Quick Recommendation For Stability...

You're not going to find anything with all four of those onboard, it'd be much easier to get separate cards for what isn't there.

<font color=blue>If you don't buy Windows, then the terrorists have already won!</font color=blue> - Microsoft

You can get an nForce 420D board with all the features except a modem and it uses PC2100 DDR SDRAM not PC133 SDRAM. All three of the manufacturers you listed make such a board.

<b>I have so many cookies I now have a FAT problem!</b>

It looks like you'll be getting the ECS K7S5A. It has onboard sound and lan, will accept 168 pin SDRAM or DDR, is rock solid and dirt cheap. The only thing it doesn't have is video or a modem but if your folks aren't into games then it's still on the cheap. The price difference between SDRAM and DDR is but a few dollars.

I can't think of a good signature so I'll use this one.

double post
<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by CMRvet on 04/17/02 10:10 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

I don't have any personal experience with the nForce so take this info for what it's worth.

The nForce 420 is probably what you want. 420 has integrated video. 415D does not. There are other variants but those lack other integrated features. For a "parents' system" the onboard video of the 420 should be fine. It's somewhere between Geforce2 MX-200 and MX-400 in performance. The sound is supposed to be quite good. All you need is 2 sticks of DDR memory (improves memory performance on nForce). Load the nForce drivers right after you load Windows. Install a modem (if needed) and you are good to go.

You might want to reconsider the processor choice. A Retail Boxed Athlon XP 1500+, 1600+, 1700+ are all about the same price of about $120 which makes the choice among these pretty simple. OK, so $120 is a lot more than a Duron costs but it's a lot better too. The retail boxed processors come with a quiet HSF and it's adequate for a non-overclocked system.

Can't tell you which board is best. The MSI K7N420 PRO seems a little cheaper than the Abit NV7M and the Asus A7N266. I don't know what is different about the A7N266-E. The A7N266-C is a 415D board.

PC2100 DDR memory is about the same price as PC133. However, you need to buy two sticks for nForce, or rather you should. It's not essential but you lose performance if you don't. Two 128MB DIMMs only cost about $5 more than one 256MB DIMM, (about $90 for two 128MB DIMMs at Crucial.com).

You own an Athlon for yourself so you already know about getting a decent power supply. You don't need to go crazy but make sure you don't skimp here either.

If speakers are important have a listen to the Logitech Z series of speakers, very musical. They're great, even the Z-340 two channel speakers. The Z-560's are just amazing for the money.

Good luck!

<b>I have so many cookies I now have a FAT problem!</b>

Buy a ECS K7S5A, with quality memory (Crucial PC2100 recommended, although it takes PC133 as well), a 350W+ powersupply that is recommended by AMD or of good quality, and then add a video card and modem that fits your budget and liking.

<font color=red>God</font color=red> <font color=blue>Bless</font color=blue> <font color=red>America!</font color=red>