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Whats the CHEAPEST duron mobo?

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DarkMinion

Registered
Joined
Dec 22, 2000
I recently found that my current mobo only supports p3's upto 600mhz, however I NEED to upgrade(currently have a p2 266). I don't have much money to spend so duron seems like the best route to take, I just don't know of any cheap duron mobos.
What I need : 1 agp, 3pci(if mobo has built in usb only 2 pci) I would prefer a baby-at board otherwise I gotta get a new case:(. It would be nice if it supported athlons so I can upgrade down the road, but most of all I just want a cheap but stable mobo.
At this point in time I cannot afford to overclock and risk being stuck with my slow 266 so I don't need any overclocking features.
 
Sorry bro, you're not going to find a socket A motherboard in baby AT format. I have built a couple of Duron systems with budget mobos- one with a PCChips board (supported 266 FSB chips, it's an SIS chipset I believe, had integrated video, sound, modem and ethernet), one with an Azza board (KT133. this board has been nothing but problems since the day I got it. it doesn't like the dude's CDROM), and two with DFI AK74 mobos (KT133, these have been the most decent of all of them. 4x AGP slot, a full complement of PCI's, and decent onboard sound). The other mobo's I have used to build Duron systems are the KT7A Raid (my system) and the FIC AZ11E. The KT7A-R is obviously the best of them all, and the AZ11E is passable and is the only other board besides the KT7A-R that will change multiplier. Otherwise, they all seem like good mobo's for running a socket A CPU at default speeds and settings, with the exception of the Azza board. Sorry about the new case thing - you're going to need a new one any way you look at it. Just get on pricewatch and find yourself a good ATX case, if you're not going to OC, one with a 250w PS should do you fine. Your other problems should not be an issue with any of these mobos - they all have onboard[ USB and a full complement of PCI Slots (at least 4 or 5 on all except the PCChips, it has 3.) Good luck, let us know what you decide.

SickBoy
 
Do you already have video and sound? km133 boards have sound and video built in and you can get 1 for under 100 bucks (100 bus i think). a fic az11 is under 80 bucks, not sure how good it is (100 bus speed). no matter what you do you will need to buy a new case. perhaps you can find someone to buy your old mobo case and cpu (and maybe memory depending on the type you have). If I was you I would splurge on the mobo and cheap out on the rest...i.e - kk266 mobo, 64mb pc133, duron 750, atx case. All this should cost around 225, if you can sell your current equipment for 75 to 100 then it will only cost you 125 - 150 :) This way you can always upgrade later to up to a 1.5 +/- ghz tbird and more ram.
 
those pcchips boards are pretty good if your on a budget... seen them running fifa2001 1024x768 (intergrated, shared tnt2) very nicely... :)
 
Guess i shoulda posted my system specs
Radeon 64mb(I was planning on getting a p3 750 to compliment it till I found out my mobo rev. dosn't support it :( )
160mb pc100 ram
sblive xgamer

The only thing I need is a new cpu the rest of my comp is fine just that pitiful cpu holding it back.
I went to compusa today and they have a rather decent atx case w/ 300w powersupply and front access usb ports for only 79.99 although are compusa powersupplies amd certified?
 
PriceWatch

REALLY checkout the site. For the price you pay at compusa you can probably find the same one for at least $20 cheaper.

What case was it?

I plan on buying an Aopen HX08...$89 and shipping starts at $10...cases i would think cost more to ship, but i dont know how much since ive never bought one without a bunch of other parts too so dont know exact shipping

Another good case is the InWinn S500 250W ps for $46 plus shipping or a 300W ps is $58 plus shipping( shipping starts at 14.95)

The CHEAPEST cases are generic...i personally wouldn't buy one, so i found this lowest price on a non-generic case from a manufacturer i had heard of....
Inwinn Powerman case w/250W ps for $30 plus shipping(doesnt say its amd certified though)

PriceWatch
Hope this helps...Pricewatch is wonderful tool....use it. I have been checking up on my parts list using it keping track of the prices on what i want. since January the parts i want ahve dropped a total of( crap lost the old list) so im guessing its dropped about $100 to $150.

As for cheapest DURON MB
PC Chips
M805LR, Via KT133
chipset, ATX form, 4x
AGP, AMR, 2 PCI,
built-in sound & LAN -
no cpu
$ 72 plus shipping

FIC
IN STOCK AZ11 VIA
KT133 Chipset w/Audio,
Retail Box, No CPU
Accepts AMD Thunderbird/Duron 3DNow, 5PCI,
4xAGP, audio, 200mhz
bus, 3D, VIA KT133, 1yr warranty

$75 shipping

There other boards for close the same prices.
PriceWatch
All prices were taken PriceWatch and may or may not be current.
 
After spending a great deal of time looking around I have kinda settled on this combo:
INWIN Medium Tower Case Model IW-S500 w/ 3002 psu $60.00
FIC AZ11E AMD Athlon and Duron ATX motherboard $89.00
total:$174.00 including s&h from newegg.com

Duron 800Mhz OEM $ 66.00
Super Cool SocketA/7/370 fan(gets me a 1 yr warranty on duron) $ 9.00
s&h fromTCWO $6.95
Grand total:$255.95
It's a little more than the $140 I wanted to spend on a p3 750 but it seems like the cheapest option.
Any comments about this setup or suggestions on where to get it cheaper would be appreciated :)

I was just looking around and for about $30 more i can get a tbird is this worth it?
 
Sound like a really decent system. Quite similar to what i plan to build.

As for the Duron vs T-bird....Tbird 800 will outperform the duron due the Tbirds having a larger on die cache. However from what i can tell from reasearching the duron/tbird for the past 2 months is the Duron is the more overclockable.

If you not planning to overclock the system, if you can spare the extra $30 for the tbird i would.

Last check i did on price watch the duron 800 was runing at $67 and the tbird was running a $108. Where did you find the tbird for just 30 more than the duron800?

This is all just my opinion from what i read on the duron/tbird subject...hopefully someone with actual working eperience with the 2 chips will voice their opinions as well.
 
Dude, if you can afford it go with the epox EP-8KTA2, its 97 with free shipping at newegg, and its a wicked board, benchmarks right with the abit and asus and its rock solid stable, i've got a 700 t-bird oc'ed to 1 gig with a global fop 38, with a homemade air tunnel, and it runs at 28c idle and 35c full load. Don't let anyone tell you any different, epox is top notch without the top notch price
 
I finally get an idea of what i need and then what happens? You come and post about so other mobo :) .
I was actually thinking about getting that board all the reviews I have read are very good. And since it has free shipping it will only cost $3 more than my original choice.
Now I'm leaning toward the Epox, at least until tomorrow when someone else recommends another mobo and confuses me even more :) .

Thanks for all your advice!
 
You shouldnt go for the cheapest. go for something fairly decent but is going out of production like the ABit KT7A. This is a great board.
 
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