Budget Mobo.

Biostar Tforce 6100 is a good budget matx mobo $74.99 from Newegg. Geez, the price went up since last month. I bought one in Dec. 2006 for $69.00. I've used 2 of these with AMD 64 Venice Core 3200+ processors. It has built in video and sound as well. Biostar also has a Socket 754 of the same mobo.

Socket 939 mobo:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813138264

Socket 754 mobo:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813138268

Socket 754 AMD Sempron 64 Palermo cpu $35.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819104245
This Palermo cpu can be overclocked to 2.2ghz using a Nvidia chipset mobo. With the stock heatsink fan the cpu temp remained cool which me! I used it with a ECS mobo.

Socket 754 ECS mobo:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813135192

I've built over 60 computers from scratch for friends, family and myself. I have used cheap motherboards before and more than once I have had to soon replace them. After a few times of that (and many hours of trouble) I quit buying the cheap stuff and started using Gigabyte only. Best move I ever made. More reliable, longer lasting, and I now get to spend my weekends doing my stuff, not working on someone elses computer. lol

NVIDIA GeForce 6100/6150 a cheap all in one solution

Originally Posted by Abbadon

Maybe you should let us know what brand these cheap motherboards were. Cheap not always means bad.

Ok let me think.... 1 good indication of a cheap motherboard is one that offers everything you think you'll ever need for about 3/4 the price of a stripped plain good brand board.

Or a board that comes with a CD that contains the drivers for every board that company makes and it's up to you to ultimatelly figure out which drivers goes with the board you have and which do not apply. You give the system to an unspecting person that someday calls with a simple driver issue that turns into a nightmare for you to try and figure out just what the heck is going on with this crap.

A motherboard that claims to use one kind of processor that ships with a slot converter card and a completely different processor. Or a processor that when you remove the fan because it's overheating and locking up turns out to be overclocked and you have just received the royal shaft.....

Hay I've been there. I'm still kinda raw over all the crap these kook compaines have tried to pull on me. Then tell me it worked when shipped so you are just out of luck now, or the number you are trying to reach has been disconnected. Or your MasterCharge card has been overcharged an additional 360$ and now, because it's been so long since made, you can't get it stopped.

Yea, I've bought the cheap crap and I can tell ya it just doesn't pay in the end. Somehow, someday, you'll pay the full price.

You want cheap ..... got for it. Hope you have a good time. lol

I learned my lessons a long time ago. If you want to get by cheap don't try and go main-stream cheap, go obsolete good parts cheap. Or something like that... lol

Just an observation. There are a few 'bad' motherboards, but very few (If any I can think of) bad motherboard companies. I have used Chaintech, Gigabyte, Asus, ECS, BioStar, AsRock. FoxConn, DFI, PC Chips, MSI, Epox, Abit, and probably a few more I can't remember. Mostly with AMD CPUs, which I prefer.

Motherboard manufacturers don't stay in business long if all they produce is crap. They all make a occasional loser MB. It's up to us as consumers to do a little background research before we lay down our money to purchase them. I never buy a MB without doing some research. I still have bought a few bad ones, but have dealt with the same manufacturer at a later date with a different MB and have had no problems with them.

Just my opinion. Stick with the major MB manufacturers. Read and understand the specs and look for reviews whenever possible. I've had some excellent MBs that I paid less than $35US for. And I've had a few $150+ MBs that were never right.

It's mostly up to the purchaser. Be informed.

Nothing wrong in buying a budget mobo. All manufacturers of motherboards have quality control problems. ASUS for instance has had their share of quality control problems as well as GIGABYTE or any other manufacturer. Nothing wrong in buying a mobo that has ALL IN ONE as a feature. Mind you most of the mobos these days give you a choice of using onboard video or PCI-E. Buy from reputable online retailers then you'll have no problems.

MJA - I've built a few 6150 machines. It is an incredible deal for a motherboard that has HD capable video built right in. The only drawback is the video uses system RAM, so a 1024MB system only has 896MB of free mem available.

About 6 months ago I did exactly what you're planning. I read customer reviews of AMD Athlon 64 mobos and CPUs at NewEgg and chose MSI with 3400+ processor for about $90. Abit was a close second in reviews, but I've had good performance from both MSI and Abit mobos. I've had bad experience with Biostar mobo before, and I agree with redwudz about sticking with major manufacturers. I place much stock in customer reviews and only buy those with 4 or better out of 5 star ratings.

Poppa_Meth The choice of computer components looks good to me!

