Home News Reviews Forums Shop


mATX Motherboard Recommendations

CPU's? Motherboards? Video cards? Talk about it here.

mATX Motherboard Recommendations

Postby Ian on Wed Aug 13, 2003 3:02 pm

I have enough parts to put together an extra PC. I figured I'd put together a small HTPC. Anyway, I'm looking for an mATX motherboard. It doesn't need to be bleeding edge technology. It just needs to support an Athlon 2000+ and have onboard video, audio and tv out, if possible. Cheaper the better too. :D
"Blu-ray is just a bag of hurt." - Steve Jobs
User avatar
Ian
Grand Poobah
 
Posts: 15127
Joined: Sun Apr 08, 2001 2:34 pm
Location: Madison, WI

Postby TheWizard on Thu Aug 14, 2003 2:04 am

Ooh, I was good up until the TV Out part; I don't know many mATX boards with on-board TV Out. If you want cheap but good, I suggest taking a look at ECS/PC Chips. Oh, and do it eBay, you'll save more that way. :)
No, I like women.
TheWizard
CD-RW Player
 
Posts: 2074
Joined: Fri Jun 28, 2002 6:56 pm

Postby CDRecorder on Thu Aug 14, 2003 2:08 am

I have heard some bad things about the reliability and compatibility of ECS and PCChips motherboards, though... :cry:
CDRecorder
CD-RW Recorder
 
Posts: 2335
Joined: Tue Apr 01, 2003 9:28 pm

Postby TheWizard on Thu Aug 14, 2003 2:13 am

This reminds me of the "Hard Drive Leader" discussion we are having in this thread - http://www.cdrlabs.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=12116

Some people say Western Digital is great, other people say WD sucks. It really boils down to individual experiences. Sure, I've received one dead PC Chips motherboard out of 5 or 6 ECS/PC Chips boards, but hey, that happens. For the price, they can't be beat...unless you can score a better deal on a better board. My luck with ECS/PC Chips has been good, of course that doesn't mean everyone will have good luck with them.
No, I like women.
TheWizard
CD-RW Player
 
Posts: 2074
Joined: Fri Jun 28, 2002 6:56 pm

Postby Ian on Thu Aug 14, 2003 8:21 am

Yeah, TV out might be a pipe dream... unless I go with a board using ATI's chipset. I've heard bad things about that chipset too.

I've owned a few ECS motherboards. They're not bad if you're not looking for a ton of features or overclocking options.
"Blu-ray is just a bag of hurt." - Steve Jobs
User avatar
Ian
Grand Poobah
 
Posts: 15127
Joined: Sun Apr 08, 2001 2:34 pm
Location: Madison, WI

Postby David on Thu Aug 14, 2003 10:41 am

Chaintech has an matx mb with TV-out I wouldn't consider it cheap though :( at $89.00 Here. I have not personaly used a motherboard made by them but I also havn't heard any quality problm's from them.
David
CD-RW Player
 
Posts: 415
Joined: Fri Apr 04, 2003 11:08 pm
Location: Mali


Return to General Hardware Discussion

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 2 guests

All Content is Copyright (c) 2001-2024 CDRLabs Inc.