How are the G31 motherboards?

[N890]

I'm trying to "rebuild" this Dell of mine, which is real old. I looking at the cheapest of the cheap :lol: . I've seen two that I'm considering, how are they?

PS. I will be trying to O/C

JetWay I31GM4 LGA 775 Intel G31
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813153119

MSI G31M3-L V2 LGA 775 Intel G31
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130217

This is not a gaming build, just a movie and web surfing computer. So I plan to use either a Dual Core Celeron or the P4 LGA775 631. Thanks

 

[Outlander_04]

g31's are fine , but dont overclock as well as g33's .
an e5200 is cheap and has potential

jetway isnt even going to be good as a door stop

 

[Proximon]

The Gigabyte version has been used in several builds here lately:
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128357

I think xthekidx built one for his parents or something.

 

[N890]

Yeah I haven't even seen JetWay motherboards until Newegg. What do you guys think about the ASRock or Biostar motherboards?

 

[Outlander_04]

Asrock is made by asus . Its their cheaper brand but quaility is ok .

If you can possibly afford it then Proximons suggestion is still better

 

[hundredislandsboy]

I'm currently using an ECS G31 chipset motherboard. It only allows me to overclock an e5200 to 3.3 Ghz (12.5 multi X 266) and will not even post beyond pushing 266 FSB). It's probably because there's no voltage adjustment. If I had to do it again, I would buy the Asus open box G31 motherboard that can go up to 1600 FSB.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131288R - $36.99

 

[mtyermom]

If you take time to look up some info/reviews the Jetways tend to be very limited, so I wouldn't count on overclocking with one.

Gigabyte typically has lots of overclocker friendly BIOS settings, and are my personal choice for motherboards, but I did notice a large number of DOA reports on that particular board that Prox linked.


EDIT: To be sure, there are always DOA reports on boards/cards/modules/drives/PSUs. I have been building PCs for about 15 years, and have never, ever had a single DOA part.

My suggestion, if it fits in your budget, is a Gigabyte board.

 

[N890]

Now its MSI, Gigabyte (expensive 🙁 ), ASRock, and Biostar. The Gigabyte would be best but what about the Biostar?

 

[apache_lives]

There all budget motherboards and wont overclock as well as the higher end products

For decent reliability on stock go for a ASUS P5KPL-CM - sold hundreds of them and is rare to see one return, iv seen a few of those blue and silver gigabyte G31 based boards returned - dont favour them much.

Asrock, Biostar, Jetway, MSI etc - all are half assed products compared and i for sure wouldnt bother with any of them.

 

[N890]

I'll probably O/C, I'll go with the Gigabyte or Asus thanks for alls help!

 

[sajib]

just bye a gigabyti ga-g31m-sl2. and add 4 gigabyte i'll recommend transend 800mhz. and a good cooler, replace the default one (mainstream coolers are good enough). press ctrl+f1 at the bios menu. go the advance chipset settings use ram timing 5 7 7 23. the goto mit menu. just increase the cpu voltage default +.2 ( in the menu u ll see the exact value soo please add .2 volt with that number n select it). set the host clock at 400 and ram divider at 2.5 ( if u r not using the transend one then u have to tweak it by urself because my one can run at 1ghz but other rams may be overclocked more or less). restart it its running ay 4 ghz. u can push it more even 4.8ghz ( by increasing voltage and adding a northbrige cooler). but this is the best settings. fully stable.

oh another thing if u r trying to build a giming pc recommend a 9600gso( xfx 1.5 gigs one or 768mb one). r u laughing? dont please i have overclocked it to 780 rop and 1768 sadder. to do this i have taken the still plate off n added the bigcooler on it( in fact the cpu cooler's fan i have taken it off from there n added on my gpu) now may be its not one of the fastest pc. but still if u r sort on budget then this is the best way.(btw 400 w is enough for this pc). i spend +/-200 dollars for this pc.

 

[sajib]

sorry forgot to add the processor model its 7400. u can use the 7300 too.