Socket A upgrade help

[FiL]

Hi there, At present I have a AthlonXP 1900+ (Palomino core)

with that i have a motherboard using the VIA KT266A chipset. This has USB 1.1

Now I'm getting an ipod or some other mp3 player (lets no discuss them here) so will need USB 2.0 or Firewire.

Looking at the prices of PCI USB 2.0 and Firewire cards it's clear that i won't pay too much more to get a whole new mobo with that stuff intergrated.

So can anyone recommend CHEAP socket A motherboards that have firewire please?

I don't need dual channel RAM

SATA would be nice, but not essential

 

[o1die]

Newegg has an abit an7 (refurbished with 15 day warranty) for $49 shipped. If it doesn't come with a backplate, you can order one from abit for about $10. Can't find anything else listed in pricewatch with onboard firewire. About 3 out of 4 refurbs I bought from newegg were fine. To be safe, I sometimes put in an rma request when I receive the board, in case it develops a problem in the first few days. Then newegg will give you about 30 days to ship it to them. For testing, you can use sisoft sandra burn or prime 95, and see if you have any heat related problems. Many boards I use new or used don't give you the correct temps for cpu or system. It's a common problem. Use only the bios hardware monitor section if temps are a little wacky.

 

[Crashman]

www.softwareandstuff.com has a firewire/usb2.0 card for something like $15.

<font color=blue>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!</font color=blue>
<font color=red>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!</font color=red>

 

[Spitfire_x86]

ABIT NF7-S v2.0

------------
<A HREF="http://geocities.com/spitfire_x86" target="_new">My Website</A>

<A HREF="http://geocities.com/spitfire_x86/myrig.html" target="_new">My Rig</A> & <A HREF="http://geocities.com/spitfire_x86/benchmark.html" target="_new">3DMark score</A>

 

[FiL]

i've looked at the prices of these motherboards and over here in the UK they're all about £70 if i want firewire, but half that without firewire, is there some huge licence/patent that motherboard makers have to pay if they intergrate firewire?? just that one extra controller doubles the value of the the board!

 

[FiL]

i've gone with crash's idea, and found a very cheap USB2/firewire PCI card, after searching past the brand name cards i've found one cheaper than any motherboard by some way!

long live KT266A

<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by FiL on 08/01/04 06:38 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[Crashman]

Hehe, VIA. I hate them. I haven't had enormous problems with the KT266A, but I'm seriously pissed at them for lying about compatability/stability issues on KT266 and earlier chipsets. They've cost me a lot of time and at least a couple grand in lost business.

<font color=blue>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!</font color=blue>
<font color=red>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!</font color=red>

 

[blah]

if you lost in business it is your OWN fault, caz you suppose to know how to run it in the first place 😉>

..this is very useful and helpful place for information...

 

[Mr5oh]

if you lost in business it is your OWN fault, caz you suppose to know how to run it in the first place 😉>

So if the water pump goes bad on your brand new car, who do you blame? Ford? Or is it your fault, because you should have known it was bad?

Retailers are somewhat responsible for the products they sell, but to they do have to rely manufacturers to make a decent product. VIA tried to cover up problems, I don't see how it could be anyones fault by VIA.

My Desktop: <A HREF="http://Mr5oh.tripod.com/pc.html" target="_new">http://Mr5oh.tripod.com/pc.html</A>

 

[Crashman]

I lost sales due to dissatisfied customers. That was when they asked me to instal a part that didn't work right with their chipset. Some of my early systems contained VIA chipsets based on the recommendation of the board by THG, who never uncovered the flaws before I bought those boards.

I still refurbish some boards with VIA chipsets, but sell them at such a bargain basement price that when I tell a customer "this part won't work right in your system", I can excuse it with "but you paid so little for your system, that's to be expected with some parts".

<font color=blue>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!</font color=blue>
<font color=red>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!</font color=red>

 

[FiL]

indeed, i've not had problems with the KT266A either, but i did hear a lot of stuff about earlier chipsets...

so does everyone here go for Nvidia chipsets for AMD and Intel for Intel?

 

[blackphoenix77]

Maybe try Ebay?

<font color=blue>AthlonXP-M 2500+</font color=blue>
<font color=green>Abit NF7-S</font color=green>
<font color=red>Kingston DDR400 2x256Mb</font color=red>