Rock-Solid MB for AMD 64 X2 6000 or 6400+? Not looking to 'clock' ...

I am looking to build a new PS around an AMD 64 X2 6000 or a "Black" 6400+.
I am NOT looking to 'clock it. Stop rolling your eyes; not everyone is not,
what I call, an eXtreme power user. =P So, I am looking for a real nice,
reasonably priced, 'rock-solid' 'board. Asus, Abit, Soltek, etc? Preferably,
for a likely retarded reason, I am not interested in Gigabyte's (sp.?)
products. Long story ... just will not 'do' again ...

In addition, NO SLIs, or CrossFire's, for that matter. I will find a nice
ATI board that will run my rather minimal gaming 'stuff'. 'Coaster
Tycoon(s), MS Flight Sim(s) [from 2k to '03 to present, Counter-Strike, &
HL1 & HL: Orange Box. I know some of you are wondering what am I doing NOT
looking for MAX graphics "what-not" ... I have done a 'lil research, & have
a really, rather firm grasp on the unnecessary need for more than 1 card (In
my instance).

That being that, any additional ideas on an ATI (NON TV tuner) card?

I will also be running 2 Barracuda SATA3 500's & a SATA DVD-ROM & SATA
DVD-+-RW ('media burner', the whole shooting match from DVD-RAM to CD-R &
RWs). Therefore, I, obviously, need @ least 4 on-board SATA 'ports' /
'interfaces' (?).

ANYTHING that anyone could recommend, or add, would be extremely appreciated
....

As always, 'til the next time,

Sniper (Jason)

NY

..

BTW: I will be 'cross-posting', I hope this will not jam up your various
threads ...

..

"Sniper" <sutliff@twcny.rr.com> wrote in message
news:476f877c$0$5008$4c368faf@roadrunner.com...
>I am looking to build a new PS around an AMD 64 X2 6000 or a "Black" 6400+.
>I am NOT looking to 'clock it. Stop rolling your eyes; not everyone is not,
>what I call, an eXtreme power user. =P So, I am looking for a real nice,
>reasonably priced, 'rock-solid' 'board. Asus, Abit, Soltek, etc?
>Preferably, for a likely retarded reason, I am not interested in Gigabyte's
>(sp.?) products. Long story ... just will not 'do' again ...
>
> In addition, NO SLIs, or CrossFire's, for that matter. I will find a nice
> ATI board that will run my rather minimal gaming 'stuff'.

(snip)

Check out the Biostar TForce TF520-A2. I've always believed Biostar was the
most under-rated brand there is. Much better quality than many of the
better known brands, and usually cheaper, as well. A lot of my builds are
Biostar, and I've never been disappointed. I specifically steer away from
Asus for probably the same reasons you steer away from Gigabyte. Asus and
Gigabyte are the same company, by the way.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813138082

For a non-gaming system, I prefer passive-cooled video cards. (less noise!)
If I had to go with ATI, I'd probably try the following:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814127298

Oh, and go for exactly 1.5GB of quality, name-brand RAM, no more and no
less. The short version...just about any OS will run fine with 1.5GB, and
Vista in particular will not run better if you add more than 1.5GB of RAM to
it. (according to Vista!) On the other hand, -less- than 1.5GB will hamper
performance of Vista. I've got 2GB of RAM in my triple-boot system, but
this is a bit more than necessary (but I got a great deal on a matched pair
of 1GB sticks, so wth). Vista's own performance diagnostic tool maxes out
at 1.5GB, so spend enough to buy 2GB, but get GOOD quality 1.5GB.
IMHO -Dave