Time for a new mobo

[Whiskers]

I need to make some decisions here.

Type of processor: Intel or AMD? P4 or Celeron, Athlon, Thunderbird or XP?
Type of memory?
Mobo? Has to have at least one ISA slot for my hardware modem.

Any suggestions?

[stryder144]

Gigabyte GA-6VEML -- http://www.giga-byte.com/products/products.htm. It is Socket 370 with built in agp graphics (no agp slot), sound, ethernet jack, 1 isa slot, 3 pci (one is shared with the isa slot), and 1 amr slot.
Micro-ATX, 1 gig of PC133 RAM, etc.

It ain't pretty, doesn't have a whole lot of good features, won't accept tip-top of the line components. Good cheap components, so it won't break the bank. Plus, you can overclock it.

Cheers

depends... do you have $$$ to spend then:

Here are some guideline - Intels CPU are expensive and unless you get a Quadpumped (those 553MHz thingies) version they are not much fun compared to an AthlonXP.
For the most bang for your buck I would go with an AMD Athlon XP. if silence is your thing, then the P4 might be the way to go, since it have a nice CPU speed scaling thingy going. (lower speed -> lower heat output)

Get a really good CPU cooler, like a Zalman or a Slient Viking (Zalman' coolers look cool btw.). Because the noise of those noname coolers is aweful, these good ones are much better noice wise.

Get GOOD ram, like Corsair or Crucial, you'll want DDR (the speed rating depends on the mobo you select - but 2700 seems to be the standard) - again if you go with P4 then Rambus (RD1066) is fastest, and very high quality.. I would go for 512 megs flatoutm in both cases.. Good ram is crucial, especially that cheap PQI ram that has hit the shelves lately is a killer to your boxes stability.. and all the windows geeks never notice that their ram per default runs above specs and therefore causes crashes.. Believe me I was dumb enough to buy 512 megs of that crap, now I wish I had coughed up those extra bucks for quality RAM.

Mobos... well for AMD, the Asus ATV333 seems to provide you with good features at an affordable price, and it has good support in Linux (I haven't seen one running Linux but the components seems to be supported). Can advice on the Intel motherboards, haven't used one in ages.
For a videocard, then the nVidia GeForce 4 TI-4200 seems to provide the best performance for your cash - and it has good Linux support (if you're all for open source then ATI' radeon 8500 is your only hope).

I would also get one of those nice Western Digital Special edition harddrives with 8mbs of cache... they are SWEET...

An option to consider is dual Athlon MP on a Tyan Board... That kind of setup kicks A$$

[capybara]

giga-byte 7 series for amd,
giga-byte 8 series for p4
proven to be the most stable and reliable
mobo manufacturer.
(please dont get a brand x mobo, you wouldnt buy a
yugo if you needed a car, would you?)

[Schotty]

[quote author=capybara link=board=3;threadid=5285;start=0#52000 date=1034737075]
you wouldnt buy a
yugo if you needed a car, would you?)
[/quote]

What if it was 5 bucks and ran? ;D

[ASCI_Blue]

bang for your buck: Athon XP 1800, Soltek mobo (they come in a gnarly purple!) 512 ddr from crucial.

if you've got the cash: P4 with the 533 mhz fsb..not sure on mobo but I'd go epox, and ddr ram.

I would never recommed asus to anyone after getting two bad boards in a row and a hadful of friends getting poor products and no support.

[Schotty]

msi's are nice. Got two at home running beatifully.