Best AMD Motherboards?...

[TheeeChosenOne]

I'm in the market for a new motherboard/chipset combo.

Fry's has the ECS K7S5A Pro mobo w/ Athlon XP 2200+ for $80. The mobo has gotten mixed results. Plus there are only 2 DDR RAM slots for my 3 2100 RAM sticks.

Any recommendations for a mobo that is STABLE and has built-in CONTROLLER card for my WD 200GB hard drive and 3 slots for RAM would be appreciated.

Any stores & tips would be appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[andyfasthands]

Budget? The chipset of choice for AMD these days is nFORCE2. Epox 8RDA+, ABIT NF7, ASUS A7N8X are the latest/greatest recommendations for an Athlon XP. For $80, you cant beat the ECS K7S5A and Athlon XP combo, as it has been selling for years and years and years at Fry's...

 

[dmw16]

I dont know of too many new AMD boards that have an extra ide controller. Some of the higher end ones are coming out with SATA, but I guess that doesnt do you any good. You could always buy a controller card. As for good motherboards for AMD, I would suggest an nForce2 board. I have an Epox 8RDA which I really like. But if I had more money, I would have gotten the Asus A7N8X or A7N8X Delux.

As for stores....newegg.com

-doug

 

[tommie]

i just built my first AMD rig and i used the soltek sl-frn2-rl, ..for $80 comes with ddr 400 & sata raid.. ive always used intel . for less than $500 i put together a great system.my 3.06 system cost me $1200 to build.
tommie j

 

[Bonesdad]

Yup, definately one of the Nforce2 motherboards. Decide what features you can't live without and choose board/manufacturer from there. THey are all excellent boards.

 

[compudog]

Another vote for nForce2. They are fantastic boards, many overclock well and most are all from respectable vendors. I have read some good things about the latest Gigabyte nForce boards on some other forums. Some older revision Asus A7N8X deluxe boards can be found at less than 110 US if you look around.

 

[WhiteKnight77]

nForce. I have an ASUS A7N8X Del and love it.

 

[AgaBoogaBoo]

The general consensus is the nforce 2 board, with favoring A7N8X Deluxe if it fits in the budget, otherwise the Eopx 8RDA or any other board based on nforce2.

 

[squidman]

Im just surprised, how Via's KT400 or KT400A never made it....they seem like pretty good chipsets.

 

[Cerb]

Originally posted by: squidman
Im just surprised, how Via's KT400 or KT400A never made it....they seem like pretty good chipsets.

Yes, but they just weren't cheap enough. The chipset (KT400A) comes out, then the Epox 8RDA+ went to $85. The KT400 isn't so bad. But the problem there is that L7S7A2s work great.

 

[NasdaqTrader889]

Originally posted by: tommie
i just built my first AMD rig and i used the soltek sl-frn2-rl, ..for $80 comes with ddr 400 & sata raid.. ive always used intel . for less than $500 i put together a great system.my 3.06 system cost me $1200 to build.
tommie j

Where did you get it for $80?? Was this before the price increase in the latter part of May?

 

[HappyCracker]

I will defend my AT7max2 (KT400) to the end. I have no plan on overclocking much, so it negates PCI/AGP lock, when in fact I might see a boost from not having that. I love my motherboard.

 

[TheeeChosenOne]

+++ Do the newer boards like the MSI k7n2-L, Asus A7n8x-L, etc. offer support for big 200 GB drives so that the need for an ATA Controller card is eliminated? I just want to plug my IDE cable from HD to mobo w/out this stupid buggy controller card. Is this possible?....

+++ Is this what the SATA feature is for? What else does this feature do? I don't need RAID, just the elimination of the ATA Controller card that came with my WD 200 GB HD....

 

[RanDum72]

Do the newer boards like the MSI k7n2-L, Asus A7n8x-L, etc. offer support for big 200 GB drives so that the need for an ATA Controller card is eliminated?

Short answer, yes. Nforce2 boards support ATA133, so this means faster speeds (supposedly) AND drives bigger than 128gb are supported.