Looking for Socket 478 PCI-E motherboard recommendations

RADARADA Apple Valley, CA Member
edited July 2008 in Hardware
The P4P800 E Deluxe I've been using for the last 3 years died.. :(

Looking to do minor upgrade, the $$ is not around to build a new system, so I'd like to use as much of my old system as possible..

I'd like to replace the board and upgrade my video card, but re-use my memory, proc, drives, etc..


So, that being said, who makes the best Socket 478 PCI-E motherboard? I know this is older hardware I'm going have to get off ebay. When this hardware was the latest and greatest, I had just completed a build along with being too busy with school and life to keep up on what was the best at the time...

Comments

  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited June 2008
    You don't have to go eBay. I'd also take a look trading forums: Icrontic, Anandtech, Hardforums, and PCPerspective. Back in the 478 days, the performance and quality boards Asus P4P, Abit IC7, and Epox. Intel also made very good quality boards, but they have few tweaking options.

    I ran two or three Abit IC7 series boards. They were excellent quality and superb performers. You are much more likely to find Asus boards on the used market though, due to their market penetration.
  • RyderRyder Kalamazoo, Mi Icrontian
    edited June 2008
    RADA, afaik, you will have to look to Asrock or other manuf that do hybrid.

    Everything that Leo mentioned is just AGP.

    http://www.asrock.com/mb/index.asp?s=478
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited June 2008
    Everything that Leo mentioned is just AGP.
    OOOH, didn't even think about GPU interface! (crap, that's embarassing)

    Of course, you could go PCI video. Don't know if you can find any PCI cards that are better than the onboard GPUs.
  • RADARADA Apple Valley, CA Member
    edited June 2008
    Whew!

    Beginning to realize that a Socket 478 pci-e Mobo is rarer than a chartreuse Bigfoot!

    ONLY place I can find one is an ASUS P4GD1 on ebay comming out of Hong Kong. I'm afraid I'd buy this one, and get an old PII board.... It looks liek they were never released in the states in large numbers...

    I just contacted a friend of mine that is from Hong Kong and in the parts buisness to see if he can help, but if anyone know where I can find one, I'd appreciate it.
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited June 2008
    Why all the trouble to resurrect a 478 system? I just don't get it. Is this a computer that has a user that needs computing now, right now? In other words, you can't just wait, save up a little more money for a low end C2D system?

    A low-end Celeron dual core matched with a low-end ECS Socket 775 system would rings around any, ANY Socket 478. I would really do more research before you put any money into a completely dead end Socket 478 system.

    If time is critical here, why don't you just check Craigslist for a bargain basement old 478 system. Just scavenge the parts you want. You might be able to find an old complete system, which would include parts for your spares bin or for resale. I know that on my local Craigslist, P4/478 systems are a dime a dozen. I bet most of their owners, when those old dog systems won't move, would be willing to take next to nothing just to get rid of it.
  • RADARADA Apple Valley, CA Member
    edited June 2008
    Leo,

    This is the gaming system I built a few years ago.

    I was hoping to get a mobo and a decent pci-e video card to enable me to play some newer games without having to buy a whole new system.

    If I buy a 775 board, I have to get a new proc, as well as a pci-e video card.

    Just trying to get off a little cheaper than that...
  • _k_k P-Town, Texas Icrontian
    edited June 2008
    Or you could call up the Fry's in Anaheim, [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica,](714) 688-3000, and ask if they have any of a MSI board in that is 478 with express and around 65 doll hairs....at my store at least it is.
    [/FONT]
  • muddocktormuddocktor
    edited July 2008
    RADA, it just isn't cost effective to try to upgrade to a 478 board that does PCI-e. You should still be able to find some 775 hybrids out there that can reuse your ddr ram, but really that shouldn't be a concern either. You can get 2 X 1 bg kits of DDR2-800 for $50 now (I just priced some G. Skill PQ DDR2-800 kit for a friend). Really, since you want to go PCI-e you should just upgrade to a cheap 775 board, DDR2 and a cheap dual core Pentium (Core Architecture based). They will run rings around the old 478 system and be much easier to upgrade to.

    If you insist on staying with that old hot P4 proc, Newegg has a MSI 945 chipset based mATX board that also has a x16 PCI-e slot. But it uses DDR2 so you would still have to buy ram and it also requires a 24 pin ATX psu. It's right here.
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