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Main => Main Forum => Topic started by: Oldskool on April 23, 2004, 11:59:21 am

Title: Cheap Mobos - Tried them?
Post by: Oldskool on April 23, 2004, 11:59:21 am
I was going to spruce up an old system, but when I was browsing Tigerdirect.ca, I came across (what appears to be) some pretty good deals.

There is a Syntax - SV266AD motherboard and Athlon XP 2000+ for $131.97 Canadian.   (Approx. $97 American)

There's also a similar deal on a Soyo board with the same CPU.

Has anyone tried these mobos or others by the same manufactuers?

Note: Yes, I know you get what you pay for.


Title: Re:Cheap Mobos - Tried them?
Post by: Buddabing on April 23, 2004, 12:34:57 pm
I was going to spruce up an old system, but when I was browsing Tigerdirect.ca, I came across (what appears to be) some pretty good deals.

There is a Syntax - SV266AD motherboard and Athlon XP 2000+ for $131.97 Canadian.   (Approx. $97 American)

There's also a similar deal on a Soyo board with the same CPU.

Has anyone tried these mobos or others by the same manufactuers?

Note: Yes, I know you get what you pay for.


Wow, there's a $30US rebate on that, only $63US for the mobo+CPU! Nice!

Failing that, you might try a K7S5A motherboard. They're all over Ebay. I have two, and they are good, inexpensive motherboards.

Title: Re:Cheap Mobos - Tried them?
Post by: ashardin on April 23, 2004, 12:40:59 pm
I got the syntax deal a little while ago that was $5 after rebate (which, of course, I haven't gotten yet).

It worked fin for what I wanted to do.  Check the specs of the board to make sure it has all of the connections etc that you want.  Its not the best on the market, but you aren't paying for the best either (and you already know that).

I wouldn't use a mobo like this for my primary computer, but for a project I think they do just fine.
Title: Re:Cheap Mobos - Tried them?
Post by: Ovalblue on April 23, 2004, 01:08:35 pm
Also...keep a lookout for deals at your local Fry's Electronics... (not sure if they are a nationwide store)

Ive seen mobo and Athlon Barton 2500+ cpu deals for $70!
Title: Re:Cheap Mobos - Tried them?
Post by: Santoro on April 23, 2004, 01:12:09 pm
The 'customer reviews' at TigerDirect  look pretty good for the price.  I am going to pick one up.

Title: Re:Cheap Mobos - Tried them?
Post by: SirPeale on April 23, 2004, 02:08:30 pm
Also...keep a lookout for deals at your local Fry's Electronics... (not sure if they are a nationwide store)

They're not.   >:(  I'm often ticked that I see sweet deals that I can not act upon because of this.
Title: Re:Cheap Mobos - Tried them?
Post by: ErikRuud on April 23, 2004, 03:04:25 pm
I like TigerDirect.  They have a warehouse outlet about 30 minutes from my house, so I save on shipping.

The GioCade cabinet was upgraded with a 1.4 ghz duron machine that cost about $80.00. It has a Soyo motherboard and case.  So far it works great.  GameLauncher appears to have a problem with the video driver and locks up when you exit a game, but MAME, Daphne and Visual Pinabll all work great on it. I'll be putting Kymaera on that machine the next time I get to the guy's house.

My cabinet has a 1.6 ghz Duron Mercury motherboard in it.  That deal came to $180.00 after rebates and include CD-RW, 40gig HD, ATI Radeon 7200, memory, case, power supply, mouse, and keyboard.

I also bought a D-Link DI-604 broadband router there for $20.00.


Title: Re:Cheap Mobos - Tried them?
Post by: Oldskool on April 23, 2004, 04:43:13 pm
They're not.   >:(  I'm often ticked that I see sweet deals that I can not act upon because of this.

And they're not INTERnational either.  ;)
Title: Re:Cheap Mobos - Tried them?
Post by: GadgetGeek on April 23, 2004, 04:48:59 pm
Also...keep a lookout for deals at your local Fry's Electronics... (not sure if they are a nationwide store)

Ive seen mobo and Athlon Barton 2500+ cpu deals for $70!
Y'all know that Outpost.com is Fry's online site, right?
Title: Re:Cheap Mobos - Tried them?
Post by: krick on April 24, 2004, 12:57:00 pm
I can't speak for Athlon motherboards but if you're in the market for a cheap P4 motherboard, I'd personally recommend anything with the VIA PT800 chipset.  Great performance and lots of features.

There's quite a few on Pricewatch for under $50...
http://castle.pricewatch.com/search/searchmc.idq?cr=pt800&qc="PT800"*+AND+%40ctd+2&i=2&ct=Computer&c=Motherboards&mi=N&m=N (http://castle.pricewatch.com/search/searchmc.idq?cr=pt800&qc="PT800"*+AND+%40ctd+2&i=2&ct=Computer&c=Motherboards&mi=N&m=N)

Mwave has Shuttle and Chaintech boards for $50, or you could spend a little more and get a board from Abit for $62.  I personally bought the Shuttle board from Mwave...
http://www.mwave.com/mwave/DeepSearch.hmx?scriteria=pt800&Dname=Motherboards&Pname=SHUTTLE&DID=MB&PID=MB-SHU&ALL=y (http://www.mwave.com/mwave/DeepSearch.hmx?scriteria=pt800&Dname=Motherboards&Pname=SHUTTLE&DID=MB&PID=MB-SHU&ALL=y)
Title: Re:Cheap Mobos - Tried them?
Post by: JustMichael on April 24, 2004, 01:07:49 pm
I currently have a AMD XP 2200+ and a ECS motherboard in my cabinet that I got from one of those Fry's combo deals.  It has been the best $100 spent on the cabinet too!  It sure beats the pants off of the old AMD K6-300 that I had in there.
Title: Re:Cheap Mobos - Tried them?
Post by: lokki on April 24, 2004, 03:21:27 pm
Also...keep a lookout for deals at your local Fry's Electronics... (not sure if they are a nationwide store)

They're not.   >:(  I'm often ticked that I see sweet deals that I can not act upon because of this.

Here is the list of store locations....

http://www.frys.com/localframe.html

Title: Re:Cheap Mobos - Tried them?
Post by: rchadd on April 24, 2004, 07:13:36 pm
i've just ordered following motherboard from www.ebuyer.co.uk

PC Chips Syntax SKT A AGP Via KT266 DDR/SDR ATA 133 Sound/LAN/USB 2.0

price is
Title: Re:Cheap Mobos - Tried them?
Post by: Edgedamage on April 24, 2004, 08:32:32 pm
I got a ECS L7VMM3 with a 2800pro duron for $125 CDN and the only games it starts dropping frames is MK 1&2 so far it has played every visual pinball table I have thrown at it.
Title: Re:Cheap Mobos - Tried them?
Post by: SirPeale on April 25, 2004, 01:43:29 pm
...PC Chips...

Good luck with that.  I'll never buy another PC Chips board.
Title: Re:Cheap Mobos - Tried them?
Post by: Edgedamage on April 25, 2004, 04:00:14 pm
I got a ECS L7VMM3 with a 2800pro duron for $125 CDN and the only games it starts dropping frames is MK 1&2 so far it has played every visual pinball table I have thrown at it.

Doh I ment MK 2-3