Motherboard recommendation please

JohnJSal

JohnJSal

Active Member
I've been browsing Asus mobos on newegg but I get a little discouraged because, for one, I'm not exactly sure how to pick them out, other than looking for the specs I need, and two, after finding one that seems good on paper, I read the reviews and they often aren't great. Perhaps I'm being too narrow with just looking at Asus.

Anyway, here's what I'll need from it:

- integrated video
- integrated audio
- a graphics card slot (for future expansion)
- Core 2 Duo support (LGA 775)
- i'll need a modem for this computer, so i'm guessing mobos need a connector for this?

I think that's all the necessities. I can't imagine needing more than 2 HDs, and I think all mobos have around 6 SATA connectors anyway. 1 or 2GB of RAM is enough, so again, no special needs there. Price range is probably $100-200.

This will be a basic, mainstream system that I might build for my parents when I go home for Christmas, if I'm able to get all the parts in time.

Thanks!

Oh yeah, I'll probably choose the Antec P182 case, so it would need to be ATX or microATX.
 
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I like Abit Boards. Gigabyte ones is nice, too. I'd personally stay away from Intel or ECS, but that's just me.
 
Specifically:

Abit: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/category/category_slc.asp?MfrId=365&Nav=|c:1533|&Sort=0&Recs=10

Abit: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813127015 (my current Board - nothing great, but supports C2D and I like it)

Gigabyte: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128062

Gigabyte: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128059

Do you have a CPU picked out yet? Both Newegg and TigerDirect have bundle deals for several CPU/MoBo combos that are cheaper than buying both separately.
 
Thanks a lot. I do have a CPU chosen, but I haven't bought anything yet. I just know it will be a Core 2 Duo, and right now the E6550 is the best for the price on newegg.
 
JohnJSal said:
Thanks a lot. I do have a CPU chosen, but I haven't bought anything yet. I just know it will be a Core 2 Duo, and right now the E6550 is the best for the price on newegg.
Click to expand...

What was ment was what type of CPU have you chosen so useful recommendations can be made. An answer like "Intel " or "Athlon" was needed.
This is information is critical of motherboard selection and suggestion, so please add this to your thread, thank you

Secondly, I heard Asus has recently taken advantage of its widespread name and began to sell cheaper, lesser reliable products. You may want to broaden your search options.
 
JLV2k5 said:
What was ment was what type of CPU have you chosen so useful recommendations can be made. An answer like "Intel " or "Athlon" was needed.
This is information is critical of motherboard selection and suggestion, so please add this to your thread, thank you

Secondly, I heard Asus has recently taken advantage of its widespread name and began to sell cheaper, lesser reliable products. You may want to broaden your search options.
Click to expand...

You have got issues if you read his first post it says that he needed Core2Duo support so he does not need the correction. The question was if he had already picked a specific cpu so he could recommend a motherboard/cpu combo. So please read posts carefully, thank you.
 
JLV2k5 said:
What was ment was what type of CPU have you chosen so useful recommendations can be made. An answer like "Intel " or "Athlon" was needed.
This is information is critical of motherboard selection and suggestion, so please add this to your thread, thank you
Click to expand...

I assumed the question was asking for a specific model of CPU, since I had clearly stated the type/socket I needed in my original post.
 
Yeah, uh...Core2Duo. Should be enough there. Anyone tries to sell you an AMD Core2Duo, or an AMD E6550...be suspicious. Not gonna knock the other guy around any more than that, but you're all good Sal.

Just a question that I can see would probably help everybody out...what is it going to be used for? General web-surfing, movies, light gaming, video editing? That'll help us determine just how beefy a graphics chipset you need, and just how good the onboard audio needs to be.

Looks like it's gonna be a nice rig, though. I'm currently reconstituting a PC...I used a few of its parts to build myself a new rig, and now have upgraded enough of them to build a good internet box for my folks. Also doing a computer for my girlfriend, one for my dad's office...

...why did I ever let on that I knew how to do this stuff?
 
dave_w said:
Just a question that I can see would probably help everybody out...what is it going to be used for? General web-surfing, movies, light gaming, video editing? That'll help us determine just how beefy a graphics chipset you need, and just how good the onboard audio needs to be.
Click to expand...

Good question. A typical day in the life of my parents' computer is that it sits there unused, but when they do use it (really just my mom) it's for checking email and searching the internet. That's really pretty much all, but I also didn't want to make some crappy system, which is why I chose a nice processor, HD, and other stuff.

I feel like a dedicated graphics card would be overkill, but I at least chose a mobo with a slot for it, if necessary. Of course, choosing a mobo that has onboard graphics is difficult, since so many of them don't. My choices are limited.

If I could find a nice, fairly cheap mobo with or without graphics, and then a decent but cheap graphics card as well, I would definitely do that. If nothing else it would give me the experience of installing a graphics card.

The thing is, the mobos with integrated graphics are actually cheaper than those without it, so choosing one without it, and then getting a graphics card on top of that, might be really expensive. But I'm open to any suggestions, especially on cheap cards. Even 128MB of memory would be enough for them, I'm sure.
 
JLV2k5 said:
Secondly, I heard Asus has recently taken advantage of its widespread name and began to sell cheaper, lesser reliable products. You may want to broaden your search options.
Click to expand...

Hmmm, given some of the reviews I've read on newegg, this wouldn't surprise me.
 
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