Legit Reviews

Hello, all,
My dad is looking to do a computer upgrade on the cheap, so he bought an old Gateway FX 8020 from a place called dealtree.com. The computer was supposed to be in working condition, but it was not. The computer booted fine, but it appeared that there was no hard drive in the machine, and I could not get it open. Anyway, I digress. Dad is thinking about building a computer, if he cannot find another cheap one for me to modify and upgrade. I have most of the parts picked out, basing the specs on my machine. He does some photo editing, but mainly uses the machine for email, and web browsing. I have picked out everything except the mobo. Any suggestions as to which board I should use for the parts below? I do not think that we will be needing any sli, and I the board should probably be in the 200 dollar price range. He may want to do some video editing in the future.

Intel e8400 45 nm cpu
Nvidia geforce 9600gso
Auzentech X-fi prelude 7.1
Two 500 GB drives (lots of storage for RAW photos) (SATA, no RAID)
2 GB corsair xms 2 2gb ram ddr2 800 mhz
Corsair HX 620 psu
Antec Nine (or Twelve) Hundred Case.
Two SATA optical drives.

Tekgek

The Gigabyte GA-EP35-DS3L seems to be a favorite around here, and you cant go wrong with that P35 chipset! i did a quick check and it WILL support the 8400 right out of the box so no worries about flashing the bios with an older LGA 775 compatible chip.

Looking on Newegg, the P35 chipset boards start about $74 with the Gigabyte GA-P35-S3G, and there are a few other boards before you hit the price on the GA-EP35-DS3L, but since there are a few people here who have used it, it may be better to spend the extra $ or so, you know? Anyhow that should be a good place to start looking!

The GA-P35-S3G gets my vote. I had no problems at all setting mine up. It was a breeze to work with.

Take a look at this puppy, P45 chip set, pcie 2.0 ddr2 up to 1200 Gigabyte board. Looks sweet for a non-Maximus class board.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6813128344

I think that I will go with Methious's suggestion. Upon first inspection, it seems that this board is the most future-proof. Dad does not upgrade his rig much. So, for relatively inexpensive boards, Gigabyte boards are the best? Maybe I will take a look at the rest of their line.

Get the GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3L, its only $80, supports awesome overclocking, 100% solid capacitors for a long life. Also supports quad cores etc.

Another vote for Gigabyte GA-EP35-DS3L. It's the updated version of the P35-DS3L which is an awesome budget board.

slugbug wrote:Another vote for Gigabyte GA-EP35-DS3L. It's the updated version of the P35-DS3L which is an awesome budget board.

Isn't the updated version almost $109?

Edit: Never mind, its vice versa

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6813128337