Hello,

I want to replace my son's motherboard. I would like suggestions for an appropriate motherboard that is reliable and not overly expensive.

I do know that the present motherboard is a socket 775. He has a P4 3.00 processor and ddr ram. Also an AGP video card.

I really need some good advice as I really have no clue about motherboards.

Regards

Constantine

Kinda crazy but DDR1 and AGP is already considered old tech, so it's harder to find hardware for it.

Still, found a Gigabyte board that should be worth its salt, as long as you don't mind micro ATX. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16813128008

Thanks Arcman,

Appreciate the suggestion. I would like you however to expand on your first sentence. Treat me like an idiot. If you have the time, explain what you mean.

Thanks

Constantine

No problem.
If you didn't know, DDR was the standard for modern RAM for a good few years now. It duked it out with RD (RAMBUS) RAM to be the replacement of regular SD RAM, obviously DDR was the standard that prevailed. AGP likewise has been the default performance graphics slot for years now. Both have recently been replaced by newer tech: DDR was replaced with DDR2, and PCI Express 16x is the new hotness for graphics cards.

DDR1 and AGP graphics cards are still going to be produced for a good while to provide support for older machines, but the motherboards like that one are going to become very hard to find, simply because a new base system component won't normally employ older technology.

So, as I understand it, the ddr ram and the graphics card (which presently uses an AGP slot) wont be able to be used in the newer configuration motherboards? This means that we have to get a motherboard that still has slots for AGP and DDR ram? If this is correct, it would be really helpful to know what specifications I need to look for when selecting a motherboard. What is the jargon?

If you have any other suggestions I would be most happy to hear them too.

Thank you for taking the time to explain this to me.

Regards

Constantine

People come to me at the store that I work at and ask to see the cheapest computer that they can get (I don't work on commission).

Most times they walk out of the store with a computer that's significantly better than the cheapest one. Why? Because a cheap computer can get the job done - but a more expensive model can do more, and do it faster than the cheap one (and is usually more upgradeable).

So, what you'll have to decide is what you want the computer for, and how long you want to keep it.

Things like photo editing, watching videos, watching "live" stuff on the web, downloading movies and music will stress the older computer and won't go as smoothly as they will with a newer one. Also, if new technologies come out for this stuff, they may never be supported in the older hardware.

A good, and cheap, motherboard is the Asus P5L-MX. It runs about $85. It doesn't have an AGP slot, but rather a PCIe x16, uses Dual-Channel DDR2 667 RAM, LGA 775. http://www.asus.com/products4.aspx?l1=3&am...amp;modelmenu=1

Good advice usasma,

The computer is my son's. He is 15 years old. He is mostly a gamer. He also downloads a lot of video and music. But it is meant primarily for gaming. We recently upgraded his graphics card and would like to keep it, therefor the new motherboard must be able to accept an AGP card. He does not do any video editing at this point, but has recently started messing with creating his own web site, backgrounds etc. If this computer can do the job for anoth 12 months, Ill be happy. I think at that point we would be looking to upgrade to a dual core.


Thank you too Amazing Andrew. Does that card accept and AGP graphic card?

Thank you all for your input. I learn as I go.

Regards

Constantine

OK, that's a lot more to work with! Gaming will be the main factor here - with the video viewing coming in second place.

So, the board has to have AGP.

He can get by with 512 mB of RAM for some games, but a lot will work better with 1 gB - some games even take advantage of 2 gB now! So how much RAM is the next question (and what type? DDR2 is better for gaming - but it comes at a price). Most boards these days will accept at least 2 gB - so that shouldn't be an issue for now. But, as with the other technologies, DDR RAM will become more scarce as DDR2 gains in popularity.

In order to preserve your option to upgrade to a dual core - you'll have to not only get a socket 775 mobo - but also get one that states it will support the Core 2 Duo. Not all socket 775 boards will support it.

What about a hard drive? Use the old one, or get a new, faster one? What interface would you like to use - IDE or SATA? Depending on the games that he plays, and the music that he downloads, he may need more storage space in addition to a faster drive. Luckily there are cards on the market that allow you to convert to SATA later on (if you want to) - so you can safely use an older drive and then upgrade to the SATA later on if that's what you want.

After all this I went to http://www.pricegrabber.com and did a search for Socket 775 boards with AGP. There was only one available - and it didn't support the Core 2 Duo.

So, I went to http://www.pricewatch.com and found more - but I can't vouch for any of the sellers there. On the first page #'s 2, 5, 6, and 7 support the Core 2 Duo. Here's a link to the search there: http://www.pricewatch.com/motherboards/socket_775.htm FWIW - BioStar makes a good motherboard but it doesn't have a whole bunch of features. FWIW - I'd select a board with an Intel chipset, an nForce chipset, or a VIA chipset.