I have built several systems using "all in one motherboards". I can't
say that they are the highest performers but they are cheap, easy to
assemble, and usually don't have component conflicts. Even though they are
not hot rods, most users wouldn't notice the difference unless they are true
power users.
       I can't say that its a trend, I have not really seen an increase or
decrease in these types of boards. I do remember that Cyrix made a board that
even had a CPU hardwired onto it. I haven't seen any more of these boards in
the recent past but, they may still exist. The big arguments against these
boards other than performance is upgradability and component failure (ie
built in sound card or modem failure). On the first issue, for the most part,
when someone is ready to upgrade one component, the rest are usually ready to
be replaced as well. For the second issue, I can't say that this has been a
big problem for me and because the boards are so cheap, it was easy to
justify just trashing and replacing the MB.

Dennis Noble



<< As far as as I can see Motherboards design trends to incorparate video,
audio, modem, lan, etc.
new i815 also  integrates video, etc.
 >>

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