[WTB] Looking for 'pretty' motherboard

[mdnelson09]

This is probably an odd request, but I’m on the hunt for a newer motherboard, (amd or intel) that 'looks good'. The only problem is it can’t have any color to it, unless it is purple. I know older 478's and Athlon xp motherboards came printed on purple, that isn’t what I’m looking for.

The motherboard will be part of my anniversary gift to my girl this year, and the plan is to build a desktop from scratch (you may have guessed, her favorite color is purple). Everything depends on the motherboard. It’s the season of giving lately so I’m short on money until the moth passes, so I’m just looking around.

tl;dr - looking for a black and white (or purple accented) motherboard, preferably am3, am3+, or 1156, 1155, 1366. will consider am2's and 775's. doesn’t need to be a gaming board, just something that looks cool. (needs a pcie rail for a vidjia card).

Thanks

[AthlonX2]

The Gigabyte and ASrock 990FX motherboards are both all black,if that suits your no color clause

[mdnelson09]

I saw those, and i think something like that might work, but instead of handing newegg all of my money again, i figured i could help anyone on the forums. Im also on a budget with this motherboard, and the 990fx is a bit more motherboard than will be used.

[cadaveca]

I think athlon gave you the right direction. Gigbyte's UD5 boards are typically the boards with the least amount of colour, being mostly all black. Some of the UD7 models are jsut as colour-less with the 990FX board he's thinking of just having some gold accents(UD5 is blue).

Also, Gigabyte GA-P67A-UD4-B3.

[THRiLL KiLL]

how cheap or low end are you looking for?

ecs made purple motherboards for thier am2+ line

[mdnelson09]

Originally Posted by THRiLL KiLL

how cheap or low end are you looking for?

ecs made purple motherboards for thier am2+ line

The destop will be used for minor stuff like online surfing, small gaming (the sims 3). I think an am2+ would be nice but i want the motherboard liquid cooled too (as well as the gpu) for aesthetics. I'm planning on using a clear tubing with UV purple liquid. etc. etc. Ill take a look at it now.

Thanks

[mdnelson09]

Another question for everyone, i found this and was wondering what experiences people have had with ECS, and the quality of their motherboards.

[THRiLL KiLL]

ecs.

they typically are a "value" brand, meaning that they lack alot of options (over clocking and such)

they are a decent board if you are not expecting much.

I have owned 3 ecs boards in the past, and have not had problems with them.

But i would read some review, and look at the reviews that people give it on newegg to see if there are alot of doa for the specific model.


how much are you looking to spend on a motherboard cpu combo?

[sno.lcn]

If you're doing any serious overclocking, ECS is not the way to go. For your purpose, it would make a great board

[mdnelson09]

Originally Posted by THRiLL KiLL

how much are you looking to spend on a motherboard cpu combo?

Thats my hardest decision, i cant come up with a price range. I really want to stop and say money is no object, but im living on my own with a ok job and Christmas right around the corner.

I guess im looking for the best bang for my buck that fits my needs (low end, aesthetically pleasing, functional for 'daily use').

Again, thank you everyone for your help so far.

[THRiLL KiLL]

if you are looking for something cheap. i can sell you this for 90 Shipped:

ECS RX780M-A http://www.tweaktown.com/news/8146/a...red/index.html
Amd Opteron 1210 Dual core
Stock Heatsink / no i/o shield
2gb (2x 1gb ddr2 6400 Patriot)
Ati 3450 256mb video card

I can also throw in the these hdds for free
Western Digital 120gb Ide hdd
Maxtor 80gb Ide hdd


then all you would need is case, power supply, dvd rom and your cooling

[happita]

Maybe I can interest you in my Gigabyte Z68 mobo?

http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=155616

[mlee49]

Orange and black is where its at, I have a DFI P45 LAN party Jr for sale. One if the best 775 overclockers and easily pushes any chip over 400 FSB.
$60 shipped in the US.

[mdnelson09]

Thanks so much everyone for the interest! im bookmarking all of you [FS] to look at later. I drew out the water cooling loop and worked out the numbers about an hour ago, and im already over $500. o.o yikes!

[t_ski]

Best bet is to stick with air cooling to keep the price down. Watercooling is great, but will cost a lot more to get you up and going. Sneekypeet has a bunch of great coolers for sale.

[mdnelson09]

Originally Posted by t_ski

Best bet is to stick with air cooling to keep the price down. Watercooling is great, but will cost a lot more to get you up and going. Sneekypeet has a bunch of great coolers for sale.

The whole project is designed around the liquid cooling setup. Im currently running a water cooling kit, that if i wanted to i could tear down, but i would rather keep with the design. i guess im just picky about nothing?

[erocker]

I'm not sure what kind of block(s) would work on that ECS board. Full coverage waterblocks are only made for higher end boards and there's really nothing to watercool on that ECS board. Cooling the VRMs would be nice but judging by the heatsink on it, the layout is a bit funky. So, I guess I need to ask, what are you going to use to watercool the motherboard?

[mdnelson09]

the goal is to have a very simple cpu to 5850 loop that will be visable with a full front plexiglass

[mdnelson09]

So yesterday, my old boss called me up and asked me if i wanted an old emachines w3622, he said he stripped the HDD and RAM but other than that, the system should be working. I was a tad skeptical but i took the box back and opened up the side to find this.


Specs are:
Intel Celeron 420(1.60GHz) | (supports up to core2Duo E6500 i believe)
512MB DDR2 667 (1 x 512MB) | (Max 2 x 1gb)
(1/1) PCI-E x16 slot

I feel like this motherboard was a gift from god until i read the specs, the limitation of the ram is a huge setback. I don't think the motherboard would even be worth water cooling, (nor would the Phenom II i was looking at). I might start the case build from this but i feel that this motherboard is reenforcing my idea of getting a sandybridge 1155.

[t_ski]

I can hook you up with a faster chip if you need one. I have a bunch of P4 and PD chips (520, 915, 640, etc.).

[mdnelson09]

Originally Posted by t_ski

I can hook you up with a faster chip if you need one. I have a bunch of P4 and PD chips (520, 915, 640, etc.).

Thanks. I probably have a C2D in my box of junk but if i cant find it might contact you. Thing is, i dont really want to use the motherboard :\ (gosh im picky)

[t_ski]

It's not bad for anything besides gaming though. If she's not going to game on it, then you should be good. The C2D would be much better in it though...

[mdnelson09]

Originally Posted by t_ski

It's not bad for anything besides gaming though. If she's not going to game on it, then you should be good. The C2D would be much better in it though...

I guess air cooled will work for now, and now I'm on the hunt for 2 x 1gb ddr2 (any speed).

[t_ski]

2x1GB Supertalent DDR2-800 for $15 shipped here:

http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=154497