I'm interested in building a system for a friend. OC-ing is not a concern. Just a basic, stable, reliable mobo with decent/common features.

That's kind of a silly question.

No manufacturer that I know of sells "unstable" motherboards.

And what are "decent/common" features to you, many not be to someone else.

Dell and HP sell computers that are great for everyday use and cost less than you would pay to build an equivalent machine.

Other than the "joy" of building your own computer there is very little reason to do so unless you are looking at a very high performance/overclockable computer. Then you can beat the prices/features of prebuilt computers.

I've used this Asus in a build for a family member. Stability was first priority, along with features and future upgrades. It has been rock solid from the get go.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16813131013


I'm sure that are plenty of good boards out there, but this was a very easy and stable build.

If you haven't bought the parts yets.. consider going Intel instead of AMD for now.

Good advice from everyone above. The board vegasr recommends is a fine, yet inexpensive board. But, it's designed to do a little more than just run at stock - as it gives fairly decent overclocking. Like Billb says, what you'll get from just about any home-built is a computer that will do more that a pre-built, but probably can't compete on price. So, it's a good question to ask yourself, why are you building if you just want a standard pc? Just because it would be fun for you and your friend to experience the building process - is a good enough answer.

And finally, listen to Paulzig too. If you want a little more speed, an Intel system is the way to go. If speed is not an issue now - and never will be for the life of the system - you can save a little in going with an AMD pre-built or build-your-own. But, Intel core 2 duo systems are quite a bit faster than AMD systems - like 50%+ in just about every comparison. Wouldn't notice it for word processing; would notice the speed difference a little in Internet work; definitely would notice the speed difference a lot for intensive computing.

What is the most stable AM2 mobo?


none, am2 sucs, and is dead since intel has a great platform and choices at the moment.


i have an asus crosshair am2 mobo and a dfi am2 mobo, amd athlon x2 5200 am2 cpu i use for spit straw practice, am2? lol!

bout as stable as a horse with 1 leg...

This sure isn't something i want to hear, cuz i just spent a small fortune on parts for the am2 platform. By the way, Whats the difference between the AM2, AM2+, and the 940 CPU/Mb's?

CapnKirk, you just contradicted everybody else in this thread and basically what you are saying is my mobo is not stable?? What is this? Why do so many people, admins and mods included have the am2 platform boards? This post of your sounds totaly baseless, at least to me. I have not had ANY stability problems as of yet.

I've run mem-*test*-('")86 (dos version) on both sticks of ram, I've run occt, orthos for 9 1/2 hours, no problems, completed 3d mark '03, '05, and '06-@10,662 and can provide the link to orb if you want it. I've been playing halflife ep2, had to stop in the middle to send my card in for step up, but the game played flawlessly.

I think you telling this to people is wrong. And to be honest with you, I'm surprised Arlie hasn't jumped in here to say something about this. I'm not reacting to your post, but rather, responding to it, because i believe in having mature debates if i find a post by someone that bothers me or I strongly, but respectfully disagree with. So please don't look at this post imagining me all red faced and banging on my keyboard...lol.

But i do take issue with your statement. And if anybody could please answer my question about the am2-am2+ and mobo/cpu's, I'd apreciate it.
Happy new Year Everybody!!

AM2+ is the successor to AM2 but is also backwards compatible with it and is a stepping stone towards AM3...AM2+ has different power saving features and a higher Hyper Transport link... AM3 CPU's should work in AM2+ but not the other way around...

The socket 940 was the OLD AMD server socket for the 200 series Opterons, BUT, the AM2 also has 940 pins but they are NOT compatible with those old opterons... Guess thats why they called the socket AM2 eh..

Capn has had his fair share of trouble with the AM2 so there is some ill-feeling there lol..I'm sure his statement is reflective of this and based on his experience and may not serve as an indication of how stable AM2 boards are as a whole

The fact still remains that the Intel platform is faster and better bang for the buck. Its just not a viable proposition to build on the AM2 platform, for me at least, unless there is indeed something I have missed Not having had a skt AM2 system I cannot comment on their stability or otherwise

Yeah, Paul, not long after i saw what intel was doing with their cpu's i wished i had gone with an intel platform and cpu. I still regret my decision to go with am2. And i could have done more research, but i guess I've had amd so long it was almost "out of habit" that i stuck with them.

I'm not angry with what CapnKirk said, i guess he just kinda brought out my own feeling of regret about am2...lol. Same as he had his own issues with it. Seems I'm following in his footsteps. But my system is stable and that's all i care about. Maybe i just had better luck than he did? I dunno.

Amd is gonna have to pull a rabit out of the hat to get me to buy a phenom. but i totally agree, intel has it all over amd. Really wish I'd gone to the "dark side"...lol.
Thanks for your kind words.
Anyway, HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!

My am2 mobo is a socket 940. Will (if they make them) quad core cpu's work in my am2 board at the higher frequencies? I hear the will work but not at the higher frequencies, just at the am2 frequencies. (still learning about this, and don't know much.)
Thanks.

For the last couple of weeks I've been playing around with an Asus M2N32-SLI Deluxe and it's been rock solid. It's also an overclocker's dream.

Maybe if I get some spare time I'll run some more more SuperPI benches just to give the K8's one last hurrah. How's 3.6GHz on air sound for an X2?

If they make them? You can buy a quad core phenom/agena now dude

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16819103226