Mobo advice needed for E7400 CPU please.

S

Shake&Bake

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So the following options are not too high spec, but will cover the basics for my little rig :p

I do some modest gaming.
Prince of Persia
PES2009
Gears of War

Waiting in the wings are:
GRID Racing
GTA IV
And some others I can't really think of now :o

Accompanied with the CPU will be:

2x2GB Kingston DDR2 800Mhz
Nvidia 8500GT
A little TV card (I forget the specs - bought 2nd hand on Prophecy, still to arrive)
450watt PSU
2223GW Samsung
Logitech Wireless Mouse and Keyboard.

Have been reading reviews for the following few mobo's and they're up and down - but this is cheap line - so it's to be expected.

What I'm looking for is some input on which would give the least hassle, be good value for money and be reliable.

  1. GIGABYTE® GA-G31M-ES2C - "S Series" G31 & ICH7 Express Chipset from Prophecy @ R648.50
  2. BIOSTAR MB INTEL G31 from Zaps @ R530.
  3. Asus Intel P5N73-AM from Take2 @ R737.
  4. MSI Intel G31M3-L Motherboard - from Take2 @ R519

So any experiences you may have with these or similar mobo's would be appeciated :)

Thanks
S&B
 
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I have a Biostar Mobo ATM and not really enjoying it too much ... Want to get the Asus that is a bit of an upgrade to yours but only heard good about Asus and their products!
 
Yeah have really only heard good things about ASUS - the Biostar has not had too many good reviews, that I've come across either.
 
Foxconn G31. About the same price as the Biostar. Looks identical to the Gigabyte. Great little boards. ;)

Just bear in mind that G31 generally = only 4 SATA ports and 2 RAM slots.
 
PostmanPot said:
Foxconn G31. About the same price as the Biostar. Looks identical to the Gigabyte. Great little boards. ;)

Just bear in mind that G31 generally = only 4 SATA ports and 2 RAM slots.
Click to expand...

Yeah - that's the thing with G31 setups - not so muh the SATA ports, but the RAM.
When looking at the ASUS P5KPL/1600 Motherboard, the nice thing is that there are 4 RAM slots.
So there's a bit more future-proofing in there. (for me anyways)
 
tco21 said:
No to Foxconn. Sorry, but no.
Click to expand...

Why is that? You had a disaster with one?

It amuses me when I see Asus and Gigabyte boards (and probably others) using Foxconn IO panel connectors.

The Foxconn G31 is practically identical to the Gigabyte G31 build-wise. The only difference I've noticed is a differently-placed CPU power connector. Both have 3yr warranties.
 
PostmanPot said:
Quite pricey though. I'd rather chip in an extra R200 or so and go for a P43 mobo. ;)
Click to expand...

Mmm I see what you're getting at - there is about a R200 price difference between the two boards...

/considers options

GRrr this is frustrating :p :D
 
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