buying an integrated VGA mobo

Monolitus · 19th October 2002, 3:18 AM

I need to upgrade an OLD computer.

Main purpose is Office & internet + little net gaming (so my parents will enjoy Half Life ....)

I am thinking of the following config:

Duron 1.3 / Athlon XP 1600

256MB DDR PC2100

Mobo:

ECS SOML / PCChips 841 - SiS 740 chipset

Gigabyte GA-7VKML - Via KM266

I could not find any review of these boards (apperantly nobody is intersted in the poor computer freaks ...)

Plz help - any advice will be glagly accepted .....

Cheers.

Mono.

Bravo · 19th October 2002, 3:26 AM

Those boards arent very good, they are budget chipsets, without quality onboard components

I have several, and actively recommend The Asus A7N266-VM. It has DDR support, XP support, onboard Geforce 2 MX (32mb shared system memory), a realtek based Audio controller, and 10/100 MCP based Lan. Its also only 120 - 140 dollars at most shops

If your located in melbourne, i recommend you get one from MSY for 120, otherwise i recommend Gamedude for Sydney/Brisbane

Monolitus · 19th October 2002, 3:32 AM

I think in this price i can get the new KT400 VAX and GeForce 2 MX 400 ....

I needed a budget card (the nForce costs about 50$ more than the SiS / Via).

Isn't it enough for today's apps ? (i'm upgrading from my long lived K6 233MHz .........)

Bravo · 19th October 2002, 3:34 AM

It is more then suited to most OpenGL games (e.g. Quake 3, Counter-Strike, etc...), and provides decent performance.

How cheap are those other boards?

Monolitus · 19th October 2002, 3:44 AM

SiS 740 & VKML ~ 80$

the Giga VAX - 105$ + 55$ for GF 2 MX 400

(i'm a little budget tight since i bought my new comupter - VRXP + GF4 etc ....)

can you recommend one of the two : SiS / VKML (note that the sis has no AGP slot)

does the KM266 in the VKML equal to the KT266 ot the KT266A ?

Cheers.

Bravo · 19th October 2002, 3:54 AM

I dont really have any experience, or opinions on either of those boards.

Nims · 19th October 2002, 10:06 AM

i have a good alternative. Wait 1-2 months for the nForce2 motherboards to come out. These boards will greatly increase the performace for your ram and Athlon XP, but they allso have an integrated GeForce4mx, 5.1sound, lan and a few other extras.

The geforce4mx will be great for what you are doing. It would be a good choice, i been reading a bit on it. Bravo informed me of the nforce2 boards coming out so smoe credit goes to him.

idosillythings · 19th October 2002, 10:14 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Bravo
Those boards arent very good, they are budget chipsets, without quality onboard components

I have several, and actively recommend The Asus A7N266-VM. It has DDR support, XP support, onboard Geforce 2 MX (32mb shared system memory), a realtek based Audio controller, and 10/100 MCP based Lan. Its also only 120 - 140 dollars at most shops

If your located in melbourne, i recommend you get one from MSY for 120, otherwise i recommend Gamedude for Sydney/Brisbane

LOL I could see that coming

. They are great board for $120 you cant go wrong and for what you use it for it is enough. If you wait for the nforce2 it will be about $300 - $400.

19th October 2002, 3:18 AM	#1
Monolitus Member Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 3	buying an integrated VGA mobo I need to upgrade an OLD computer. Main purpose is Office & internet + little net gaming (so my parents will enjoy Half Life ....) I am thinking of the following config: Duron 1.3 / Athlon XP 1600 256MB DDR PC2100 Mobo: ECS SOML / PCChips 841 - SiS 740 chipset Gigabyte GA-7VKML - Via KM266 I could not find any review of these boards (apperantly nobody is intersted in the poor computer freaks ...) Plz help - any advice will be glagly accepted ..... Cheers. Mono.

19th October 2002, 10:06 AM	#7
Nims Member Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Brisbane, QLD Posts: 424	i have a good alternative. Wait 1-2 months for the nForce2 motherboards to come out. These boards will greatly increase the performace for your ram and Athlon XP, but they allso have an integrated GeForce4mx, 5.1sound, lan and a few other extras. The geforce4mx will be great for what you are doing. It would be a good choice, i been reading a bit on it. Bravo informed me of the nforce2 boards coming out so smoe credit goes to him. __________________ Notebook: DELL Dimension 9400. Centrino DUO T2400 1.83 GHz 2MB Cache 1gig DDR2 667 MHz FSB GeForce GO 7900GS bios flashed 440/510 100GB HDD 7432 3D marks 3Dmark'05.

19th October 2002, 3:26 AM	#2
Bravo Member Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: Brisbane, Australia Posts: 10,051	Those boards arent very good, they are budget chipsets, without quality onboard components I have several, and actively recommend The Asus A7N266-VM. It has DDR support, XP support, onboard Geforce 2 MX (32mb shared system memory), a realtek based Audio controller, and 10/100 MCP based Lan. Its also only 120 - 140 dollars at most shops If your located in melbourne, i recommend you get one from MSY for 120, otherwise i recommend Gamedude for Sydney/Brisbane

19th October 2002, 3:32 AM	#3
Monolitus Member Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 3	I think in this price i can get the new KT400 VAX and GeForce 2 MX 400 .... I needed a budget card (the nForce costs about 50$ more than the SiS / Via). Isn't it enough for today's apps ? (i'm upgrading from my long lived K6 233MHz .........)

19th October 2002, 3:34 AM	#4
Bravo Member Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: Brisbane, Australia Posts: 10,051	It is more then suited to most OpenGL games (e.g. Quake 3, Counter-Strike, etc...), and provides decent performance. How cheap are those other boards?

19th October 2002, 3:44 AM	#5
Monolitus Member Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 3	SiS 740 & VKML ~ 80$ the Giga VAX - 105$ + 55$ for GF 2 MX 400 (i'm a little budget tight since i bought my new comupter - VRXP + GF4 etc ....) can you recommend one of the two : SiS / VKML (note that the sis has no AGP slot) does the KM266 in the VKML equal to the KT266 ot the KT266A ? Cheers.

19th October 2002, 3:54 AM	#6
Bravo Member Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: Brisbane, Australia Posts: 10,051	I dont really have any experience, or opinions on either of those boards.