# motherboard suggestions

## dex

Hi all,

I'm looking to build a new system myself, but I've never done so.  This would be my first time, and of all the components, the motherboard seems to be the most complex and intimidating.  I'm not familiar with this stuff at all which is why I really need help on what to look for in motherboards, what brands are good, where to buy, and what a good price range would be.  Any help would be appreciated.

I'm pretty much certain the system will be based on an Intel Pentium 4, anywhere from 1.5 to 2 GHz.  Other than that requirement, I'm open to all suggestions.  Also, I wanted to know if it is really a good idea to get a motherboard w/ practically everything onboard like sound, ethernet, etc...  Are they really reliable?

Thanks in advance for your help..  :Question: 

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## mangeli

Stay away from ECS boards.... they're crap!

Asus makes a good board, and I haven't heard any complaints about gigabit boards either.....

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## svan9420

I have built several systems at home and I have used Abit and Asus boards and have had really awesome results with them.  Both Abit and Asus provide stable boards at a reasonable price.  Just do your research before you buy a board.  This is what I like to do.  

Go to http://www.tomshardware.com or some motherboard review site of your choosing, look at the benchmarks, make note of any stability problems, and find the best board that gives you the best performance at a decent cost.  ($100-$150 US is all that I would spend for a Motherboard)

Also, make sure you know what kind of ram the board takes.  Currently, there is a plethora of ram types, from SDRAM, DDRAM, and RDRAM.  

Another thing I stay away from is integrated sound cards, video cards, modems, and network cards.  They lower the overall cost of the board, but sometimes these things are not compatible with linux and you are screwed because you can not remove them.  

Do not be affraid to consider AMD in amongst your choices as well.  I am running several AMD processors on VIA chipsets with awesome results.  

Shop around for video cards.  ATI and Nvidia both make pretty good video card/chipsets that are compatible with linux.  

Good luck

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## vilanox

From personal experience, Abit and Asus boards are nice and stable. I'm partial to AMD processors because there just as good for almost half the price. My last build was an MSI board which impressed me greatly. Stay away from the cheap, low-end boards and you shouldn't have a problem.

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## dex

I thought about using AMD processors, but I've heard they overheat alot and sometimes run slow w/ multiple applications or I/O transactions..  I'm not sure how true these complaints are, but being that this is going to be a PC for the non-techies in my family and I'm going to be away in college, I don't want to risk it with any potential hassles.  However, if some of you feel that AMD is just as stable and reliable, I'll give it a serious look since it will be cheaper..

Going back to the motherboard, I'd like to know your opinions on the type of ram to opt for?  I heard I should avoid SDRAM because it is slow, and that RDRAM is being phased out in favor of DDRAM and that its too expensive.  So it seems DDRAM is the way to go...  Am I right on this?

Based upon that, I need to select the chipset..  it seems Intel and SiS are the two main options.  Are there others?  And what are the pros and cons of choosing one over the other?

Thanks for your help..

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