MicroATX board for XP2500+ (Barton) recommendations...

[Briton]

Just as the title says, what's a good MicroATX board for a XP2500+?

[DeMenAce]

There are alot of boards out there. You can decide:

A7N8X-VM/400 >> 85.00



A7V8X-MX SE >> 56.00



Biostar M7NCG 400 >> 65.00



All available at NewEgg.

[Brian]

Originally Posted by DeMenAce

Biostar M7NCG 400 >> 65.00



All available at NewEgg.

That is one cute little mobo!

[Briton]

Do any of these have 3 unused USB headers? I'm going to be putting it into a Antec Aria case.

[pointreyes]

Originally Posted by Briton

Do any of these have 3 unused USB headers? I'm going to be putting it into a Antec Aria case.

Don't forget the sound header as well. And the Aria has that media reader plug too.

[Briton]

Originally Posted by pointreyes

Don't forget the sound header as well. And the Aria has that media reader plug too.

Those too, then. :P

[pointreyes]

Originally Posted by Briton

Those too, then. :P

Here's pic of the front of the case in case someone is curious to see what all is available on the front, even a firewire connection is there.

[DeMenAce]

There are some great reviews out there too if you Google Antec Aria

[pointreyes]

Originally Posted by DeMenAce

There are some great reviews out there too if you Google Antec Aria

Not so much a review but still....Ordered yet another new case

[Briton]

Originally Posted by pointreyes

Not so much a review but still....Ordered yet another new case

Yeah, first thing I did was do an ABXZone search and did my reading. :-) I have everything chosen except for the motherboard.

[RMAT]

I have yet to see an amd matx mobo with a coax spdif out....I would like to set one up as a htpc....the best matx mobo i can find so far for that is a soyo matx board...but it is for a p4...but it has all the outputs you would need. It's only available at microcenter stores www.microcenter.com

P4RS350

[Briton]

Originally Posted by RMAT

I have yet to see an amd matx mobo with a coax spdif out....I would like to set one up as a htpc....the best matx mobo i can find so far for that is a soyo matx board...but it is for a p4...but it has all the outputs you would need. It's only available at microcenter stores www.microcenter.com

P4RS350

Yeah, a Pentium System would be more costly and it's already getting up there as it is. Here's what I have so far; just need a motherboard:

Antec Aria w/ 300w PSU (Retail) - $100
---
AMD Athlon XP 2800+ (Barton Core) - $80
Zalman CNPS7000A-CU - $33
Corsair 512MB PC3200 (CAS 2.5) (Retail) - $80
Western Digital 200GB HDD - $112
ATI 9600XT AIW (Retail) - $192
Turtle Beach Catalina (Retail) - $60
Audio Station RF Remote Control (Retail) - $20

Total: $677 w/out Motherboard. I COULD save some money and use existing parts (pentium stuff, i think I have a 2.4b lying around, but for $150 bucks I can get a 2800+ a mobo most likely, so it doesn't seem that logical to me when I have ATX boards to satisfy it, but no MATX's).

[pointreyes]

Too bad you could not go the AMD64 route.

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduc...130-459&depa=1

[Briton]

Originally Posted by pointreyes

Too bad you could not go the AMD64 route.

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduc...130-459&depa=1

I could, it'd just mean dropping extra money on a processor. However, I haven't heard there's that much of a difference between a good pentium chip and a A64 2800-3200, the only good performer starts at the 3400. I could do the A64 2800+, it'd be a total of ~232, so the grand total would be just over $800.

[Briton]

Originally Posted by pointreyes

Too bad you could not go the AMD64 route.

I think I may go the A64 route, I'll just have to put it on the back burner for a while so I can get the cash funds. Makes more sense, since this way I could do a 2x160gb SATA RAID 0 for better capturing.