Biostar M7VIZ -- junk or OK?

[larrymoencurly]

.Is BioStar mobo quality OK?

I have a used BioStar M7VIZ v. 8.0 Socket A mobo with VIA VM400 chipset and integrated video. It was given to me because it wouldn't boot, but the problem turned out to be just a loose or corroded BIOS chip or socket. However I noticed that there's only a single 20-pin power connector, even though the CPU is powered from the +12V, and every other mobo I've seen that used +12V for CPU power also had a 4-pin ATX12V connector. Is the lack of that connector going to cause problems? I don't plan on running a super-fast CPU with it.

The rest of the build quality seems better than PC Chips or ECS. For example, the toroid coils have double-wound wire, there's a fuse instead of a soldered jumper for the rear I/O, and the heatsink for the north bridge is a lot bigger.

 

[Eva_Unit_0]

Biostar is okay for light, non-overclocking duty. My dad's computer has been running a biostar M7VIF (kt333/8255) with a 2000+ and it's been running great with no issues for about 2 years now. But I wouldn't recommend anyone build an uber-box with one of their boards.

BTW most Socket A boards do not take the aux 12V connector. Only some nforce 2 boards, and perhaps some KT880 boards used it.

 

[JSF35rhino]

well i think i built one or two of the same m-atx mb your spaeking of.

as far as i recall--they seemed to be pretty good budget mb's--but that has been a while back--and i can't seem to recall the exact model.

back in the socket 478 days-- biostar came out with a 875p mb -- one of my pals ordered one--aginst my advice to get a abit or asus instead--well the biostar picta-or whatever --turned out to be a pretty good MB afterall but it was as expensive as an asus or abit at the time--

biostar has out a SLI nf4 MB-- and it looks pretty good--and reasonable price-it's layout looks alot like asus-a8n-- it's a shame-nobody reviews the non-gold plated MB's

i would like to see a few reviews on biostar and albatron==esp albatron's SLI MB--