Absolute stability

[Cancer12]

I want some things clarified please. Before I visited the forums today, I figured the Soyo Dragon+ was very stable. Now I'm reading it and other boards like it are not very stable. I need absolute stability, so do you think it would be better to go with this board or the Abit Kg7-RAID which has an AMD761. Broad compatibility and stability are far more important that a hundred 3dmark points.

While I'm on the subject, I know I really want a Intel board to have the i850 chipset because it would be very stable. But is it necessary to have the Intel manufactured on for stability or would a third party using the i850 chipset be just as stable? thanks everyone

 

[scoobydooby]

Some people have problems with their boards and others don't. I don't think you can get a board that is a gurantee to boot right up and be rock solid forever. look at the forums at amdmb You will probably be able to see that there is someone having a problem with everyone of those boards.
Scoob

 

[Raspewtin]

stability and via really are not two words that can consistently go together. if you want stability stay away from via boards.

 

[Eforster]

as much as this pains me to say....

get an intel chipset if that is the most important thing\!!!! though i leave my dragon+ on for days no problems....

 

[DIRTsquirt]

Yeah! what he said. Intel when it has to be stable no mus no fus. I have always had intel (except my first 486) and have found them to be extremely stable.. I can tell you from experience. I lan with some friends on occasion and its a running joke. We use on the guys with amd... Where's X? he isnt in game. He must be rebooting his POS.

 

[subhuman]

And even though HighPoint has improved substantially from the EXTREMELY PAINFUL HPT366 days, I would suggest getting the most basic board you can get. This way, when something better comes out (ATA133 RAID, etc), you don't have a 3rd party built-on device which could cause you headaches -- limiting your FSB, hurting stability, that kind of thing.

My advice is to get the Abit w/o the RAID and add a RAID PCI card, and if you're not overclocking, to get an Intel-brand motherboard, with Intel-chipset, the absolute ultimate in stability. I'm personally an ASUS/Intel guy.

 

[IntelConvert]

Having crossed over from the 'Intel side', I would echo much of the above - Intel chipset mobos are the most stable. That said, it should be obvious that whenever you OC your system you are puting stability at risk (yes, even with Intel)! So if stability is more important than getting 'the most bang for the buck' (AMD), go with an Intel system (without attempting any oc'ing whatsoever).

 

[DoubleL]

Well I have to say a well built AMD system over all is more stable than a well built Intel system, Maybe things will change but even the rock as they call it the old BX chipset isn't as stable as a AMD system if it is put together right, That is why I left intel not the speed and I am not a overclocker I just wanted a stable computer and AMD gives me that

 

[Cancer12]

Sorry guys you must have understood me. I'm not comparing the stability of Intels and AMD. I'm simply wondering what would be the most stable motherboard for each platform. Limited overclocking is useful, although I am not going to overclock. Having the option is the key though. If you want to know, I'm building gaming systems for locals.

So what would be more stable ultimately, a 760 chipset (Abit probably) or a KT266A chipset (soyo or soltek, havent decided). And obviously the i850 chipset is the most stable, but would it impair the stability to go with a third party manufacturer? thanks

 

[anime]

there's no such thing as ABSOLUTE stability when building a system. So many factor could affect your system stability.

 

[Cancer12]

Ok, but which would be more stable more often, and have less compatability problems?

 

[JooeeBuddafuuko]

If your going to build an AXP,

The MSI Pro2 R is for you. It is a bit behind some of the other via 266a chips 5% performance but rock stable. Just check any number of reviews.

I have built several AXPs and the MSI is the stability king. I am sure with future bios updates, the 5% performance dif. will go away.

Cheers!

 

[Parser]

Well unfortunately in life nothing is absolute. I run my dragon + with a fsb of 140 and the turbo bios settings and it has not crashed on me once since I installed it three weeks ago. Does this mean that if you buy this motherboard it will be the same for you? That is anyone's guess.

These things tend to be a crap shoot and some people even have issues with the intel chipsets so if you're looking for a motherboard that noone has had problems with then you're out of luck.

