I need the name of a motherboard with the following restrictions:

1: it must have the micro atx form factor
2: either socket 370 or slot 1 (to support my celeron 950 with or
without my slocket)
3: support sdram
4: good power management
5: it must be stable and have good windows xp drivers
6: I must have the ability to turn the computer on by pushing either a
key on the keyboard or a mouse button
7: I must be able to purchase it online for less than $100

Hi there!

I think I've found just the thing for you!  Actually, several things!

To locate this board, I searched at DealTime.com
(http://www.dealtime.com) in Category Computers --> Performance
Upgrades --> Motherboards, and in Motherboards with keywords "micro
atx", type "slot 1", price range min. "$60", max. "$100".

SUPERMICRO P6SBA MOTHERBOARD ATX STYLE SLOT-1 BOARD 100FSB
http://www.econopc.com/applications/search/itemdetails.asp?sku=MBSUP6SBA&sc=dt

"The SUPER P6SBA running at a bus speed of 100 MHz, supports single
Pentium III/II 233 ~ *1000 MHz processors. The P6SBA is based on
Intel’s 440BX chipset, which enables AGP, 100 MHz SDRAM, concurrent
PCI, Ultra DMA with a 33 MB/s burst data transfer rate and
Wake-on-Lan."

And the price?

It's on sale!  $93.95!

Reviews at SysOpt.com and Epinions.com indicate a high level of
satisfaction among users - one reviewer called this board's stability
"Tanklike":

User Reviews - SuperMicro P6SBA
[ http://www.sysopt.com/userreviews/mboards/reviewhtml/SuperMicro_P6SBA.html
]

Motherboards » Supermicro P6SBA
[ http://www.epinions.com/cmhd-Motherboards-All-Supermicro_P6SBA ]

I also searched in Category Computers --> Performance Upgrades -->
Motherboards, and in Motherboards with keywords "micro atx", type
"socket 370", price range min. "$60", max. "$100", and came up with 11
matches (the results link was hideously long, so I fed it to
MakeAShorterLink.com first):

[ http://makeashorterlink.com/?N5CF268F ]

Of the boards with tech specs listed, these appear to match your
criteria:

ASUS TUSI-M SIS 630ET CHIPSET ULTRA ATA100 MICRO ATX FORM FACTOR
$60.00
[ http://direct.mwave.com/mwave/skusearch.hmx?UID=DM-5427504&SCriteria=A15894&bop=and
]

INTEL BOXD815EGEWU INTEL 815E CHIPSET ULTRA MICRO ATA100 ATX FORM
FACTOR $82.95
[ http://direct.mwave.com/mwave/skusearch.hmx?UID=DM-5427540&SCriteria=A15915&bop=and
]


Hope these help!

missy-ga

---

Request for Answer Clarification by theman2-ga on 02 Jun 2002 14:20 PDT

okay, your answer has solved part of my problem.

Most of that, I was able to find on my own.

What I need to know is which motherboard has good windows xp support,
which is an issue you didn't address, but is very important to me.

Also, I require that the motherboard has power on via keyboard of
mouse functionality. That, to me, is an unknown with the motherboards
you recommended.

Many of the companies that make these motherboards have broken links
where the detailed specs / pdf files with this information should be
located, so I am not even sure it is possible to know which have the
power via keyboard/mouse. I only know such a thing exists because my
old be6 motherboard had the functionality and I remember that. It is
possible that only a person with first hand experience with these
motherboards will be able to satisfactorily answer this. Sorry if I am
making this difficult, but it is what I require, as I am going to put
this computer in a closet which will require a method to remotely
power it on.

---

Clarification of Answer by missy-ga on 02 Jun 2002 19:45 PDT

Hello again!

There are two socket 370 boards I listed for you as having the specs
available.  Here they are again, along with links to the specs:

ASUS TUSI-M SIS 630ET CHIPSET ULTRA ATA100 MICRO ATX FORM FACTOR
$60.00
http://direct.mwave.com/mwave/skusearch.hmx?UID=DM-5427504&SCriteria=A15894&bop=and

Tech specs
http://direct.mwave.com/mwave/doc2/A15894.html
 
INTEL BOXD815EGEWU INTEL 815E CHIPSET ULTRA MICRO ATA100 ATX FORM
FACTOR $82.95
http://direct.mwave.com/mwave/skusearch.hmx?UID=DM-5427540&SCriteria=A15915&bop=and

Tech Specs
http://direct.mwave.com/mwave/doc2/a15915.html

The links are functional.

