Socket A: Mobo Replacement

[Cpt_Subtext]

Hi all basically my old system went belly up a while ago so ive been using my mums machine which sucks.... cause im going to build or buy a new rig towards January or Febuary I figured if I can fix my old rig it would make a great replacement to my mums slow and jittery PC...

Ive replaced my faulty old PSU, checked with a multimeter, and tested a spare starter switch, re seated CPU, ram, power cables etc etc and so am going to start with a mobo replacement but which one to get?

Socket A boards are pretty cheap all be it a little thin on the ground these days, baring in mind im based in the UK and cant use Newegg which Socket A board would you recommend? Please post a link if you can...

I basically want to squeeze as much out of my old Athlon XP 3000 as possible for however long it has left....

Also can you recommend a good Socket A heatsink to replace my current one?


Thanks for any advice/help in advance!

 

[vegasgmc]

The Biostar nForce 2 boards are great.

 

[DonNagual]

Does the board need to have integrated graphics, or do you have an AGP card?

If you have a card, I liked this board a lot http://uk.asus.com/products4.aspx?l1=3&l2=13&l3=57&model=218&modelmenu=1

If you need integrated graphics, then this one should do well:
http://uk.asus.com/products.aspx?l1=3&l2=13&l3=150&model=378&modelmenu=2
it also has an AGP slot should you need it.

For the socket A platform, I really liked Asus. Of course there are many other options out there. Good luck!

 

[Sharkfood]

Wow, about 2 months ago I was in a similar situation.. my roomie's sister's Socket-A motherboard went toasty and I was tasked with finding a good, decent Socket-A motherboard.

Lemme tell ya'- NOBODY has Socket-A mainboards anymore.. like 99% of them are discontinued or "good luck" finding one new. Seems like mostly used, lucky old stock or similar if you want one.

The only exception I could find is the Epox EP-8RDA3+ PRO, which is still being made and *most* retailers that have Epox stuff will have some (new). These are NForce2, Socket-A, actually have support for dual-channel ddr400!, and (gasp) 2 SATA to go with the 2xUDMA IDE prim/sec controllers to boot. Decent integrated audio and actually work okay. About $65-$70US, so you'll have to convert currency for you local price.

I've never been a big fan of Epox, but the one we got for my roomie's sister is stable, runs great and was pretty easy to install. You'll have to manually put your CPU stuff in the BIOS though, which kinda threw me for a sec (boots up like an XP 1200+ by default and has *no auto* CPU settings, just manual so you can setup any Socket-A cpu).

I wish I had some links for ya but alas, I have no UK links. I'd scrounge all your best OEM/PC dealers that stock Epox products and chances are pretty good they'll have one.

Good luck!

 

[Cpt_Subtext]

How about this mobo?

http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?asr-k7nf2r&P=1 It seem to be the best mobo I can find, but how does it compare to your recomendations? Im not really in the know when it comes to motherboards. Has good reviews anyway......

Its a pitty most places have discontinued Socket A stock, I know its a dead and aged technology but im sure there are many out there just like myself who would appreciate a retailer with pleanty of un used stock!

 

[Tedster]

MSI. No brainer. i've been using MSI for a long time. Never had issues.

You can still get 'em.