Biostar Motherboards

Does anyone own, have any experience with or knowledge about Biostar motherboards? I'm building my brother and sister-in-law a new computer for a late Christmas present and found a decent deal on a Biostar mobo with an XP 2400.

The problem is, I have no knowledge of this particular company. There is a [tight] set budget, so going for something like an Asus, Gigabyte or something isn't really affordable. Going by Pricewatch, there's about a $50 difference ($100 for the Biostar/cpu).

What model is it? Or more precisely, what chipset?

They're not generally bad, but have had some bad models.

Basically, if you're not an overclocker, you look at general features and things you need and don't need. If the features fit you well, and the deal is good, then take it.

If there are problems, then, usually, some (or even all) can be fixed by flashing the most recent BIOS. It's easy.

The particular model I was looking at is the M7VIP. They have a couple of more models for a few bucks more, I just picked the first one that I ran across.

Originally posted by MobileBadBoy
The particular model I was looking at is the M7VIP. They have a couple of more models for a few bucks more, I just picked the first one that I ran across.

Eh, it nothing special but it'll get the job done. If something fails, you can always play the RMA game.

I guess I'll just wait and see if I can come up with 50 or 60 extra bucks. The downside is some of the money I have will disappear before then. :(

Well, after looking some more I found an Asus A7V8X/XP 2400 combo for about $30 more. I feel it would be worth the extra money to get a higher-quality board.

I read a few reviews and most of the people said they've bought more than one of these boards after buying their first. The only complaint I've seen is that some say the RAM slots are a little too close to the AGP slot which you may have to remove the video card to replace RAM. My brother won't have to worry about that so I don't see that being a problem.

Overview:
http://www.asus.com.tw/mb/socketa/a7v8x/overview.htm

Specs:
http://www.asus.com.tw/mb/socketa/a7v8x/specification.htm


Edit: Well this is on hold. All the companies that have it for this price range turned out to be the same company, and reading on Reseller Ratings, I may NOT be buying this mobo/proc. combo.

The A7V8X is good. One of the top notch KT400 motherboards out there.

Since you are liking these combos, I'm thinking that maybe, just maybe, you're looking at bzboyz. If you are, don't. They are one of the worst retailers out there..


For a good deal, with a decent price range.. as far as mobo/cpu go... try:

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=13-123-207&catalog=22&manufactory=BROWSE&depa=1
+
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=19-103-378&catalog=343&depa=1

I don't know about the prices exactly, since you didn't provide a price range... however, if you do, I'll be more than happy to pick something else out.

Yeah, that was the reason for my Edit. Turns out PartsPc.com (who originated my last post before the edit), BZBoyz.com and a few others are all the same people which had the $130 prices.

Weird I looked at NewEgg earlier and couldn't find combos. I've bought through them before so they were one of the first I went to.

I've found 2 companies (although more money) that I'm going to go through to get the A7V8X combo. ($182 for the XP 2400, $150 for the 2200).

Thanks for your input though. I appreciate it. I haven't built a PC in 2 years so i haven't checked stuff out in a while.

Yeah. It's always really weird once you get out of the loop for a certain activity/hobby.

Good luck with the whole building and installing... and I hope whoever receives it is happy.