Which ASUS board is right?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Rich Heimlich
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Rich Heimlich

My father-in-law is asking about a motherboard recommendation and I'm
thinking an ASUS board is the most reliable way to go (Abit might be
fine but that's a bit too basic).

He's a VERY typical computer user. Not a big gamer. Mainly a browser,
e-mailer and Word user but he will play the occasional game of Flight
Simulator, combat flight sims and some others.

He wanted a nice, fairly current system (he's running a 300MHz P2 or
P3 now so this jump will be big for him) without breaking the bank so
I decided to give him my Pentium 4 2.8C (800MHz FSB) processor.

What motherboard should we match that with to make sure he's got a
solidly stable, decent feature board. He doesn't want or need onboard
graphics or sound. He'll likely be adding an ATI or NVidia near the
top but not at it and is fine with his SB Audigy.

Finally, what RAM should we go with along with the board? I'm thinking
Corsair PC3200. 1GB (should it be 1 stick or 2?) Should I think
something else?

Any help is appreciated. Thanks!
 
First of all, I would not buy a P4 at this time. P4 is at the end of it's
life. For the same amount you would pay for the P4, I would go with an
AMD64 and mobo. It will run better, faster and more stable than any of the
current P4, and will allow migration to 64 bit games, apps and OS when
available.

Bobby
 
Rich said:
My father-in-law is asking about a motherboard recommendation and I'm
thinking an ASUS board is the most reliable way to go (Abit might be
fine but that's a bit too basic).

He's a VERY typical computer user. Not a big gamer. Mainly a browser,
e-mailer and Word user but he will play the occasional game of Flight
Simulator, combat flight sims and some others.

He wanted a nice, fairly current system (he's running a 300MHz P2 or
P3 now so this jump will be big for him) without breaking the bank so
I decided to give him my Pentium 4 2.8C (800MHz FSB) processor.

What motherboard should we match that with to make sure he's got a
solidly stable, decent feature board. He doesn't want or need onboard
graphics or sound. He'll likely be adding an ATI or NVidia near the
top but not at it and is fine with his SB Audigy.

Finally, what RAM should we go with along with the board? I'm thinking
Corsair PC3200. 1GB (should it be 1 stick or 2?) Should I think
something else?

Any help is appreciated. Thanks!
Click to expand...

The Asus P4P800 non deluxe should do fine, there's even a less expensive
P4P800-SE (I believe). Around $97 US. That ram sounds fine, 2 sticks
run faster than (2x512MB). Try to get them identically paired
by batch number (called twin sticks).
Google search some reviews of the ASUS P4P800.
 
First of all, I would not buy a P4 at this time. P4 is at the end of it's
life. For the same amount you would pay for the P4, I would go with an
AMD64 and mobo. It will run better, faster and more stable than any of the
current P4, and will allow migration to 64 bit games, apps and OS when
available.
Click to expand...

Thanks Bobby, but we're a bit late on that since I'm giving him the
2.8C processor so he's already about $180 ahead there. And again, he's
such a basic gamer that 64-bit games and the like will be a non-issue
for him. Longhorn is a ways off yet so we'd upgrade him again when
that time comes.
 
The Asus P4P800 non deluxe should do fine, there's even a less expensive
P4P800-SE (I believe). Around $97 US. That ram sounds fine, 2 sticks
run faster than (2x512MB). Try to get them identically paired
by batch number (called twin sticks).
Google search some reviews of the ASUS P4P800.
Click to expand...

Thanks. I saw that board on Newegg (the first one) and either of these
looks decent. 2 sticks of RAM it is.
 
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