Micro ATX Recommendations

[gis_mapper]

I am planning on building a new PC for the kids. I have a Micro ATX case (new) with a 450W PSU.

What would people suggest as being a good motherboard to install?

Key considerations are:

- must have an IDE connector (as I'll recycle a new-ish 250 Gb HD)
- also plan to install a DVD writer
- not fussy about CPU brand / type ... basically something that will hopefully "bounce-along" future upgrade paths
- plan to install DDR2 RAM
- main use will be for kids homework / educational software

Thanks in advance.

 

[BUFF]

abit seems to have the best (enthusiast) mATX mobos at the moment for both AMD & Intel in the nF-M2 nView & the F-I90HD.
Of course they may be overspecced for what you require.

 

[SolitoN79]

I have a Asus P5VDC-MX motherboard; it's stable, and has all the features you're looking for. Should be cheap too I think.

 

[g-paw]

I have an ASUS M2NPV-VM that works well. I had the Abit NF-M2 nView but it died after 2 weeks and newegg was out them so couldn't do a replacement

 

[scorch]

asus boards or if you are not overclocking intel boards are nice too. I am currently using an intel board, its about 15 months old and have not had any problems.

 

[g-paw]

For less than $400 you could put together an AMD AM2 dual core 3800 with 1 GB of RAM.