Need stability, not performance

Im building a computer for a teacher of mine and wanted the general opinion of the ocforums on what motherboard, processor, and ram combonation would be the most stable and that I would most likely not have to support repeatedly or worry about for a while. Overclocking is out of the question of course.

Having built computers in the past, I realize that some ram/mobo combonations just dont like each other for whatever reason and the result is repeated BSODs and random restarts.

It does not have to be cheap and at the same time it does not have to be the greatest around. Im thinking something along the lines of 2800 barton on a gigabyte board (I have owned 3 and all have never given me problems). As for the ram, I have no idea.

Thanks for any input!

I would just go for a Sempron 3100+, with a Soltek K8AN2E-GR motherboard and some Kingston or Corsair value memory.

I too would recommend Soltek - their OC'ing options aren't always as glitzy as some other brands, but their quality is excellent in my experience and their price is usually fairly cheap.

If this machine will be used for websurfing and word processing, I would recommend an Athlon XP CPU in the 1.5-2Ghz. A bargain, but more than enough power to behave great in the company of enough ram and any old decent vid card.

It sort of depends on waht your teacher will use it for, but assuming she doesn't need anything fancy, why not go with a nice Asus mobo with a fast bus and DDR memory, and AMD 2500+ Processor, 8xAGP and generic 128MB Video card. Nothing cutting edge or superpowered, but economical, proven tech that is easilly supported.

That's my 2 pennies worth.

Get this. http://www.outpost.com/product/4296754 It is really cheap and runs fine. I can't tell the difference between this at stock speeds and my brother's 2.7Ghz athlon 64 while using the internet. As for reliability, most people over-emphasize it. You really have to do something wrong to make the comp break. This goes for every motherboard manufacturer. Some people like to label manufacturers as good or bad, stable or not, but you still have the same chance of recieving a defective product from anywhere. If everyone here used dell's or compaqs, nobody would be talking about stability. They use the crappiest components they can find, but they still just don't break or restart themselves.

I'd just go with a barton 2500(Since this is a teacher, save her some money), and maybe the soltek board mentioned, or any gigabyte mobo you think looks good yourself since you are familiar with that brand. As for ram, i'd go for crucial 2700/3200 or kingston value 2700/3200.(Sometimes the 3200 is cheaper, so just run it at 2700 if it is, that is why I say either one)

I think we need more details about hte usage of this machine... I think a 2500+ would be overdone in many cases. I mean, you can get a 1600+ for $25 used... You can buy new for a decent price too. Perhaps a sempron. Or maybe a duron. Basically we are looking at socket A I think, but that allows for a lot of flexibility.

Quailane said:

Get this. http://www.outpost.com/product/4296754 It is really cheap and runs fine. I can't tell the difference between this at stock speeds and my brother's 2.7Ghz athlon 64 while using the internet. As for reliability, most people over-emphasize it. You really have to do something wrong to make the comp break. This goes for every motherboard manufacturer. Some people like to label manufacturers as good or bad, stable or not, but you still have the same chance of recieving a defective product from anywhere. If everyone here used dell's or compaqs, nobody would be talking about stability. They use the crappiest components they can find, but they still just don't break or restart themselves.

Click to expand...

This is altogether wrong.

I do not have the means to post a summarization of defects and recalls with various manufacturers, but all are not created equal. For example, there was a time when it was okay to buy from Gateway, and there was a time when it was a really bad idea to buy from Gateway - their leadership altered mindsets and started sourcing parts differently, and their reliability was tangibly affected. Certain hardware parts often have a known tendency for certain parts to fail over time, perhaps before what should be expected - IBM T-30's have RAM sockets on the mobos they use that go bad, and IBM tech support will tell you its a known issue with some thinkpad models. Dell issued a recall not that long ago on certain laptop power adapters which were known to overheat and possibly start fires. Cheaper system boards can often use cheaper electronics, and you can readily see where this gets you if you buy a cheap powersupply, and I can't think of any reason to think why there would be a difference from this in the case of mobo's.

Parts fail, electronics are manufactured to differing tolerances, and reliability is ultimately affected as a whole. Every company or brand is not created equal. Every company even goes through stages when they seem to be doing a lot right, and then they seem to be doing a lot wrong... The life of the NF7S could be a decent testament to this.

Okay heres what I have...


AMD Sempron 2400+ 1.667GHz, Socket A Processor - Retail

Gigabyte "GA-7NF-RZ" NVIDIA nForce2 400 Chipset Motherboard For AMD Socket A CPU -RETAIL

Mushkin Basic Green 184 Pin 512MB DDR PC-2700 - Retail


Thats the core of it. Sound good? The rest of the components shouldnt really matter when it comes to stability.