pcChips motherboard

[johnspon]

I wanted everyones opinion...

A friend gave me the job to build (or buy) him a pc.
Now...
I found a really good deal but the motherboard is a pcChips motherboard...

I had a bad experience with the last pcChips motherboard I used...

Its the pcChips 810 Motherboard. So far the reviews I have read have looked good.
This board has Video/Lan/Sound/Modem all built in by SiS...

Any thoughts?

Its a complete system for only 369.99 (then shipping)
128-BIT 3D AGP GRAPHICS ACCELERATOR SHARED MEMORY 8 to 64MB ON BOARD
SOUND ON BOARD
56K FAX MODEM
10/100BASE NETWORK CARD
128MEG SDRAM MEMORY
20GIG HARD DRIVE ATA100
3.5INCH FLOPPY
52X CDROM
2 USB PORTS
KEYBOARD
MOUSE
SPEAKERS

He is NOT a power user....
What are your thoughts?
Here is the URL to the system I am looking at...

HERE IS THE COMPUTER (http://www.connect-computers.com/sf_proddetail.asp?sf_p_ID=2RB475O9H13JQ0G6BPTDJ3P4 8L)

[frank5]

If you play no 3d video games, then the system is ok. Even though it claims 3d graphics, I don't think the video chipset is direct3d or opengl compatible which all the new and even older games require.
If you want a cheap all in one board system, there are better boards which offer better onboard video. You can only use this system for very low end uses. What a shame with such a fast processor.
Build one instead and start a thread asking for the best all in one motherboard including onboard video and sound quality.
I would be curious to see what comes out of that.

[Lycia]

Most everyone I talked to has problems with PCChips, including myself...so why on earth would you use one? Would you personally use one in a PC meant for your own use? If not, why would you put one ina freind? Friends don't let friends use PCCHips!!!

Seriously...I would never use them...most motherboard makers, reputable ones, will make a cheap all-in-one board..I built a cheap pc for a relative using an MSI motherboard...I find them to be very stable...

[araaraara]

ECS makes very good low cost yet decent performance builtin motherboards.

[Rugor]

PCChips is one of those brands that produces the no-name boards you hate finding in a system. The kind that don't have the make or model printed on them.

Remember if they won't put their name on it I won't part with my money for it.

ECS is a much better choice.

But generally look for a good brand and check their low-end or OEM boards.

[Peter M]

Oh yeah, PC-Chips sucks and ECS is great. HELLO? It's the same company folks! Besides, I've been using PC-Chips gear on a regular basis (approaching 100 systems built) for years, no more no less problems than with "major brand" gear - for half the price. btw, ECS/PC-Chips are worldwide #1 in mainboard shipments now, and the reason for that isn't that they're making nothing but ****.

The M810LR in particular is an excellent choice for normal home and office computing tasks. It's getting a bit old, having only SDRAM support, but it's still a reasonable choice.

Performance is OK, even the 3D is very usable as long as you keep the resolution low. With LAN and modem included as well, this is as complete as it gets at that price level. You have 2 PCI and one AGP for later upgrades, two more USB ports lurking inside, plus 4-channel sound and Athlon-XP compatibility on the latest board revisions.

regards, Peter

[araaraara]

I don't care who makes it. As long as it doesn't say PC-Chips, Compaq, HP, PB, Dell, I will use it. I would only use one of those boards if it was free (like $10 or less) or you paid me to.

I have built a ton of K6-2 500 systems at school using some PC-Chips pieces of ****(school got a deal and bought the boards before I even knew about it). They were all a pain to configure and they crash all the time, until I raised the Vcore and IO, but even then they still crash and run terribly. If had made the decision, I would have gotten ECS K7S7A boards and Durons, for marginally more than these things cost.

[Antix]

I don't know why you guys have problems with these PCChips boards. I have dealt with three of these boards, two were older VXPro Pentium MMX boards, and my own being the M810LMR 5.0.

As long as you know how to build a PC, (this includes using the plastic spacers for the screw mounts on the chassis!)these boards are fine for the budget user. As Peter said, you people diss PCChips yet you praise ECS. All the same company people! Amptron, ECS, Alton, Chicony, Eagletec are all the same board, same bios, same upgrades.

