Advise on Motherboard

[scaramouche44]

I'm buying a Computer, a AMD ATHLONXP 1600+ on a Soyo K7ADA SKTA ATA 100. How is the mobo? Thanks

 

[Eforster]

No don't get that one it is crap!!!!

get the dragon +

 

[Eforster]

ok if you are pressed for money...
get a shuttle ak31a rev3.1 newegg has them for 80 bucks
the k7ada uses the ali chipset which isn't that good
the drAGON+ And the shuttle use the via kt266a chipset

 

[Ionizer86]

The K7ADA uses the first ALi Magik 1 chipset, which, when equipped with DDR, performs only as well as KT133A with SDram. Not to mention that many people feel bad about products from ALi. I recall some to have problems with Ali southbridges and Radeon cards. I've never used an ALi chipset board, but from what I've heard, I wouldn't get any ALi board.

The Shuttle AK31 3.1, on the other hand, has the high performing KT266A (it outperforms ALi Magik 1 by about 25%). The shuttle is the cheapest KT266A board, but it does not scrimp on anything at all: 6 PCI, 4 dimm, full overclocking bios, etc.

If you have more $, you can get the EPoX 8KHA+ Via KT266A board for $100; the Asus and Abit boards are too expensive.

 

[scaramouche44]

Thanks, I decided on a MSI K7T 266 Pro with the Athlon and a Raedeon 8500. Never had a Radeon before.

 

[GreenWolf]

I am building a new PC too. I'm using the XP 1700 and waiting on the IWILL XP333-RAID. Yes, it has the ALi chipset and I saw the post about problems with the ALi's, but looking around in this forum and in the ARS forums, I see alot more complaints about the VIA chipsets. So far ALL the reviews I see about the new IWILL XP333 are that it is extremely stabile with reports of FSBs running as high as 205 (or 410 ) Mhz. The VIA KT266's are still trying to hit 166 (or 333) Mhz with some degree of stability.

 

[Ionizer86]

I see alot more complaints about the VIA chipsets

Hehe, so many more people have boards with Via chipsets, such as myself. The ratio of ALi Magik 1 chipset owners to Via chipset owners may be around 100 : 1. It doesn't mean much people don't have problems with ALi's simply because so few people use them.

The VIA KT266's are still trying to hit 166 (or 333) Mhz with some degree of stability

Via KT266 certainly sux. On the other hand, the EPoX 8KHA+, which has the KT266A, is soon going to have a bios much like the XP-333 bios, complete with an assortment of dividers that will allow it to go up to 210fsb if you want (there are links to the 210fsb thing around this site).

I decided on a MSI K7T 266 Pro

I don't advise you to get a K7T266 Pro. Get the K7T266 Pro 2 if you really like MSI. The Pro 1 contains the infamous KT266 but the Pro 2 contains the high-performance KT266A chipset. If you want, the Pro 2-RU offers USB 2.0, RAID, a red PCB, and other cool features for a few dozen more dollars.

 

[rondeemc]

Bump for the pro2, very nice board. Only downside is the weak onboard audio.

 

[Zugzwang152]

bah, who needs onboard audio, just get a good sound card.

 

[Wind]

Just got my new mobo...Epox 8KHA+. Installation & setup is smooth. O/Cing is easy. So far no stability issues. Recommended.

My mobo is the rev 2.0. U= bios w/ the latest bios file 02/11/2001 installed.