My motherboard is messed up, and it's time for me to replace it.
I don't want to do this again soon, so I'm looking for opinions
that may lead me to a *reliable* system.

What I have now:
  ECS EliteGroup "K7S5A Pro" ATX, SiS735 chipset -- BAD.
  512 GByte DDR RAM -- Apparently OK.
  AMD Athlon XP 1800+ CPU, 1.53 GHz -- Apparently OK.
     Fitted with a big ol' Volcano fan.

What I want from this machine:  It is is running Win98,
dual booted with Red Hat 8.  I want to replace RH8 with
a new distro for mostly desktop use, rather than caving
in and buying XP Home.  Win98 is almost past toleration,
since it's weak on USB and doesn't seem to properly
support really big disk partitions.  I think the Linux
desktop is almost "down" to my level in terms of
friendliness to a non-sysadmin techie.

The old MOBO won't recognize my new thumb drive (yes, I
did install the driver); won't tolerate *any* CD device;
has a new problem with losing CMOS settings, and the
trend says I might be off the air tomorrow.

I *think* I just want to replace the board, with something
that I can stay with for as long as possible.

I also want to avoid spending more than about $100.

I've been offered two deals:
   ASUS X Series, $89.  The folks at Computer Renaissance say
      they have found this board quite solid.
   Gigabyte Technology - $75, at PC Club.

Any input will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Vic


++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

You probably don't want to hear this but . . .

After the 80286 processor/motherboard, I have never purchased anything but
Genuine Intel motherboards. 
1) The drivers remain on Intel's website for a very long time
2) They carry a guarantee
3) Intel sets the standards that are copied by others. You could call it a
reference platform
4) With a Celeron chip, you can get in for less than $200 -- it's like
buying an insurance policy -- pay me now, or pay me later.
5) I don't have the problems I hear about from other folks about
incompatible this/that.
6) When I buy a motherboard, I don't try to soup it up with a higher clock
speed. I go for high reliability.
7) You rarely have to worry about getting a grey market or out the back door
motherboard. Intel keeps control of the bad stock and doesn't try to back
door it.
8) When a bios needs updating or a new driver is required as a fix, Intel
posts these to their site reliably.

--Bill


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