know with my SCSI stuff I can burn and rip and do just about anything without any slowdowns. Originally (back in 1995 perhaps or whenever burners came out) it was coaster city and/or slow machine.