So far I have had the M810LMR running Redhat 7.2, Mandrake 8.1, Windows 98, Windows 2000, and Windows XP, and there were no issues. Latest BIOS as of 11/23/01 was also used on the board, to allow 13x multipliers. Runs like a charm and is very fast compared to my R.I.P. MSI board.

[Lycia]

Originally posted by Antix
As long as you know how to build a PC, (this includes using the plastic spacers for the screw mounts on the chassis!)these boards are fine for the budget user. As Peter said, you people diss PCChips yet you praise ECS. All the same company people! Amptron, ECS, Alton, Chicony, Eagletec are all the same board, same bios, same upgrades.



LOL. Oh I am sure you'll say you have waaaaay more experience building PCs than I have...And it may be true. However, I do know how to build em. I do know how to service and maintain them...I'd be out of a job very quickly if I did something like leaving off the spacers when mounting the motherboard...

The simple fact is, of the several, can't tell you the actual number, PCChips motherboard based PCs I've worked on every single one had problems. And of those I was responsible for building two after the owner/user bought the parts and gave them to me to put together. Only those two I built still have the original motherboard. I convinced the others to switch. The owner/user of the last two keep money in my pocket..

By the way, I did not praise ECS. The only ECS board I ever used I returned as soon as I realized it was a PCCHips board.

[DocEvi1]

I would personally go for the Asus A7N266. It has onboard sound and GF2 graphics, Asus quality and DDR support (I think).

It retails at £180 here in the UK, but even thats a lot, you can get a A7V266-E (on board sound) for £100, then £40 for a no-name GF2 card now.

Stefan

[BigBlue66]

The M810LMR PC CHIPS board is up to version 7.0 now I think. I have run two version 3.0 boards for over two years with no problems whatsoever.

I would not hesitate to build or own another computer with an 810 board in it.

My two cents: Buy it. Use it. Rejoice. Don't freakin worry, be happy. :D

[Antix]

All I can say is that I have impressed by the performance of these "budget" boards.

In the who knows how many systems I have built, I have used Asus, MSI, and PCCHips as those are the only types I can get in my area. I have experienced issues with all three at sometime or another, generally BIOS updates have fixed issues that I came across. Regardless of the price that you pay for a computer, it is going to have flaws. The XP/SB Live! "buzz" issue is something that I hope to be fixed in the future.

[elroy]

I too recommend PC Chips boards. Cheap and reasonably good performer. If you want to build a top of the line gaming machine then shell out more money and buy an Abit, Asus or Epox. Biostar is another good board at a reasonable price. They don't put their name on them because they are resold by so many different companies, DUH!

[hyborn]

Just built my first PC, also using and M810 and have found it quite stable.

The only problem it had was with one of my 256 sticks of RAM, which I replaced, now it runs like a dream.

There were a few problems during the first post when it was all put together, so i would use another manufacturers board next time.

Cant complain with regards to the graphics / sound / modem (dont use the LAN) I have a 3D card in there, but the onboard graphics were fine. Sound is good (as far as I know, I have never had PCI sound, always onboard) and the modem works fine.

My only question is, on the M810, i have read that it only supports processors up to 1200mhz, but I really wanted to upgrade my duron 1gig to something higher. Does anyone know up to what speed proc' you can install on this board?

[Antix]

Here are the revisions, look for the PCB # that can be found near the USB header:

3.0: Up to Athlon T-Bird 1.2 / Duron 900 @ 200 FSB
5.0: Up to Athlon T-Bird 1.4 / Duron 900 @ 266 FSB
7.0: Athlon XP 1500+/ Duron Morgan 1GHz and higher @ 266 FSB.

Putting in the 7.0 BIOS on 5.0 board will not make the 5.0 recognize the XP/Morgan. This is due to voltage being delivered on the board.

[MonkeyBoy]

A few years ago I purchased a cheapo PC which had an M748MR motherboard in it. No sooner did I get it home when I found out what a bear it was to configure. It ran quite stable for a couple of years until one of he RAM slots quit working, I removed the RAM and now run on two slots but is very temperemental if I move it for cleaning etc.

Just my opinion mind you, I would not buy another. Gonna use an Asus P4B266 for my next creation. We shall see how that goes.