Best mATX conroe capable board for sensible money

OK - mATX update: I obtained some better RAM and the new problem is that the lack of a PCI (PCIe is locked) lock is causing the board not to detect the SATA HDD. So, in with the 4 year old PATA IDE Maxtor 40Gb and we're away. 450MHz is where the board is maxed out. 3.15GHz! It's not completely stable though. It won't run SuperPi and it definitely won't run 2 threads of folding@home. 420 is fine though (SuperPi of 20 seconds with 1GB Patriot PC8000 RAM). I'm pretty pleased actually, but it's still not as flexible as a full ATX board.
 
i will be sticking with my sugo

thing is you guys are saying no decent boards because of overclocking features


i dont really overclock so is there a stable board out there

and is a core2duo at stock still better than what amd has to offer or is the duo only worth the money if you clock it right up

else i will save the money and go with a am2 board with a cheap dual core proccy from the mm
 
im in the same boat, you dont get a matx system to overclock it.

thing is, from what i can tell, there are no stable boards out there either, especially when used in conjucture with the latest kit. The Asus for example doesnt work with the 7950GX2 in multi gpu mode, so doubt it would work in the long run for dx10 cards.
 
Confusion said:
im in the same boat, you dont get a matx system to overclock it.

thing is, from what i can tell, there are no stable boards out there either, especially when used in conjucture with the latest kit. The Asus for example doesnt work with the 7950GX2 in multi gpu mode, so doubt it would work in the long run for dx10 cards.
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I'm sure eventually a decent mATX conroe board will appear. I remember waiting ages for a decent 939 one to come out, and it came from Biostar of all people. The good mATX Conroe board may well come from some random manufacturer, and it will probably be on a future chipset.
 
bigjonnyauk said:
i dont really overclock so is there a stable board out there
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Pretty much all the ASUS, ASRock and Abit boards are essentially updates of existing, very stable boards. If you're not concerned about overclocking then pretty much any of them would do. I would go for one with an Intel chipset as I've always found them to be the most compatible with other devices. That said, if you're a gamer and not that concerned with encoding, folding or other number crunching applications then the AMD rigs are superb value at the moment.
 
i do a bit of encoding but not really that much

rig is just used for media centre to 360 pc games and web i have a 939 at minute but the bits are going into a build for kids for xmas


i might just go am2 not sure yet so much out there

got 8 weeks left yet before build so maybe a bargain will pop up somewhere
 
I'll be getting the Asrock Conroe945G-DVI for my rig. I read a lot of Anandtech reviews and they gave this board a sound score (despite it's poor overclocking options).

Looks like this is the one to go for if you're looking for a stable rig at stock speeds (i'm going to at least try to get mine to 300FSB though ;))
 
Tute said:
I'll be getting the Asrock Conroe945G-DVI for my rig. I read a lot of Anandtech reviews and they gave this board a sound score (despite it's poor overclocking options).

Looks like this is the one to go for if you're looking for a stable rig at stock speeds (i'm going to at least try to get mine to 300FSB though ;))
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Thats the mobo I have. Running 295FSB on an e6400 at the moment. It wont boot to 300 though.

What do I have to do to get it running faster?
 
I have the asus p5b-wm and it allows you to set the pcie bus at 100 Mhz which I assume it locks at that ponit. Can't find a way to lower the multiplier though and haven't got the fsb much beyond 271 (E6400).
 
Tute said:
Fair enough.

Quick question, what is your overall opinion of the board?
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Generally its great. I can clock it to 299 perfectly stable. Touch it onto 300 and it just wont boot. Its probably more to do with my RAM though.

Other than that its a very well designed, performing board. Havent had any issues with it at all. Especially for the price.
 
Anyone tried one of Intel's own 965 m-ATX models?

They got a few options. One each from media, executive, classic range listed here.

Not read the manuals, but noticed the media model only supports 1.8V for memory.
 
Bane said:
Anyone tried one of Intel's own 965 m-ATX models?

They got a few options. One each from media, executive, classic range listed here.

Not read the manuals, but noticed the media model only supports 1.8V for memory.
Click to expand...

Apparently, very very very little in the way of overclocking options.

Not worth the money in any way, shape, or form. Disappointing.
 
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