Help me choose a LGA775 mobo with 4 RAM slots and 4 SATA ports.

A

arvnd

Disciple
In a recent lightning strike my mobo seems to have got affected. My modem also went up in smoke, but that’s a different story. The built in LAN controller on my mobo has stopped working and the SATA controller seems to be kind of flaky. I have 3 HDDs; 2 of the SATA ports seem to be ok, the 3rd one is very unreliable. And USB hard disks don’t work with the mobo anymore. I suspected the PSU initially, but even after connecting a different PSU, the problems remain, so I’m pretty sure the mobo is to blame.

So anyways, thing is, the mobo seems to on it’s last legs and I want to replace it. My current PC config is as below

Pentium D 2.8Ghz
P5LD2VM-SE Mobo
2GB 667Mhz DDR2 RAM
250 GB + 500GB + 1TB HDDs
iBall 400W PSU
22†LCD, DVD-RW, 8400GS, speakers and other stuff

I use my PC mostly for browsing and movies, so the current config is more than enough for me – no reason to upgrade, so I’m looking to just replace the mobo. Yeah I know my proccy is kinda weak, but works for me.

I’m looking for a mobo that’s

1)VFM (of course, cheaper the better)
2)Has 4 RAM slots (I have 2x1GB sticks, so I want to leave some room to upgrade RAM)
3)Has 4 SATA ports (I guess that’s kinda standard nowadays)
4)Is MicroATX form factor (my cabby is uATX)
5)Not very outdated chipset – i.e I should be able to retain the option to upgrade my proccy at a later date (I guess any LGA775 mobo will give me that option) and end up with a “not so obsolete†PC at a later date.

That’s it. Pour in your suggestions. Thanks :)
 
Amien said:
You haven't mentioned your budget.

Anyway,
TheITWares -GIGABYTE GA-EG45M-UD2H LGA 775 Intel G45 Micro ATX Motherboard
TheITWares -Gigabyte GA-EG41MF-US2H Micro-ATX LGA 775 Motherboard - TheITWares
TheITWares -Gigabyte GA-EQ45M-S2 LGA 775 Micro-ATX Motherboard - TheITWares

Any of these should be a good choice.
Click to expand...

Thanks..budget in mind is about 3K but prepared to stretch it to 4K max.

Gigabyte GA-EG41MF-US2H @ 3.95K seems to be a good option, but newegg reviews say that this board specifically has problems with double sided RAM sticks. Seems it accepts only 2 such sticks.
 
arvnd said:
Thanks..budget in mind is about 3K but prepared to stretch it to 4K max.

Gigabyte GA-EG41MF-US2H @ 3.95K seems to be a good option, but newegg reviews say that this board specifically has problems with double sided RAM sticks. Seems it accepts only 2 such sticks.
Click to expand...

In that case i suggest you go with the Gigabyte G31M ES2L(cheaper and more established) or the G41M ES2L if you want slightly better onboard video. Both these boards are proven performers. Both cost under 2.5k. The only thing you are losing are 2 RAM slots, which are irrelevant as it is since you will have no use for more than 4GB of RAM.
You cannot go wrong with these, I highly recommend them.
 
i have the same motherboard n it also need change its working fine bt little bit slow.. in early ages it was better then the dual core.. configure..

m looking for this thread as i will also need to change my mobo..for sure..
 
Amien said:
In that case i suggest you go with the Gigabyte G31M ES2L(cheaper and more established) or the G41M ES2L if you want slightly better onboard video. Both these boards are proven performers. Both cost under 2.5k. The only thing you are losing are 2 RAM slots, which are irrelevant as it is since you will have no use for more than 4GB of RAM.

You cannot go wrong with these, I highly recommend them.
Click to expand...

Yeah...the only prob is that I have 2x1GB sticks with me (which I'm using currently). They will fill up the 2 RAM slots and leave me no room to upgrade.

Otherwise I'll have to sell/exchange my 2x1GB sticks for a 2GB stick. Looks like none of the budget mobos have 4 RAM slots nowadays, so I might end up doing this.

Gigabyte G31M ES2L looks tempting at 2.25K. I might as well buy one and be done with it. Onboard graphics is fine..I have an 8400GS (does the job for HD playback).

RAM prices are absurdly high now, that's why I didnt want to mess with the RAM. Any idea how much I'll have to pay from my pocket to exchange 2x1GB RAM (umax brand still under warranty) with a 2GB stick ?
 
arvnd said:
Yeah...the only prob is that I have 2x1GB sticks with me (which I'm using currently). They will fill up the 2 RAM slots and leave me no room to upgrade.

Otherwise I'll have to sell/exchange my 2x1GB sticks for a 2GB stick. Looks like none of the budget mobos have 4 RAM slots nowadays, so I might end up doing this.
Gigabyte G31M ES2L looks tempting at 2.25K. I might as well buy one and be done with it. Onboard graphics is fine..I have an 8400GS (does the job for HD playback).

RAM prices are absurdly high now, that's why I didnt want to mess with the RAM. Any idea how much I'll have to pay from my pocket to exchange 2x1GB RAM (umax brand still under warranty) with a 2GB stick ?
Click to expand...

I got mine G41 yesterday and all I can tell you is that its good but you may need some tweaking. As in my case I had to do some RAM tweaking so that it accepts my second RAM (As suggested by Amien). And than it did not picked my Win7 installation so had to re-install that. but that It picked my RAM as 800 Mhz.

G31 is not available with TheItWares though they have G41 with them.

Why not you try a Intel board, they are kind of board which will run whatever you throw on them but than with no tweaking options which you have to decide you want or not.
 
^^ Thanks for the suggestions, guys. Well, guess what ? I cleaned all the dust off the motherboard thoroughly with a vaccuum cleaner, cleaned the power cable contacts on the mobo and now suddenly it has started working properly.

i.e the external USB HDDs are now working fine, SATA ports are also fine. The LAN controller is still fried, but I have an old PCI LAN card which I can use.

Anyways now it's running fine, so problem solved (atleast for the moment).

Thanks for the suggestions. Will keep them in mind when my board dies :)
 
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