This board is recommended for use with WinXP by the vendor:

SUPERMICRO P6SBA MOTHERBOARD ATX STYLE SLOT-1 BOARD 100FSB 
http://www.econopc.com/applications/search/itemdetails.asp?sku=MBSUP6SBA&sc=dt

You'll note that the page suggests that you purchase XP with that
board.  It is also rated by Microsoft for use with WinXP:

Microsoft XP Compatibility Catalog (linked through
MakeAShorterLink.com)
[ http://makeashorterlink.com/?W1F232BF ]

Wake-on-LAN, also known as "remote power on" is supported - this
allows you to turn your computer on with your mouse or keyboard over a
network connection.  To utilize this function, you'll also need a WOL
compliant power supply and NIC.

If this is a stand-alone machine (i.e. you're not connected to a home
network), things get a little trickier.  You can set your computer to
"hibernate" after so many minutes of inactivity, then "wake up" when
you press a key or mouse button through your Advanced Power Management
settings.  This allows you to set your computer to turn off your
monitor and hard disks after a specified period of time, and instruct
the computer to "stand by" after a specific interval, as well as
instruct the computer to stand by at will through the "shut down"
menu.  (You can also specify these settings through your BIOS).  The
"stand by" function is sometimes called a "soft power down".

If it is a full power on/off solution you're seeking, *all* of your
criteria may not be matchable.  I will research this further when my
regular computer parts suppliers are in the shops, during normal
business hours on Monday.  I have e-mail queries out to them, but it
may be a day or two until they get back to me.

It would be helpful if you could let me know whether you are connected
to a home network or LAN, or if this is a stand-alone machine.

Thanks!

missy-ga

Hi,

Generally, when I want to find the best prices on the internet for
computer hardware I use Pricewatch ( http://www.pricewatch.com ).  I
looked up the motherboards that missy-ga found to see if I could find
them for cheaper.

First, I found the SUPERMICRO P6SBA MOTHERBOARD ATX STYLE SLOT-1 BOARD
100FSB
mother board for $92.65 + $9.00 s/h = $101.65.  This is compared to
the $93.95 + $10.74 = $104.69.  (This assumes the cheapest s/h for
each.)  Not a big savings, but $3.00 is $3.00.  To get it for the
$101.65 price go to:

http://www.cruxworks.com/cruxworks/showdetails.phtml?cw=302407

When you go to this page, you have to type in the coupon code, which
is BL07 .  That's B L zero seven.

Second, I also found the ASUS TUSI-M SIS 630ET CHIPSET ULTRA ATA100
MICRO ATX FORM FACTOR motherboard.  I found it for $52.00 + $4.00 s/h
= $56.00, compared to $60.00 + about $8.00 (depending where you live)
= $68.00.  As you can see, this is a $12.00 savings.  You can find
this board at:

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduct.asp

Click on the "Add to Cart" button next to the motherboard marked
$52.00.  Make sure you use the "FedEx Express Saver" shipping option
to get the s/h for $4.00.

Finally, the cheapest price on Pricewatch for the INTEL BOXD815EGEWU
INTEL 815E CHIPSET ULTRA MICRO ATA100 ATX FORM motherboard was the
link that missy-ga provided.

I hope that helps.  As I said before, usually Pricewatch will give you
the cheapest hardware on the Internet, so I thought that I would give
it a try.  Missy-ga did the hard work - actually finding the boards
that you wanted - I just had to search for the boards that she found.

analogkid-ga

Hi,
Sorry, I just noticed that the link for the ASUS TUSI-M SIS 630ET
CHIPSET ULTRA ATA100 MICRO ATX FORM FACTOR motherboard was wrong in my
last comment.  You can be directed to the correct address by
following:

http://makeashorterlink.com/?W6A421BF

Sorry about that.

analogkid-ga