A friend of mine was considering buying a new PC and she's on a tight budget since she's got a daughter in college. I'm considering doing a custom build for her and this particular MB caught my eye. MSI 865GVM2-LS.

It uses the 865 GV chipset which I'm assuming is OK since I haven't heard any negative reports about it. The thing that attracted me was that it's got a 800 MHz FSB/ 8 USB ports/ and 2 SATA controllers. But most importantly it's only $59 - and fits nicely into her budget.

The only thing is that it's not a AMD motherboard and I was really hoping to build an AMD system for her. If anyone knows of an comparable MB that uses an AMD instead - I'd really like to know. Thanks.

I just got my amd 64 tune in and in runs reat, plus I am set to got to xp64, longhorn or whatever they decide to call it.

Under Construction

>A friend of mine was considering buying a new PC and she's on
>a tight budget since she's got a daughter in college. I'm
>considering doing a custom build for her and this particular
>MB caught my eye.

MSI 865GVM2-LS

>It uses the 865 GV chipset which I'm assuming is OK since I
>haven't heard any negative reports about it. The thing that
>attracted me was that it's got a 800 MHz FSB/ 8 USB ports/ and
>2 SATA controllers. But most importantly it's only $59 - and
>fits nicely into her budget.
>
>The only thing is that it's not a AMD motherboard and I was
>really hoping to build an AMD system for her. If anyone knows
>of an comparable MB that uses an AMD instead - I'd really like
>to know. Thanks.

Does it have to have On Board Video?

Here's a better choice with on board video.

MSI RS482M-IL

This is nice as well....but not sure about the S3 Onboard Video.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813127229#DetailSpecs

Here's a search I did for products at NewEgg.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.asp?Submit=ENE&N=2010200022+4026+1247315468&Subcategory=22&description=&srchInDesc=&minPrice=&maxPrice=

Abit, Asus, and MSI should all have decent boards for your budget.

here's another suggestion Chewy.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131571

a little bit more.

Hopefully Mark will see this; when it comes to motherboards, he is the one that all others cower before..

Thanks both to Chickenman & Horatio - I'm at the office right now, but I will take a closer look at those when I get home tonight.

I built my latest system using the Gigabyte GA-K8U-939, $58. at Newegg

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813128307

It was easy to set up and I have had no problems with it. Plus, I will be able to upgrade to a dual core CPU later on.

Eric

Since you mentioned AMD above, I thought you mind find a S939 board of interest. The board below is very similar to what I found in the new eMachines lineup. It's S939 capable and its onboard video meets the upcoming requirements for a Windows Vista ready computer. Price is right, too.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813130041

Thanks Eric & Allyn - those are two very good alternatives.

It's really quite amazing to me how "cheap" those MBs are. For her needs, I'm sure it will suffice just fine. Just looking at those prices I'm tempted to build one for myself only if I had enough money saved!

I remember last year, about this time (around tax time) there were a lot of vendors like New Egg offering some hot deals on various parts. I wonder if they will do it again. It's getting to the end of the 1st quarter and they'll probably want to close the books on a high note.

The one posted by Allyn says it's a Micro-ATX form factor while the one that Eric uses is a standard ATX. Will they both fit in a mid-tower case?

The cases I've got lately looked to have the tray holes pre-bored for the micro, too. If the standoffs are already installed, they might have to be moved, but it should fit OK.

Best value is with a socket 754 Athlon 64.

Take a look at this board....

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

All the reviews are very positive.

Combo with this CPU and save an extra $10....

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819104241

Don't forget the ram...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820145505

Mark099!

Any you say that why? Cause of the price savings on the CPU?

A Sempron 64 3000 @ ~$86.
-vs-
An Athlon 64 3000 @ ~$150.


Note that the Sempron 64 3000+ has 128KB L2 Cache, where the Sempron 64 2800+ has 256KB L2 Cache.
Is the higher clock rate of the 3000+ more important the the greater L2?

My point exactly... socket 754 vs. 939 pricing!

Mark099!

Looks like I need to do some reading. I'd lost all perspective on how many different AMD cores and cpu's there are. Looking at the listing in therubes post left my head spinning.

One question, does it boil down to the MB as to whether or not you can start with a single core and then upgrade to a dual core, later?

>Looks like I need to do some reading. I'd lost all
>perspective on how many different AMD cores and cpu's there
>are. Looking at the listing in therubes post left my head
>spinning.
>
>One question, does it boil down to the MB as to whether or
>not you can start with a single core and then upgrade to a
>dual core, later?

