AM2 Mobo

[agi_shi]

Hello all!

I'm looking for the best AM2 mobo that won't burn a hole in my pocket (less than 110$).

I need it to:
Be ok with DDR2 800 1.8V ram.
Be ok with Athlon64 X2 3800+.
Be ok with 1 IDE (2 devices) (2 IDEs would be nice, but not needed).
Be ok with atleast 1 sata version 1.
Be ok with a PCI Express x16 gfx card (SLI not needed, I dont have any SLI cards anyways).

And, ofcourse, be reliable.

I've looked and looked, but many boards have many problems and I am confused at where to look (one has to update the bios but provides a bios with a typo? wtf?)

 

[tifc8lraz]

All Socket AM2 Mobo come with DDR2 800 ram (just to let you know). I would look on newegg.com if you live in the US for one.

 

[agi_shi]

All Socket AM2 Mobo come with DDR2 800 ram (just to let you know). I would look on newegg.com if you live in the US for one.

I already looked on newegg, but couldn't decide on one because all of them had somewhat bad reviews...

I found a VERY nice DFI board with exactly my requirements (DFI is a good brand, yes? I keep hearing about their "lanparties" and stuff), but it has only DDR2 533 or 667. So no, not all motherboards have DDR2 800. I have some *really* nice Corsair DDR2 800 ram I would like to use at full speed.

 

[tifc8lraz]

Weird, every mobo I looked at that was socket am2 had ddr2 800 ram. Sorry.

 

[agi_shi]

Weird, every mobo I looked at that was socket am2 had ddr2 800 ram. Sorry.

No problem, we all make mistakes.

 

[agi_shi]

Hmm... Well I found 2 Epox motherboards I like, within the price range. But I need to know, where does Epox stand in the quality list of motherboards?

 

[agi_shi]

Hmm... anyone? I am quite interested in EPoX's reputation, as I've seen 50% of online people like them and 50% dislike them... Well?

 

[nickslick74]

I haven't heard good things about epox.

EDIT: Here are couple of good ones.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813130050 76.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131022 92.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813128321 94.99

 

[korrupt]

I already looked on newegg, but couldn't decide on one because all of them had somewhat bad reviews...

I don't know why, but about 80% of motherboards of Newegg have less or equal than 4/5 stars. I made several polls which asks about reliable motherboard brands and DFI, Intel and Asus were the clear winners. If you go with any of those you should be dandy.

Regards,

Korrupt

 

[agi_shi]

Hmmm.... How's this motherboard (EPoX)? It just seems really good...

As for the ones you recommended, the best out of them is the Asus and yet many people had problems with it being DOA or not having working LAN or RAID...

 

[F1N3ST]

That looks like a good motherboard

 

[agi_shi]

That looks like a good motherboard

Cool... Maybe I'll try that one out, as the Asus one seems to have *many* problems.

Anyone else wanna comment on this mobo?

 

[nickslick74]

Not bad. The only downfall is that it uses the nForce 4 chipset and not the new 500 series. But the price probably more than makes up the difference.

 

[agi_shi]

Not bad. The only downfall is that it uses the nForce 4 chipset and not the new 500 series. But the price probably more than makes up the difference.

Cool...... So what is the "big difference" between nForce 4 and 500? Is there a significant performance increase or something? Just wondering.

I also like it's LED display. Instead of beeping it gives you letters/numbers that indicate codes... And while not giving codes it supposedly tells you the system temperature..... Very cool.

Any others wanna comment?

 

[agi_shi]

Also, what about this one: Abit?