Gigabyte/MSI motherboard for Athlon XP 2400+

[Alanz]

Hi,

I have been using ASUS A7N266-VM motherboard till now. But it started
giving problems a few months back - and now it is dead. So I'm looking
for a new motherboard which is compatible with my existing hardware -
i.e., AMD Athlon XP 2400+ processor, 256+256 MB DDR RAM. I don't use an
external graphics card.

Any suggestions for the exact model which I should go for? I am looking
for a
Gigabyte(preferred) or MSI motherboard (Asus service is so poor here -
they gave me a replacement motherboard 3 times and on all the occasions
it didn't last for more than a month. And now the warranty has
expired.).

Also, should there be any preference among nVidia and VIA chipset when
choosing a board?

thanks.

 

[kony]

Hi,

I have been using ASUS A7N266-VM motherboard till now. But it started
giving problems a few months back - and now it is dead. So I'm looking
for a new motherboard which is compatible with my existing hardware -
i.e., AMD Athlon XP 2400+ processor, 256+256 MB DDR RAM. I don't use an
external graphics card.

Any suggestions for the exact model which I should go for? I am looking
for a
Gigabyte(preferred) or MSI motherboard (Asus service is so poor here -
they gave me a replacement motherboard 3 times and on all the occasions
it didn't last for more than a month. And now the warranty has
expired.).

Also, should there be any preference among nVidia and VIA chipset when
choosing a board?

thanks.

I would begin to suspect your power supply, as A7N266-VM are
pretty good boards for what they are (mATX, nForce1). I
have one here that's been modified, highly overclocked, used
as a video capture system for several years now and often
ran at full load 24/7, flawlessly.

Speaking of PSU, how many amps does your have on 5V and 12V
rails and what make/model? This might help determine the
most suitable replacement board as some boards of this era
use 5V (derived supply circuit) for CPU power, but others
12V. A7N266-VM used 5V.

It might also help to put this in context, what other major
power consuming parts are in the system, as it might also
tip the scale on what PSU is suitable. You write of no
external graphics but how about # of hard drives or ?

Gigabyte's nForce2 boards were a little more trouble than
Asus or MSI in that era, IMO. Of the two brands you want
I'd sooner get the MSI.

Get an nForce2 based board, less buggy and better chipset
/memory performance than from Via or Sis, particularly
better integrated video performance (though for best
results, use a pair of memory modules for dual channel
memory mode). I don't recall the model # for one of those
from MSI, but Asus also makes a newer nForce2 board called
A7N8X-VM that's worth considering.

A lower-end board that fared better than people expected was
Biostar M7NCG, preferribly the later version (3?) as it had
better bios adjustments... though you may not need to touch
the bios settings at all. In general any of the
aforementioned boards should be the later board revisions,
not just the Biostar, as this tends to give the most mature
product possible.

IIRC, the Asus and Biostar use 5V for CPU power but the MSI
probably (I'm not certain, but usually they did use...) 12V
for CPU. I'd be inclined to go with a 12V based board if
your PSU is spec'd for more than 12A on 12V rail, or 5V
based if PSU is spec'd for more than 180W combined 3V+5V
rating. If the PSU falls between these somewhere, more
deliberation and consideration of the other parts in the
system might be prudent.

 

[Alanz]

I would begin to suspect your power supply, as A7N266-VM are

pretty good boards for what they are (mATX, nForce1).

Yes, I also think that the power supply might be the root cause. Also i
don't know from where there was current on the outer case. And when I
opened the case, and tested the inside of the board, for e.g. the
metallic cover of the port where we plug in the mouse/keyboard, there
was current there also. Then i removed the screws of the motherboard
and placed it on a plastic sheet - just to remove any connection with
any external objects like the metallic case - but still there was
current on the mouse port.

Speaking of PSU, how many amps does your have on 5V and 12V
rails and what make/model? This might help determine the
most suitable replacement board as some boards of this era
use 5V (derived supply circuit) for CPU power, but others
12V. A7N266-VM used 5V.

I don't know this. I have to check this out.

It might also help to put this in context, what other major
power consuming parts are in the system, as it might also
tip the scale on what PSU is suitable. You write of no
external graphics but how about # of hard drives or ?

Just one samsung 80gb hard drive.

The problem now is that many of the good models compatible with the
processor have been discontinued or are not available in the market
because of the low demand.
Asus A7N8X-VM seems to be a good option, I'll see if that is available
here.

thanks for your inputs.

 

[VanShania]

the Asus A7N8X-E Deluxe has 2 sata 150 ports and dual channel memory. That
was top of the line for a long time with socket A. It might be more worth
while to switch to a socket 939 and reuse your memory and vidcard if your
going to buy a new motherboard.
ASRock 939Dual-VSTA ULi M1695 Socket 939 Mainboard, 4DDR3200, 1xPCI-Ex16 &
1xAGP8x, 1xPCI-Ex1, 3xPCI, 4xATA133, 2xSATA150 RAID, 1xSATA300, 8Ch Audio,
10/100 LAN, 6xUSB2.0 $94.84

has a pci express and a AGP slot, dual channel memory

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