I had a problem last month with the newest ANTEC TRIO series 650 watt POWER SUPPLY. It began to smoke after I installed a sata to ide converter and luckily all the other computer components didn't fry. I returned the defective power supply back to Best Buy. Then picked up the ANTEC 500 watt Smart power supply from Office Depot. This model has modular cables so at least the cable management is not messy. So far everything is okay with the 500 watt PS.

I just bought a cheap noname COMPUSA ATX case for $39.99 to build a computer for a friends kid with left over components I had. Now I have lots of small circular bandaids on my fingers. So it does pay to buy a good case!!!!

If you have a Fry's nearby check them out for their cheap mobo/cpu combo sales, no return shipping charges when it doesn't work...they had an ECS 755-A2 and Sempron 64 2800+ for $69 one day (I'm using it).....


For instance, currently on sale, Intel Pentium D Processor 805 Dual Core & ECS P4M800Pro-M V2 Motherboard, onboard video, sata/raid and sound, $79.99 here:

http://www.netaffilia.com/ad/electronics/frys/i/2007/01/12/22422.html

http://www.frys-electronics-ads.com/

Think I'll go down and pick one up, I have an extra case that needs something in it...

use the on board video,and limit the memory in the BIOS to 64mb.I think its enough for net,word,and stuff like that

Hard drive fan. Hard drive fan. Hard drive fan. $5.00 . They fit perfectly with the coolermaster "siderails" way of drive mounting.


http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.asp?DEPA=0&type=&Description=drive+fans&Subm...&Go.x=0&Go.y=0

Your drive cables are pretty expensive. Are you sure you don't want the no label equivalents ?

http://www.newegg.com/ProductSort/Subcategory.asp?Subcategory=317&name=Cables-Round

BTW, what the IDE cable for - your DVD ?

Soopafresh said:

Your drive cables are pretty expensive. Are you sure you don't want the no label equivalents ?

Agree. If you don't have a cooling problem with your case/CPU, just use the cheaper cables or even the flat cables. I have a lot of the flat cables left over from other builds. I use them in the 'economy' computers I put together.

The round cables look better, but most of us don't go so much for esthetic's, just operational performance. Of course if you are using a case with clear side panels and interior lighting, that's different.

I would also agree on a front intake/hard drive fan. Get a quiet one and no one will notice. But it generally will increase your hard drive life span and give you better airflow through your case.

Otherwise, looks like a decent setup. Nvidia is definitely a good choice for AMD CPUs. VIA and others, not really recommended.

Poppa_Meth: The Cooler Master case you chose is has only a 80mm fan in the front for the hard drives. I picked up the COOLER MASTER RC-330-KKN1-GP Black SECC ATX Mid Tower Computer Case from my local COMPUSA last month. They do carry this model at Newegg.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811119115

The above model has the optional 120mm case fan for the front. As already mentioned the front fan is important to cool the hard drives. The only differences between the 2 cases is the size of the front case fan, one more 5.25 bay & the clear side panel. Other than that both of the cases are similar and both provide excellent airflow.

I use a Yate Loon 120mm fan for the front of my Cooler Master RC-330 KKN1-GP case. It provides good cooling and it's not noisy at all. Newegg doesn't carry this fan anymore but you can get it from Svc.com. Svc.com also carries rounded ide cables that is inexpensive.

http://www.svc.com/d12sl-12-or.html

Originally Posted by Poppa_Meth

Seagate Barracuda 7200.9 ST380811AS 80GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM - $50.00
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822148148

MAN, Get a 300 GB SEAGATE SATA2 HD instead of 80 GB one. U will thank me for whole of ur new pc's lifetime, for doin this.


ItS damn cheap, n i think - approx 100$ ONLY.

Check http://www.bensbargains.net/ for 1/15 to find Western Digital Caviar 250GB IDE Hard Drive $60 at CompUSA.com after rebate or for 1/13 to find WD Caviar SE16 500GB SATA Hard Drive $150 at NewEgg.com with no rebates and free shipping as well as many other great deals.

Originally Posted by Poppa_Meth

Room on the HDD isn't as big a factor as price. The 80 GB will likely never come close to being fully utilized.

I once said that...then one day..... :P

Originally Posted by Poppa_Meth

If it were for me, I'd agree. But this PC is for my mother. She has a 6GB HDD in her current machine and it isn't even close to full.

I can with you on that one. My folks pc only has a 40gb hard drive which is more than enough for them.

Compared to the IBM PC 4.77Mhz which cost $3K in 1982? Not bad at all....

just limit the video memory to 64mb.I think the default is 128mb