 

[anime]

well most of KT266A-should provide you the same stability--THe real problem is at the quality of the mobo you receive. There is always something wrong with the board you receive in certain way. POstings that you read about people having problems are caused by that or caused by lack of experience putting system together.
Granted--some stability problems are caused by poor bios programming--but this can be fixed by revision.

Most my probs building systems are caused by DOA pieces of hardwares.
Even Intel based system got their share of problems way back then.

 

[Cancer12]

I would really like to go the Dragon route for the Athlon, but the boot delay time really turns me off.

 

[novalogic88]

intel manufactured boards are extremely stable, and high quality, and you will have no problems with them, but probably 100 less 3d marks.

 

[anime]

boot delay prolly will be solved in the next bios release.
As I was saying early bios production usually less than satisfactory but it will improve with time.

 

[damocles]

<< Well I have to say a well built AMD system over all is more stable than a well built Intel system, Maybe things will change but even the rock as they call it the old BX chipset isn't as stable as a AMD system if it is put together right, That is why I left intel not the speed and I am not a overclocker I just wanted a stable computer and AMD gives me that >>




I would never deny the superb stability of some of the chipsets/mobos for Athlon CPUs, the Tyan MP comes to mind instantly as a very stable board. However you are pushing it to say that AMD systems are 'more' stable than Intel systems. Well setup, neither should pose a problem . On top of that the BX is a pretty old chipset, the i850 and i845 have probably advanced things beyond even the trusy old BX chipset

 

[StandardCell]

One of the big factors that contributes to stability is the power supply and the power line quality, believe it or not. If you get a power supply, get one with extra juice, like 350W or 400W, and make sure it's approved by the processor vendor (AMD and Intel list power supplies that are approved on their websites).

On my friend's computer, we ended up going with a 350W Aopen power supply, AMD-approved, and also have a Belkin 600W UPS. Along with his Athlon XP 1800+ and MSI K7T266A mobo, we frequently see power fluctuations on his line, and one power failure, and it has been ROCK SOLID STABLE.

So, if you want stability, use parts from approved vendors, both processor and memory, and put them behind a UPS. It's worth it...

 

[Cancer12]

I often hear that Enermaxes are reliable, but then I hear that it isnt true with Via boards.

And about the Dragon+. I really want to use this chipset, but again, the boot time puts me off. Anime, are you sure that this can be fixed in a bios release? Other threads have stated it is a hardware problem.

 

[icmp]

Take a good, careful look (if you're interested in AMD SocketA supported boards, ie. Athlon, AthlonXP, Duron) at the DFI AK-76SN. I will caution you to take the local (anandtech) review with a health grain of salt. It flies in the face of ALL the other reviews I've read, and certainly is counter to my own personal experiences.

It's low-cost, based on the very stable AMD761 chipset. Couple it with the right memory (hint: go to crucial.com and use their memory configurator to let them tell you which modules they support in the board) and you will find rock-solid stability that rivals any Intel BX board running a P2 or P3. Honest. (note to anandtech reviewer: did you ever dig into the stability issues you claimed on this, the much heralded super-stable AK76-SN? I wonder if you used 'registered' DDR memory, pre-BIOS support for it? Or, perhaps you used some of that 'lovely' Samsung DDR everyone loves to hate?). Check out the excellent review at Tom's Hardware. I say 'excellent', not so much because it's an awesome review of this board (or any of the others he reviewed in his 760 roundup), but because he intimates how he achieved BOTH near-top tier performance PLUS super-stability with this board. Proper selection/matching of Crucial DDR + manual timings to bump things nicely up to CL2 the 'right way'.

I'm sure their are other great price/performance/stability combo's out there, too, but this is one you should put on your list as one to consider. I encourage you to read the reviews all over the net (again, trying searching on google.com for "AK76 + review".. or something like that). I think you'll find an extremely consistent story being told about this board. "Good" performance + "Great" stability.

-icmp