Which MOBO should go?

[id10t_tech]

I’m about to start ordering parts for my new system and I have been reading up on different mobo's and just recently read the www.tomshardware.com review of 14 mobo's and it looks like there are a couple that seem really good.

Right now I am leaning to get one of these two mother boards...

#1.Abit KR7A-133 (specs- VIA KT266A, Four 184-pin DIMM sockets support PC1600/PC2100 DDR SDRAM, BIOS SoftMenuTM III Technology, Two Channels of Bus Master IDE Ports supporting up to four Ultra DMA 33/66//100/133 (RAID 0/1/10), 1 AGP slot, 6 PCI slots)


#2.Soltek SL-75DRV2 (specs- VIA KT266A, Three 184-pin Dimm sockets support PC1600/PC2100 DDR SDRAM, BIOS AWARD Plug-and-Play BIOS, 1 AGP slot, 5 PCI slots)

So far the only interesting thing I have read is the review and benchmarks off of the tomshardware.com site. I have also read up on the boards off of their own websites but like their going to say anything bad about their own board. So right now I like the ABIT board it seems like it has extra features the SOLTEK board does not, but in the bench marks the Soltek beat out the Abit every time and the abit came in as an average board.

So what do you guys think? Help me out here and tell me which mobo you would pick or anywhere else I might be able to get info before I decide to order my stuff.

I am going to be running the mobo with a AMD Athlon XP1900, & 512mb DDR stick. Thanks in advanced.

[r0l0e]

None of the Above

wait a month or so for the KT333/A chipsets. the KT333 chipsets are already out so hang tight for the KT333/A chipsets. beleive me, it's well worth the wait.

Originally in the EPoX Website
8K3A(+) Family - KT333 is finally out and we have a full line of solutions to accommodate your needs. KT333 means that you can use DDR 333 memories and it is faster than the KT266A. As for the 8K3A, the board can support up to 2000+ XP, 600MHz to 1.4 GHz Athlon processor. Holds up to 3Gigs of PC 2700 memories, it has 6 PCI slots, 1 4X AGP slot, an onboard RAID with High Point 372 and for the 8K3A2, it will be the High Point 374. There is also the option of having USB 2.0 which supports up to 6 connection slots, built in AC 97and many other features.

[Brangwen]

r0l0e:

wait a month or so for the KT333/A chipsets. the KT333 chipsets are already out so hang tight for the KT333/A chipsets. beleive me, it's well worth the wait.

Do you work for Epox, or have you another souce of your statement that "it's well worth the wait?"

Brangwen

[r0l0e]

Originally posted by Brangwen
r0l0e:Do you work for Epox, or have you another souce of your statement that "it's well worth the wait?"

Brangwen

no i don't work for epox or any other board manufacturer.

with the kt133/a, the bottle neck was the memory bandwidth, then the kt266/a came along that fixed it.

why go with a kt266/a chipset when you have an option to get a baord that maximizes the full potentials of the processor and USB2?

i'm not saying go with the epox board, what i'm suggesting is go with the better chipset. i'm just partial to epox for the time being.

[Kahuna]

Whelp id10t_tech based on the limited info you have posted, I believe my vote would be for the Iwill XP 333 or 333-R. It appears to be one of the hottest MBs on the market right now. There will always be something newer or faster available soon ... but IF'n you are building a system at this moment in time then I choose Iwill. http://www.iwill.net/home/home.asp

AMD rocks !
Kahuna

[EndobioticChaos]

I agree with r0l0e. I vote for none of the above. Even if you need one right now, I'd recommend the EPoX 8KHA+ over either of the two you mentioned. I've got it, and I love it. I've heard way too many stories of people having problems with Abit boards.

[Brangwen]

EndobioticChaos: posted:

I agree with r0l0e. I vote for none of the above. Even if you need one right now, I'd recommend the EPoX 8KHA+ over either of the two you mentioned. I've got it, and I love it. I've heard way too many stories of people having problems with Abit boards.

But if the board is needed now, I vote for the Iwill XP-333-R or NON-RAID as does Kahuna. You may have heard about problems with Abit boards, I've seen many, many problems with the EpoX 8KHA+ boards, just in this forum ... That's my recollection ... If my recollection is wrong, I expect you'll correct me.

But how many problems have you seen posted with Iwill's offering? Very few if any.

BTW, r0l0e:

with the kt133/a, the bottle neck was the memory bandwidth, then the kt266/a came along that fixed it.

why go with a kt266/a chipset when you have an option to get a baord that maximizes the full potentials of the processor and USB2?

i'm not saying go with the epox board, what i'm suggesting is go with the better chipset. i'm just partial to epox for the time being.

Thanks for the chipset reasoning ... I think you're more knowledgeable than I in this area, so I'll defer to your opinion ... for now.


Brangwen

PS: Of course, I have an Iwill XP333-R ... what, me biased?

[r0l0e]

no problem brag. though i have the same tools as everyone here... a computer and access to the WWW

i only see one problem with the XP-333, it still doesn't beat the 8KHA+ in memory bandwidth. alot of people is hoping for a memory module the can handle the xp-333's aggressive setting, but it's not here yet. i like numbers

if i need to build a rig by tonight? i'd choose the 8KHA+.

[Brangwen]

r0l0e:

"Maestro, music pleaze ..."

"You say toh-mah-toe, I say toh-may-toe,
You say E-poX-oh, I say I-will-oh!"

Funny, we all hug our prejudices, don't we?

Thx for all the info.

Brangwen

PS: Please don't tell me you've never heard the song ...

[r0l0e]

i hear it every day. i'm VERY oppinionated, that's why i just LUV this community.