Socket 478 Mobo

[Spock]

Sup /C&WD/, It has finally come to the point in my computers life to upgrade 2 things I've neglected over the past 5 3/4ths years now in this rig.

The aging motherboard and processor, a 2ghz P4 (Northwood) and BIOS corrupted Intel D845PT. Now I actually just purchased a 3ghz HT P4 & mobo from a fellow CS:Source player for only $35 shipped. He said its just collecting dust and since he runs only dual and quad systems, this would just waste power for what he needs. (something about medical processing/imaging he said)

Now the kicker is he's pretty much giving me the main board for free, and im really paying him for the processor, but he said the main board (im not sure what model exactly yet) has a volt mod for overclocking soldered on, but part of it came off and I would have to solder it back on myself (which I know some people from work who actually do this stuff outside of work, overclocking and all that) before the mobo would turn on. But since I am a total pessimist, I already am trying to prepare and find another socket 478 main board in case the worst happens and his board is toast.

But like all old aging things, I really cant find a single s478 board anywhere, that still has 8x agp on it. I mean there are loads on eBay that have 4xagp and fit everything else I need (ddr, 3/4pci slots, s478, sata & pata). Im really at a loss if his board is toast, since my current board can only support cpu's up to 2.6ghz.

NewEgg only shows 1 s478 board, but its all pci express, tiger direct shows nothing other than heat sinks. Is there anywhere im overlooking for this board, or an I totally forked?

tl;dr : I'm getting a mobo/poc combo, and the mobo might DOA, need halp finding another in worst case

 

[GT3mich]

Finding that board with an AGP slot is going to be pretty difficult. Isn't that like 4 year old tech?

 

[Spock]

Finding that board with an AGP slot is going to be pretty difficult. Isn't that like 4 year old tech?

Yeah, so? I need to find something at least, because I don't have the funds to move to a PCI express system anytime soon. I already have a system that works great for what I do, and I'm getting pretty much a huge upgrade to my current system for nearly nothing. I just need a backup in the worst possible case.

 

[opendriver]

I think that you might have to go to ebay for something that old. I don't know of any place that sells the older technology, or that might have a broader selection.

 

[Spock]

And I've looked on eBay, but the only boards that come close to what I would need still run almost $230+. I also have no idea how paypal and all that really works, so im a bit uneasy on how to buy something off it.

 

[Azuremen]

And I've looked on eBay, but the only boards that come close to what I would need still run almost $230+. I also have no idea how paypal and all that really works, so im a bit uneasy on how to buy something off it.

And for that much you could easily get a new motherboard with a dual core processor...

400 or so dollars can get a decent setup actually... probably a huge leap forward from what you are running right now.

 

[Year.Zero]

Asus P4S8X-X.

It's a P478, I have one.

 

[Spock]

And for that much you could easily get a new motherboard with a dual core processor...

400 or so dollars can get a decent setup actually... probably a huge leap forward from what you are running right now.

But that also entails, going from DDR to DDR2, and AGP to PCI-E. I at most for the next few months anyways, will only have maybe $300 at most on a payday, and 1/2 will at least go to bills, the rest gas and food. I just don't have enough to perform a full system upgrade right now, or even if I saved for the next few months.

Of course I'd love to get a Q6600 & 680i/780i setup, but for what I have now, and what im getting from this kid will be a huge upgrade from what I have now, mind you Im used to 10-30fps in 90% of the games I play, so even if i can get 40-60fps average, im fine.

Asus P4S8X-X.

It's a P478, I have one.

Damn, a quick google search shows thats exactly what im looking for, but I can only find this
http://www.superwarehouse.com/ASUS_P4S8X-X_ATX_Pentium_4_Motherboard/P4S8X-X/p/255802
and it says discontinued, and no way to add it to a cart or purchase.

 

[Year.Zero]

Damn, a quick google search shows thats exactly what im looking for, but I can only find this
http://www.superwarehouse.com/ASUS_P4S8X-X_ATX_Pentium_4_Motherboard/P4S8X-X/p/255802
and it says discontinued, and no way to add it to a cart or purchase.

Don't worry—every time I pop in to a computer parts store, they almost always have one sitting on the shelves. In the last year or so, from about 7 or 8 places I've wandered into, I've seen the P4S8X-X or the P4S8X there 6-7 times. If they don't, good chances are they'll know someone who does have it and getting it into their store is usually free. 👍

 

[Spock]

Don't worry—every time I pop in to a computer parts store, they almost always have one sitting on the shelves. In the last year or so, from about 7 or 8 places I've wandered into, I've seen the P4S8X-X or the P4S8X there 6-7 times. If they don't, good chances are they'll know someone who does have it and getting it into their store is usually free. 👍

Up here in Montana (at least the mid/south western area), there are no computer parts stores, the only thing close is the best buy I work at, and we cant even order motherboards at all.

 

[Casio]

The ASRock 775Dual-vsta. Has both 8x AGP and PCI-E, and supports DDR and DDR2. The only problem it is socket 775, rather than 478, so you'd need another processor, but you can pick up an old P4 or Celeron 775 for next to nothing and when you get the money upgrade to a dual/quad core. And since it has AGP you can still use your old card, and again when you get the money you can go to a new PCI-E card. (Though I'm not sure if the PCI-E slot is 16x)

They're probably difficult to track down now, but you could probably still find them on eBay or a few online stores.

 

[livemusic]

I have a GA-8VM800M from Gigabyte, found one at ebay:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Gigabyte-GA-8VM...ryZ80160QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

It's has an onboard video card but it also has a 8x AGP slot. I like this Mobo, never had any problems with it.