Ready to build my forst 2.4c system...how's this board?

http://www.googlegear.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=241064

I've been using MSI for a little over a year now and have had very good stability with them. Best of all, the board's only $81.00 and has everything but video. I'm not looking for Serial ATA or Firewire or any of that junk right now. It's only a crunching box, so I'm more focused on board/processor/memory performance more than anything else. If anyone knows of a good, CHEAP, overclocking board with built in video, please let me know, otherwise I'll just pick up a cheap card somewhere. I could probably get a better OC with seperate video anyways.

I think you have already made your choice!

If you like MSI, go for it, but I would suggest this board: http://www.googlegear.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=241093 People haven't said much good about the SiS chipset in the board you linked, and everyone likes the 865 chipset in the board that I linked. Just some food for thought.

I am in the same situation, although I have built numerous amd systems. I like either Asus or MSI. Both have seemed very stable on the amd side. I want support for 800mhz, serial ata, good onboard sound. I have read some good things about the Asus P4P800, not sure on the MSI. This rig won't be overclocked. I'm building it as a highend workstation. It will be used to run a 3d autocad type application. My video card of choice is the ATI Radeon 9800 pro 256 (due to the possibility of games being played on it also). I would love to hear some suggestions

Asus , I think is the way to go , but get the Springdale not the Canterwood , I think you might be happier with it check this out
http://www.overclockers.com/tips00401/
and follow the links

for a workstation you can't go wrong with the MSI or the Asus. One thing to consider is that the ASUS does not use the CSA for Gigabit ethernet, so if on the off chance that you want to use the gigabit to transfer large files the MSI will give you better performance. Also, if your workstation is going to be a highend type deal you may want to consider a SCSI drive(s). If that is the case then Gigabyte's canterwood board with the -ultra designation has that integrated along with many other workstation features. If you are building a serious workstation then that board IMHO is the best option. Period. Or it is at least worth checking out.

good luck!

SpongeBoB87,

If your autocad can take advantage of the 256 megs of memory in the ATI 9800 card then I can see paying for it. But at this point there is nothing out or coming up that will use it. Since the cost difference is like $100 you are probably better just getting the 128 meg version and spending the cash elsewhere. By the time games are able to make use of the extra memory the card will be outdated anyway and it will be time for an upgrade.... isn't that always the way!

Here is a link to a review of the 256 meg card vs the 128:
http://www.sharkyextreme.com/hardware/videocards/article.php/2241971