Motherboards
Our case dictates a uATX form factor motherboard. Fortunately for us, the choices are numerous for the socket AM2+ format we require. Since AMD has concentrated on (or been forced to) the low end sector the past couple of years, the chipset and motherboard suppliers have responded with some very good chipsets following the AMD 690G chipset launch last year. The two primary chipsets I focused on are the AMD 780G and NVIDIA GeForce 8200/8300. The supply situation is better with the AMD 780G at this point but the GF8200/8300 is a very completive offering.
Either chipset would work for our requirements. In fact, if these systems were not using discrete video cards, I would have chosen the 780G based upon the performance of its IGP. The GF8200 holds an advantage by offering 8-channel LPCM audio over HDMI compared to two-channel for the 780G, but with recent driver changes turning off 6-channel LPCM output, NV is effectively neutering their chipset for reasons we cannot explain. In the end, based on using a discreet graphics card, either chipset was fine for our configuration.
Now that I had settled the chipset question (sort of), it was time to find the right board for the right price. The de facto standard in this market sector right now is the Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H, and rightfully so. It would have been very easy to just select that motherboard and end my search quickly. However, in this market sector there are alternate choices and I like to spread my money around to other suppliers at times. I had a request from a couple of family members to build them basic "SOHO" machines so I had a little leeway in ordering several uATX boards and then choosing which one I would use.
The Gigabyte board was first on the list, but it ended up with Anand for his Home Theater construction masterpiece. Even so, some very competent choices stayed at home. The Jetway 780G PA78GT3-DG and GF8200 PN78SM3-HL, Biostar TA780G M2+, Sapphire PI-AMDRS780G, and ASRock 780G A780FullDisplayPort all were used in personal system buildups. I would like to mention that the J&W JW-RS780UVD-AM2+ and Zotac GF8300 were highly sought after based upon test results but those products were not available in the US at time of purchase. Currently, the Jetway and Biostar products are in and out of stock at various e-tailors, but the others listed were in stock at several locations today.
I planned on a smooth "exit stage left" routine without saying which motherboards are staying in my personal systems, but I am sure somebody would have noticed the lack of commitment on the subject. In the end, the Biostar 780G is in my system and the Jetway GF8200 board is in my daughter's system. How did I come to that decision? It came down to the location of the PCI Express x1 slot on each board. This small design difference changed the original plan of installing the GF8200 board in my system and I will go over that decision shortly.
The Jetway 780G and Sapphire 780G are in systems for my parents, who are both active computer nuts well into their seventies now. The ASRock 780G product ended up in another system for testing. I will explain that in another blog shortly. I will sum up the motherboard choices by simply stating that there are other choices in the market worth considering before making a purchasing decision. These brands listed today may not be from Tier-1 suppliers, nor offer the greatest amount of features or overclocking capabilities, but so far they have performed extremely well as the heart and soul in these jack-of-all trades systems.
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jay401 - Tuesday, May 27, 2008 - link
Gary - where can I read more about this card being cancelled? I wasn't aware it was cancelled and didn't see any news to that effect anywhere but sure enough it's no longer listed on Auzentech's products page. Thanks.Badkarma - Tuesday, May 27, 2008 - link
Hi Gary,Have you heard anything from Nvidia as to why 5.1 LPCM via HDMI has been removed? Also, have you seen the posts on AVS stating that a Phenom is required to get BD playback? Do you know if Nvidia will be updating their drivers to allow X2 cpu's to playback properly?
Thanks.
royalcrown - Tuesday, May 27, 2008 - link
Nice build, but I think you should have shopped more carefully for your video cards...http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N8...">http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a...turesmx-...
I got this ECS 8800 gts for 159.00 ( I asked for $10 off because it went up by ten.)
It would give you an average of 10 percent over the 8800gt for free and dump the heat outside the case, so maybe cooler even; most certainly it would kick the crap out of that radeon.
Don't be in a hurry next time when you buy video cards ;)
FYI- I am running mine on a 450 watt kingwin w no probs...
masouth - Tuesday, May 27, 2008 - link
Do people bother to actually READ these articles before posting?This looks like a great deal but it seems fairly clear to me that he wants a single slot cooler.
FITCamaro - Tuesday, May 27, 2008 - link
I just bought two of those cards for my system. Terrific value at that price. I replaced the cooler though with a Accelero S1 Rev. 2 w/ the turbo fan. Extremely quiet. Haven't seen temps yet though cause I only just got Vista loaded late last night. I was going for a near silent gaming system. Went with those coolers, a Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme, and 4 16db 54cfm 120mm fans(3 case, 1 cpu cooler). With the case open I barely hear everything.autoboy - Tuesday, May 27, 2008 - link
My favorite cheap cooler is the Arctic Cooling Alpine 7 (or 64 if you want a 3 pin fan). You can find it for around $10-$13, and it is much quieter than the stock fans you get with the processor. They are not the greatest coolers for high heat processors, but for anything less than 65W with some fan control they are inaudible even in completely silent computers. I use them in all my regular builds except for my gaming rigs that see overclocking. I cannot recommend them enough and everyone that uses them (in 65W and lower rigs) loves them. I put one on a 95W Athlon at one time, and while the fan had to ramp up to where you could hear it, it was still much quieter than stock coolers and cooled the processor enough to keep it under 60C which is my cutoff.bauser - Tuesday, May 27, 2008 - link
Interesting read, especially because I just built 3 mATX systems in a row. Total cost varied from $800 to $1000 CDN for each system. The tradeoff for the lower end system was the lack of a video card and sound card. Some savings were offset by the need for keyboard/mouse (at this price range 20 bucks makes a big difference).Your findings highlight that sacrifices must be made to save money. In this price range, every decision you make will have a cost/benefit consideration. Personally, I'd sacrifice the sound card and 5.1 speaker system and spend the extra dough on a better processor (E8400, Q6600) and motherboard. I'd also go for an 8800GT over the ATI. Good stuff, looking forward to part 2.
BPB - Tuesday, May 27, 2008 - link
"I had bought new monitors for each of us last year so that major expense was out of the way. We both upgraded from first generation Acer 22" LCD panels (Ed: wonder what the parents will get for Christmas this year…) to the Gateway 24" FHD2400 we recently reviewed. I ended up purchasing a couple of under 30 day open box returns for $279 each, a major expense yes, but about $200 less than street price along with a new warranty."How the heck did you get two open box Gateways? I'd love to do the same.
poohbear - Tuesday, May 27, 2008 - link
the AMD 4850E is relatively overclockable compared to a e7200? it wouldn't provide anywhere near the same overclock as an e7200. just fyi.Lightingguy - Tuesday, May 27, 2008 - link
Good article! But as a builder of mid-range systems for friends and family, I've got to point out that your budgets/actual expenses don't include entries for the OS. While I'm sure that you can get a good deal given your connections, that is a major budget item for those of us out here who don't want to use a Linux release.