BioStar Boards

[netmessiah]

Does anyone have any oppinions on Biostar M7VIG? I'
m thinking about buying this board for a XP 2000+ chip for a gaming machine and I'm on a budget. I was going to go with that and maybe a geforce2 mx vid card. I like the idea of USB 2.0 and the price is about $60. Or I was going to go with a MSI KT3 Ultra2 For about $70. Also thought about a Asus A7S333 but I really wasnt too sure. Anyone wanna help me make up my mind?

 

[bonesdad1]

I have never used a Biostar board, but hear they are quite stable and reliable. That board looks pretty good, esp if you are on a budget...got slots for DDR or SDRAM. Even got onboard video...but not good vid for good gaming. What kind of a budget are you on? Do you currently have any components you plan to use (ie memory, etc)? You might consider the following:

EPoX 8RDA ($93 shipped at Newegg.com)

THis board has the NForce2 chipset (read the article on Tom's Hardware today about comparing Athlons run on different chipsets. It is better to buy a slower CPU and a faster chipset, if you can't afford faster both!) Though I doubt you would notice too much difference from the KT333 on the MSI...

If you drop the 2000+ and use the TBred 1700+ from Newegg (~$60 shipped!) It would cost you about the same. You would have a faster chipset, also more upgradeable. The EPoX board will allow you to overclock the 1700+ as well, assuming adequate cooling.

This also requires you to purchase DDR Ram, which you may or may not already have...but is cheaper right now than it's going to be for a while.

I would also consider getting a Radeon 9500 or GeForce 4 4200 as minimum video card if you really like gaming. The MX won't likely make you very happy. Depends on the kinds of games you play (Solitare vs Quake III).

In short, increase your budget if you can and get:

EPoX NForce2 mobo: ~$90
DDR RAM: 256K for ~$35 (to start, get more later)
Athlon 1700+ CPU: ~$63
GeForce 4200: ~$120 (can be had for less)

Total: ~$300 Sounds like a lot now, but you will be glad you did, even in the short run!


my sig left me for an Honorary Guru...

 

[netmessiah]

I'm on a budget of about $300-$400. I found a decent case from newegg for $25. I'm a newbie to pc building so I really dont wanna try overclocking. I have the keyboard/mouse/screen + cdrom though I am thinking about a dvdrom. I'm just wanting something to play most games on that wont cost a arm and a leg.

 

[VaTech]

I have the M7 Pro and it is a good board. The sound is much better than I had previously. It was easy to install and works well.