Yes, you have to have a MB with 939 LGA in order to use a dual-core processor. Which is why there is more of a future/ upgrade room with those models. Personally, I'm leaning in that direction but then again Mark does make a good point about upgrading (in a previous thread).

The one posted by Allyn right now is the most attractive - I don't know anything about Biostar motherboards - sounds like a low-tier brand name.

I couldn't resist an uncontrollable urge.

I've got a new case sitting here with just a PS in and it cries every time I walk past it. I ordered the Asus A8N-SLI Deluxe from NewEgg and asked them why there were two Athlon 64 3500+ CPUs listed at same price, both Retail, but different model #'s. Hope to hear back from them. soon. Looks like that MB will take dual core, too.

Here goes my little mad-money stash.

>A friend of mine was considering buying a new PC and she's on a tight budget<

You will not build anything as cheap as the low end specials offered by Dell and some others.... check on line and your local stores first before you start putting your valuable time and her $ into a low end custom build.

emes

>>A friend of mine was considering buying a new PC and she's
>on a tight budget<
>
>You will not build anything as cheap as the low end specials
>offered by Dell and some others.... check on line and your
>local stores first before you start putting your valuable time
>and her $ into a low end custom build.


And why are they called " Low end specials"? ....because they use cheap components. A well thought out Custom build may cost a few dollars more....but will usually be superior in every way to any House brands. Plus you don't have the "Proprietory" crappola that Dell and others like to use.

Dell quality ain't what it used to be.....and they're one of the better Mfg's. But I'd choose a Custom build every time over a MFG brand...even on a tight budget.

>And why are they called " Low end specials"? ....because they
>use cheap components. A well thought out Custom build may
>cost a few dollars more....but will usually be superior in
>every way to any House brands. Plus you don't have the
>"Proprietory" crappola that Dell and others like to use.
>
>Dell quality ain't what it used to be.....and they're one of
>the better Mfg's. But I'd choose a Custom build every time
>over a MFG brand...even on a tight budget.
>

I tend to agree with that. It used to be that Dell was the least proprietary and upgrading their desktop PC were relatively easy compared to other OEMs like Compaq. I had a chance to look at a mid-range model last year when my neighbor bought a Dell desktop and man alive everything was packed in there so tight I could't imagine upgrading anything except for the RAM.

He**, I'm building for myself. I'm guessing you weren'y replying to me.

The post was considerate of a 'tight budget'! and that was what I responded to, So....

Building for yourself is one thing....but building for a client, at the low end of budget specifications, is uneconomical. And why you would bother to build a low spec system for yourself, rather than just taking one off the wholesaler shelf complete with OS and warrantee, beats me.

By the time you have a OS on a new build and its tuned with all updates and patches, plus the time it takes you to specify and procure the components and software, if you compare apples with apples you will not beat the best price of a large supplier even when your components are supplied from a wholesaler and you charge little or nothing for your labor.
And your client /friend still has only a limited individual component warrantee - and guess who is going to be responsible for any problems with that system for the next 5 years or so!

Most days I see example of specials and inexpensive systems from retail and wholesale computer suppliers both branded and unbranded, that I could not equal in price by supplying from spec matched components, let alone actually charging for the build.
And its never economical for a client to purchase at the top end of specs ( which is the medium end in 6 months & the low end in 12!).
Leave that for those who just want to chuck their money away in order to be a few months ahead with little tried and over priced hardware.....
7 years or so ago it made a considerable operational difference as to how modern your system was, nowadays for the average user, it makes very little difference whether you have a 1.5 gb cpu and 256 mb ram or a ultra fast processor and a board stuffed with memory.
For the average home user the main considerations are Budget/economy - adequate specifications to do the job required and a meaningful warrantee.
Most systems that I recommend or on-sell to clients in the budget category (which constitute the majority), are sold with a 5 year extended warrantee from the supplier which costs the equivalent of about us $100. This means the client is fully protected for both component and system failure for that period and that includes restoring the OS etc...... and if the system goes to custard toward the end of the 5 year period when the whole thing is obsolete anyway! then they get a 'updated' new replacement for nothing, with no problems for me at all.
Meanwhile I get the tutorial and software work that I require.

emes

Agreed.

Don't discount Biostar. They make some pretty decent boards. Read the reviews on NewEgg. There are very few quality control issues.

While it's true that Asus is the industry leader, they don't do cheap/low end as well as others. I have been more disappointed with low end Asus boards than those from ECS or PCChips. That said, for mid to high end boards, Asus is almost always a safe bet.

Mark099!

>Don't discount Biostar. They make some pretty decent boards.
>Read the reviews on NewEgg. There are very few quality control
>issues.

Agreed. One of the best performing builds I delivered had a Biostar board.