[Denise_M]

My mobo is failing. . . sparks, smoke and port by port unuseable. I need a new mobo fast. Unfortunately, I have no idea what mobo to get. This is what I presently have:

Biostar TFORCE 6100-939 mobo which supports dual channel DDR
- Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 SATA 3.0Gb/s 320Gb hard drive (RAID array not set up and never will be)
- AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ Toledo 2.2GHz 2 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket 939 Processor
- ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 64 Pro 92mm CPU Cooler
- Corsair 620W PSU
- Ballistix 2x1G RAM, 184-pin DIMM, 128MX64 DDR PC3200, Unbuffered
- NORCO-4618 PCI-X / PCI eSATA / SATA II / SATA I Controller Card RAID 0/1/5/10/JBOD
- Windows XP X64, SP2
- NetFramework 2.0 Redistributable Pack for X64

I don't do gaming, so that's not a consideration, and I won't be overclocking either. I do a lot of video work on my pc . . . watching them, editing, cutting, splitting, joining, etc.

What I want are a lot of external ports for SATA, firewire and USB 2.0, as many of each as possible, or a slot where I can plug in an adapter card.

I have 17 external hdds now. Some are SATA, some SATA II, some firewire, and some USB 2.0. I have them all connected to this pc using on-board ports and HUBS and I'll want to do the same with the new mobo but without the smoke and sparks. . . My present mobo has a built-in graphics card but if I have to buy one, please let me know which is best for watching videos and doing video work.

I would limit the price to about $150.00 but I have to hurry fast because it looks like socket 939's are disappearing.

I wouldn't ask you to do so much thinking and looking for me except that when I think that what I've found is perfect, it's usually the wrong thing.

I just want a mobo with lots of ports and good for video, and it has to be able to use all the other parts I have (cpu, RAM, etc).

Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

[eyeCpc]

17 external HDs! :eek: You certainly go for drive space don't you?!

I wouldn't go with Biostar since they seem to lack behind others. But you are kind of taxing any board you would replace it with especially the usb bus. The only and I mean "only" 939 model found at newegg at this time is even worse namely the JetWay model seen at Newegg.com - JetWay J939GT4-SLI-G 939 NVIDIA nForce4 SLI ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail

You may end up shopping around a bit since evertone is leaning at AM2 and AM2+ models until the AM3 boards eventually come out as far as AMD is concerned. TigerDirect does have two Asus and one MSI model available as seen at Socket 939 Motherboards, AMD Athlon 64 Socket 939 Motherboard at TigerDirect.com

[darksideleader]

Asus A8N-SLI SE Motherboard - NVIDIA, Socket 939, ATX Motherboard, Audio, PCI Express, SLI Ready, Gigabit LAN, SPDIF, USB 2.0, Serial ATA, RAID at TigerDirect.com

Looks good, your gonna need a PCI-Express videocard however.
I reccommend this videocard:
Newegg.com - MSI RX2600Pro-T2D256E Radeon HD 2600PRO 256MB 128-bit GDDR2 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready Video Card - Retail

DX10 might get you going in the future, depending on what you do the videocard will take some of the load off of the CPU.

A new computer is always recommended, more future proof and sturdy as well
better performance, and won't cost as much as you think.

[eyeCpc]

I ran the A8N-SLI model on the last build here. Well I mainly run Asus models while also looking at Gigabyte and MSI. I would go with the MSI HD 2600XT model over the Pro however if you were also looking for a new card. Newegg.com - MSI RX2600XT Diamond Plus Radeon HD 2600XT 512MB 128-bit GDDR4 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail For the slightly higher price it works.

[Brunoboy]

Hi Denise, Don't know where you live but on EBAY Australia there were plenty of Asus socket 939 mb's at a good price. I bought a brand new A8S-X FOR ABOUT $60.00 aud, in the box. Also got a dual core Athlon 64 3800 to go with it. I presently have a MSI NVIDIA GEFORCE7300 SE. Its only a 128mb card but fo me it does the job. The A8S-X IS ONE OF THE OLDER BOARDS BUT A LOT OF PEOPLE HAVE HAD A GOOD RUN WITH THEM. Will only take ddr sticks not ddr2. Has 4 slots though.Good luck on your decision and hunting down a good buy. Cheers .

[eyeCpc]

The 7300 is a DX9 model not DX10 compatible. That would be one thing to consider if you later decide to upgrade to Vista. Netframework 3.0 is also part of the updates and 3.5 is now available.

[colin]

I have a biostar MB 939 sittin around i'm not using that I would sell to you for cheap I will get the specs when I get home I know its a T series and I believe SLI

[Trotter]

in the s939 era, DFI, MSI, Gigabyte, ASUS all put out great boards. I still run my DFI.

Here's PriceGrabber's listings for motherboards:
Motherboards - PriceGrabber.com
(won't let me add the end for s939 due to its brackets... you'll have to choose socket 939 from the list on the left)

[colin]

The MB is a Biostar T Force 4U single slot PCI-E
I dont have the back plate for but if you need it send me a PM

price $ 10 US plus shipping (will ship US only)


link to board
Biostar USA

[Drizzt]

Originally Posted by eyeCpc

The 7300 is a DX9 model not DX10 compatible. That would be one thing to consider if you later decide to upgrade to Vista. Netframework 3.0 is also part of the updates and 3.5 is now available.

If he is on s939 then he probably isnt trying to future proof his system too much. But that 2600pro looked pretty good, dx10 capability isnt bad at least .

17 external HD's ..... wow.... lol. You should start renting out space.