Thinkin' about a motherboard

[BetaMan]

I'm thinking about getting a new motherboard because my current one is generic (PCCHIPS). What should I get?

 

[Ian]

Do you want to keep the rest of the hardware the same ? If so, we'll need to know your current config (CPU type, Ram etc...)

 

[xyvian]

I would recommend purchasing either an ASUS or Gigabyte board. Check out www.newegg.com for some great deals. Make sure that whatever board you get, it is compliant with your current configuration (IE CPU Socket, memory speed/type/quantity of slots, expansion slots for video cards/network adapters/modems/etc, as well as the size ie ATX/microATX)

If you don't know any of this, I would take my computer in to a local shop and have them do it, however there will be a steeper price than on newegg.

 

[BetaMan]

Yeah I'm not a technical dummy (don't take that into offense, just saying I dont need to go to a shop =]). My friend also recommended a Gigabyte board on newegg. Here's my current setup:

AMD Athlon 64 X2 5200+ Dual-Core 2.7GHz
500GB SATA Hard Drive
2GB DDR2 667MHz RAM
NVIDIA GeForce 9400 GT 512MB
500 or 550W Power Supply, can't remember and too lazy to look.

That's all I can think of that would be relevant to the motherboard.

PS. I don't have a SATA power supply

 

[xyvian]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128373
gigabyte
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131325
asus

both are good boards, solid state capacitors, gigabyte one supports crossfire if you ever go that route. asus one is a bit more pricey but i like it's layout a bit more, except for the 24 pin power right next to the rear IO, kind of poor placement in my opinion. It supports SLI if you happen upon another 9400 GT, although really it would be better to replace that if you wanted more video performance

and SATA power is only useful if you have a SATA drive that doesn't have the molex hidden under a plastic piece. some do. if you needed a sata port you could always get a molex to sata converter/splitter. quite useful.

These boards are also full atx, you can also look into getting a micro ATX (smaller) and some computers require these, as their cases are too small. you didn't specify so i'll link 2 more boards
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131330
asus
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128360
gigabyte.

I have personally used both of the Micro boards and can say from first hand that they are rock solid.

Hope this helped!

 

[BetaMan]

Wow, these are GREAT boards! I love how recent the integrated video is If I were to get one, I would get the first Gigabyte one you linked to.

 

[xyvian]

Glad to help. If you need any more info or have any other questions relating hardware you can PM me