recommendation on a micro-atx board for Athlon

knowan · Apr 7, 2003

I'm building one of those set-top PC's and am looking for recommendations for a motherboard. It must be AMD Athlon compatable and be of the micro-ATX form factor (ie: has only 3 or fewer PCI slots). It should also be very reliable/stable (so no pc chips boards).

Other preferences are passivly cooled northbridge, onboard LAN and sound, and preferably an nforce 2 chipset. I can't seem to find a micro-atx nforce 2 chiset board anywhere.

I'll be using an all-in-wonder vid card, so no onboard video is required. An AGP slot is however.

No overclocking is intended.

Is there such a thing as a micro-atx nforce2 mobo?

--------------
Knowan likes you. Knowan is your friend. Knowan thinks you're great.

Nights_L · Apr 8, 2003

Athlon or AthlonXP ?
they are different..it would be a good idea to specific

khha4113 · Apr 8, 2003

<A HREF="http://usa.asus.com/products/mb/socketa/a7n266-vm/overview.htm" target="_new">Asus A7N266-VM</A>.

Good or Bad have no meaning at all, depends on what your point of view is.

knowan · Apr 8, 2003

I was looking at that one but I don't need the onboard graphics. I need vivo and I don't know of any onboard graphics that offers that, so I'll be getting an all-in-wonder instead.

Plus it uses the nforce 1 chipset, not the nforce 2.

Still, this'll likely wind up being my choice. I was just hoping to find a mobo that I can upgrade to a Barton when the need arises.

Finding a decent quality micro-atx board is hard.

--------------
Knowan likes you. Knowan is your friend. Knowan thinks you're great.

vk2amv · Apr 8, 2003

Well the KT333 and KT 400 and 400A chipsets seem to be perfectly stable now. To be honest there seems to be more troubles caused by NForce2 motherboards at the momoent than VIA. At least that is what I am seeing on this forum and a few others. And the KT333 will give you up to the 166Mhz FSB bartons.
AREA_51

'It's only when you look at an ant through a magnifying glass on a sunny day that you realise how often they burst into flames'

rook · Apr 8, 2003

Biostar has one, the M7NCG. It does have the IGP, but you can just disable it. Newegg has it for $108.
http://www.biostar.com.tw/products/mainboard/socket_a/m7ncg/index.php3

"Quotes are for people that can't think for themselves"

knowan · Apr 10, 2003

That would work. I'm not so keen on Biostar, they don't have the best reputation, but that's the only micro-atx Nforce2 board that I've seen. Thanks.

--------------
Knowan likes you. Knowan is your friend. Knowan thinks you're great.

Spitfire_x86 · Apr 10, 2003

Here's the board for you, it's micro-ATX and nForce2 based.

<A HREF="http://www.msi.com.tw/program/products/mainboard/mbd/pro_mbd_detail.php?UID=437&MODEL=MS-6777" target="_new"> MSI K7N2GM</A>

It should be better than Biostar

Someday Microsoft will use safedisc copy protection on Windows, and we have to insert the Windows CD evertime we boot pc.

<A HREF="http://geocities.com/spitfire_x86" target="_new"> My Rig</A>

Crashman · Apr 11, 2003

d00d, that board rules, but, uh, where's the TV-Out?

Watts mean squat if you don't have quality!

Crashman · Apr 11, 2003

d00d, that board would rule, but, uh, where's the nForce APU?

Watts mean squat if you don't have quality!

Spitfire_x86 · Apr 11, 2003

No nForce APU, nForce APU is still unavailable in micro-ATX nForce2 mobos (In reliable brands)

Someday Microsoft will use safedisc copy protection on Windows, and we have to insert the Windows CD evertime we boot pc.

<A HREF="http://geocities.com/spitfire_x86" target="_new"> My Rig</A>

Crashman · Apr 11, 2003

Actually the nForce APU IS available in that Biostar board listed above. I've never had a BAD Biostar, so I can't complain about that brand.

The problem I see is that the MSI board has TV-Out but no APU, while the BIOSTAR has APU but no TV-Out. Both would be needed for an ideal HTPC.

Watts mean squat if you don't have quality!

knowan · Apr 12, 2003

Since I'm planning on using an All-In-Wonder, I guess I'll have to go with the Biostar. One of my main reasons for getting the nforce 2 is the APU. I don't care so much about the integrated GPU or the fact that it's a bit faster than the kt400/333.

From the picture of the Biostar board it appears that the northbridge doesn't have any sort of heatsink or fan. Can that be safe, especially in a seriously reduced set top box with poor air circulation? I'll likely slap on a passive heatsink just in case.

And hey, if I order it from newegg.com (which matches the lowest price on pricewatch) I get a free highlighter pen. Who Hoo, a Free Highlighter from Biostar!

--------------
Knowan likes you. Knowan is your friend. Knowan thinks you're great.

Crashman · Apr 12, 2003

I doubt the northbridge is sinkless. A lot of companies used to show pics without the heatsink so you could see the northbridge, but they put one on anyway. In fact, a lot of the old Slot 1 boards had their website pictures taken without slot brackets either. Biostar probably omitted the sink from the picture, but I doubt it will be missing when you get the board.

Watts mean squat if you don't have quality!

knowan · Apr 13, 2003

Well if it does have one I hope it's fanless. I'm trying to keep noise down to a minimum since this'll be in the living room.

In the picture it does look like there's screw holes for holding the heat sink in place, so maybe you're right.

--------------
Knowan likes you. Knowan is your friend. Knowan thinks you're great.

knowan · Apr 14, 2003

Ahah! I just found the <A HREF="http://english.aopen.com.tw/products/mb/MK79G-1394.htm" target="_new">aopen MK79G-1394</A>. It's got tv-out, firewire, USB, everything except serial-ata and RAID. It even has fan speed control in the BIOS. Unfortunately I can't find anyone anwhere who carries it.

--------------
Knowan likes you. Knowan is your friend. Knowan thinks you're great.

Spitfire_x86 · Apr 15, 2003

In this forum very few people have mATX boards

<A HREF="http://geocities.com/spitfire_x86" target="_new"> My Website</A>

<A HREF="http://geocities.com/spitfire_x86/myrig.html" target="_new"> My Rig</A>

knowan · Apr 15, 2003

I mean I can't find it for sale anywhere. Not on Pricewatch, not at newegg, not anywhere. I can't even find a review.

--------------
Knowan likes you. Knowan is your friend. Knowan thinks you're great.

Spitfire_x86 · Apr 16, 2003

<A HREF="http://www.tomshardware.com/mainboard/20030214/nforce2-03.html" target="_new"> Here's the THG review of Biostar nForce2</A>

<A HREF="http://geocities.com/spitfire_x86" target="_new"> My Website</A>

<A HREF="http://geocities.com/spitfire_x86/myrig.html" target="_new"> My Rig</A>

recommendation on a micro-atx board for Athlon

Distinguished

Distinguished

Distinguished

Distinguished

Distinguished

Distinguished

Distinguished

Splendid

Polypheme

Polypheme

Splendid

Polypheme

Distinguished

Polypheme

Distinguished

Distinguished

Splendid

Distinguished

Splendid

Share this page