Page 1 of Motherboard questions

Are boards for new AMD processors backwards-compatible with Athlon?

Also which is best out of ASRock, Asus, and Jetway?

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www.soundalikes.com

This item was edited on Monday, 4th December 2006, 23:05

Athlon refers to a whole series of processors. AMD changed their CPU packaging recently to what they are calling Socket AM2, I don`t believe the AM2 boards will accept earlier versions of the processor range.

I would rate ASUS top and have used several ASRock boards with no problems, can`t really comment on Jetway but I think they are more of a budget brand.

As bytemaster says AM2 boards aren`t backwards compatible.

If it`s an Athlon XP you`ve got and are looking for a cost effective upgrade you could get a Socket 745 board and a compatible Athlon 64. Quite a few S745 boards take DDR RAM and AGP graphics cards but it`s technology that`s been superseded by Socket 939 and now Socket AM2, which only takes DDR2 RAM and PCIe graphics cards.

ASRock boards are fine for general use, they are actually part of ASUS. The ASRock company was formed to compete with the likes of PC Chips, ECS, Jetway.
Our local discount PC build / repair store used to stock Jetway boards and I`ve had a couple of problems with the few I bought from him. Now he only stocks ASRock as his budget boards.
So again as bytemaster says 1. ASUS, 2. ASRock, Jetway - don`t bother.

Asus all the way for me...great boards :)

Nick

Suspected as much. I was hoping to get away with not having to buy a new processor. :D

Asus or ASRock it is then.

Mobo + processor starts to edge towards a new PC off the shelf being better value though. :(

What about this one: cgi.ebay.co.uk/BRAND-NEW-ASROCK-K7S41-SOCKET-A-AMD-MOTHERBOARD_W0QQitemZ230034341038QQihZ013QQcategoryZ31496QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQcmdZViewItem
But not from him.

Really don`t expect much from that PC except surfing and a bit of DVD copying, so just has to be stable. The 2ghz processor in at the moment is sufficient.

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www.soundalikes.com

xfg,

You can get it brand new from eBuyer, £32.75 with super saver delivery. Dabs.com stock it also, £36.79 inc delivery.

http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/102909

http://www.dabs.com/productview.aspx?Quicklinx=359Z

Darren

Do you already have a socket 462 processor? If not you may have to do some searching.

This board is very similar to an ASrock that I used to have, that also used the SiS chipset.

Not bleeding edge (no SATA etc) but not a bad MATX board if you have the CPU already.

Already have a Socket A processor.

Bought the PC 4 years ago and loath to spend too much on it for that reason. Considering buying a new one in the future, but need it up and running as cheaply a possible first.

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www.soundalikes.com

i`ve got an ecs k7s5a motherboard in an old machine which I`m not using. I`m planning on stripping the PC and ebaying all the bits so if you`re interested in the board, drop me a line and make me an offer.

think it was only 30-odd quid new a couple of years back. probably a similar spec to that asrock one linked above.

Thanks but I`m very not-brave when it somes to motherboards, I can do cards and drives etc, but I just know I`d bugger a motherboard up! :D Local PC repair place is going to fit me the ASRock for £10 so happy to pay that, going to have them check the yuck from the burst capacitors hasn`t somehow damaged the processor beyond repair before they unbox anything. :)

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www.soundalikes.com