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Motherboard bundles.

seanbranagh
Grafter
Posts: 1,236
Registered: ‎02-08-2007

Motherboard bundles.

I am looking to pick up a reasonably priced motherboard bundle. I recently cannibalized my quad core desktop to build a Citrix server and have since been left with a 1.5Ghz laptop. This is working fine but is not the fastest in to world obviously and was never intended to be a permanent solution.
The only parts I need to rebuild a desktop are processor, motherboard and ram as I have everything else.
I want to buy a bundle for the convenience and the saving but everywhere I look the boards are micro-atx. I really do not want a micro-atx board for my desktop. I like to have a full supply of pci slots and have used them all on every full atx board I have ever owned.
Can anyone recommend any websites / suppliers for full-atx bundles?
6 REPLIES 6
ReedRichards
Seasoned Pro
Posts: 4,927
Thanks: 145
Fixes: 25
Registered: ‎14-07-2009

Re: Motherboard bundles.

Opting for a bundle severely restricts your choice without (of the ones I've seen) saving you a huge amount of money.  Maybe it's not the way to go?
Oldjim
Resting Legend
Posts: 38,460
Thanks: 787
Fixes: 63
Registered: ‎15-06-2007

Re: Motherboard bundles.

To be honest I wouldn't
I always buy my RAM direct from Crucial as their support is first rate
seanbranagh
Grafter
Posts: 1,236
Registered: ‎02-08-2007

Re: Motherboard bundles.

The reason I like bundles though is because it restricts me. Otherwise I will buy the best processor etc. that money can buy and end up wasting money that should be spent elsewhere.
I really don't need a fast computer, so long as it can run Windows 7, 2 monitors and several programs at a time. My 1.5Ghz Celeron Laptop can almost do this apart from the HD video bit.
I have almost been tempted to do the unthinkable and just buy a brand name computer, I have never done that before  Grin
Peter_Vaughan
Grafter
Posts: 14,469
Registered: ‎30-07-2007

Re: Motherboard bundles.

How many PCI slots do you need?
www.novatech.co.uk and www.ebuyer.com both have mini-itx based bundles (2 or 3 PCI). You won't get many now-a-days with more than 3 PCI slots.
seanbranagh
Grafter
Posts: 1,236
Registered: ‎02-08-2007

Re: Motherboard bundles.

Thats a question I cannot really answer. It obviously depends on what is onboard but I would need at least 2 old PCI slots for a TV capture card and a sound card I use that is generally better than the onboard audio.
I was also using a third (old) PCI slot in my last machine for a second graphics card for the second monitor. I no longer have this card and will be buying a new card anyway so it will likely be PCIEx16 with dual outputs.
I have just been looking on eBuyer as this is where I built the last machine from. I think I may just buy everything seperatly. I have bought from Crucial before and need to double the memory in My Citrix server anyway.
One thing is vital is that the board must have IDE, I know many nowdays do not. I am not wasting the two good LG DVD recorders I still have, not at least until Bluray recorders drop in price more.
I still have the full atx case from the old machine as it was moved into a rackmount case when it became a server.
seanbranagh
Grafter
Posts: 1,236
Registered: ‎02-08-2007

Re: Motherboard bundles.

Onboard Gigabit LAN is also vital to save on a PCI slot but this is fairly standard now from what I can see.