Best AMD ----NON-VIA---- board?

[theprophecy]

I'm throwing together a second box, and I'm sick of the stability & compatibility issues and extra hassle of the VIA chipsets. Speed on this box is not relevant. I have an extra XP1700+. What's the best non-VIA board for it?

 

[MrBumpy]

In my opinion, the Iwill XP-333 is the best non-VIA option. I have heard many people praise this board for its stability. Even if you're not overclocking, I think it's a great deal. The ECS K7S5A is another good non-VIA board, but be prepared: it can be a bit flakey. Some people love this board, some people loathe it. Your mileage may vary.

 

[rondeemc]

If you can handle the performance hit go with an AMD 761 chipset from a reputable manufacturer.

Go to newegg.com and under motherboards select the AMD761 chipset and you will get several choices. Then look at the enduser reviews for each board you are interested in.

 

[zzzz]

I recently got Abit Kg7 and it is very stable but it still has the via southbridge. I have also built two systems around k7s5a and both were fast and stable..

 

[AA0]

If your VIA chip boards aren't stable, I suggest you stop being cheap and buy a quality board, as the chipsets are not unstable, its the boards. As for extra hassle, Ali chipsets also have drivers.... same with the 760, its no hassle.

 

[jkersenbr]

I have an Abit KG7 standard (not lite, not raid). Bought it used a month ago. Very stable. I'm very happy with it.

I've owned several Via boards from top-level companies (Asus, Abit, MSI) and have never been overly impressed. I won't even consider the "non-a" versions of Via chipsets. I've never tried ALi or SiS.

I have owned two boards with AMD chipsets (this 761 and an older "Irongate") and both have been rock solid stable with anything I've trown at them.

 

[geekender]

If you aren't overclocking, I have had nothing but good luck with the ECS K7S5A. If you are....sheesh....I like the 8KHA+....Have you looked at the Asus A7N266-E or the MSI K7N420 Pro? The Nforce has had respectable results.

 

[vfxraven19]

I would say the XP333/R v2.1 would be a good non-VIA board. I have the RAID version myself, running at the 166/333 (165.37/330 actual bus reading, i don't know why) bus speed, and my CPU is not extremely OCed (MP 1600+ @ 1.48GHz), and stability is good. Although I ran into some gaming issues that were later fixed with a BIOS update... All is good.

I would also recommend the K7S5A, as my friend and my aunt both have this board. Get a really good power supply though, because I have heard that flaky ones will die with this board. Good DDR/SDR solution...

Maybe you can tryout a nForce board. I read those get some pretty good memory performance (comparable to VIA chipsets).

 

[BlvdKing]

My vote is for the IWill XP333 as well. It's is easy to setup and very stable for me. Also, the onboard 6 channel sound w/ EAX is a plus in my book.

 

[EXman]

Bump for Iwill XP333-R Great features and a great price.

 

[Ionizer86]

Hmm, what about the Leadtek 735 solution? When's it coming out (or is it out yet?) Oh, and SiS 745 is probably going to arrive soon, with a wave of boards.

If I despised Via, I'd probably wait for the nForce 415 chipset to come out; there may be some pretty cool boards then. Yum! Free 5.1 channel MCP sound, and a free LAN! (well, not exactly free, but 415 boards are supposed to be around $100).

 

[FreakyGuy]

Another vote for the XP333-R board.



<< However, we should never forget about the Iwill XP333-R. The board offers a lot of room for overclocking, and its performance is on par with the KR7-RAID >>



Anandtech's review

 

[cleanerPA]

IMHO,
If you want to avoid stability and compatibility issues, don't go for the latest and greatest board.

With that in mind, I chose the Abit KG7-RAID for my new rig- just note that this particular MB
needs a BIOS flash in order for it to work properly with the Athlon XPs- I had a bear of a time
figuring that problem out, really cost valuable time in preparation for a paper I had due today.

 

[Athlon4all]

KG7 is VIA South bridge, the notorious 686B and really, I think it should be avoided.

<< Hmm, what about the Leadtek 735 solution? When's it coming out (or is it out yet?) >>

It's out and I've heard very bad things about it. Should be avoided.

IWill XP333-R is a great board and I'd definately consider it, but personally, I would either wait for nForce 415 or consider getting the allready avialable MSi K7N420 Pro. it is at the same price range as Dragon+, A7V266-E, and KR7A-RAID($146 at Newegg), has On-Board 5.1 nForce APU, On-Board LAN, and now with the latest BIOS, SuperStability can be turned off so that is no longer an issue, it's stable, and we all know nViida's wonderful drivers so, there would be a good arguement for XP333-R but, I think you should definately consider nForce 415-D or getting K7N420 pro.

As for SiS 745, well I have not heard too much. ECS K7S6A is out, but it has no SDR slots, and no LAN unlike K7S5A, and very poor ocing (better than K7S5A, but still poor) and really, there are only 2 other confirmed SiS 745 boards coming, and those are Abit KS7 and MSi 745 Ultra (see my thread here. So, don't hold your breath on SIS 745

 

[jsmckenna45431]

I would definitely recommend the Iwill XP333. I have my board running a 1.33AYHJA @156x10=1560 with regular old Crucial PC2100. I will be getting a stick of PC2700 in the next couple of weeks and I plan on taking this baby past 166. The onboard 6.1 surround sound is the best integrated audio solution I've ever experienced. I kinda wish I would have picked up the RAID version, but oh well, I'm still pleased with this board. $109 shipped at Newegg is pretty hard to beat. The KT266a boards may be a slight bit faster at factory settings, but this baby walks away with some minor tweaking. I don't have any of the IDE problems that the VIA boards are experiencing either. This is the second Iwill board I have owned, and I have to say that the Iwill Soft Menu BIOS is absolutely amazing.


Jeff

 

[goog]

I'll add another vote for the Iwill XP333-R.
Like Athlon said I'd also consider the nforce 415-D, only problem is it's still not available, and I have no use for the 420.
Still waiting for a better SIS745 too.

 

[AGodspeed]

1. Iwill XP333-R Motherboard
2. MSI NForce K7N420 Motherboard
3. Tyan Tiger MP Motherboard
4. ECS K7S5A Motherboard

All offer the same performance (within a couple percentage points of each other).

If stability and reliability are "mission critical" for you, I'd get the Tiger MP.

If price is your biggest issue, I'd get the K7S5A.

If you want to overclock, I'd get the XP333-R.

If you want a feature rich and stable board, I'd get the K7N420.

Good luck!

 

[Electrostaticdischarge]

KG7 RAID.

It is running win 2000 and hasn't ever crashed. And it was built 6 months ago.

It is the most stable system I have ever made.

 

[vampiro]

1. MSI K7N420-D
2. Iwill XP333
3. EPoX 8K7A

I understand where you are coming from. I got a Dragon+ over XMas and it sucked. So much for that theory that if you buy nice hardware you have a stable system. Bottom line is that VIA stinks. For me it was the nForce that did the trick, and after my current experience I will probably stay with nVidia chipsets. This system rocks.

 

[jfunk]

I recently built a K7S5A system for a friend and it has been rock solid, (like some have said, people are having issues with this sometimes though).

I myself just built an nforce and it has been great. Many people are staying away from nforce because of the built-on video, but you don't HAVE to use it, it just makes the board more expensive than it has to be. The 415 boards are the exact same thing without it, and will be $40 cheaper.

Just a note about 5.1 output outta the nforce though...unless you have digital speakers, it isn't really working right now (5.1 analog output). It'll only work with 6-channel recordings like on DVDs and stuff. The conversion part of it (like from EAX, etc for games), is only working with the digital out.

j