Best P4 i845g motherboard for non-overclockers

[intrigue]

I am currently building a P4 2.0A system with 512MB PC2700 DDR RAM and am looking for a motherboard for it.
I see my options as being:

ABit BG7
Asus P4B533
Epox 4G4A+
Gigabyte GA-8IEXP

Can someone suggest which one of these motherboards would be best for me in my situation (emphasis not being placed on which can overclock the best)? Money for my motherboard is not too important, but I am looking for the best value motherboard with good overall features, reliability, performance, etc.

 

[benjamin]

I can recommend the Gigabyte 8IEXP, I got one yesterday and so far it's working like a charm.

 

[Gregor1C]

This is really a matter of personal preference, as all should serve you well. But if money is not a major concern I would go with the ASUS P4B533-V. (the "V" is important!, if you want to get an i845G chipset) I just bought one for $170. I think overall you will find fewer posting with real concerns about this board, other then that it has video/audio on board; which many do not plan to use, and therefore do not like paying the extra $50 for it. But it is user friendly and very stable. I use ASUS boards with Intel chip sets when ever I can because they seem to have fewer problems overall. Sometimes this has also ment fewer features, but that is not the case this time!

Be sure you also buy PC 2700 DDR memory to go with it and set your CPU/Memory ratio to 4.5 so it will run at 333 mhz. This is easier with a 533 mhz CPU (then you do not have to overclock) as you are already running the system at a 133 mhz FSB speed. I like the P-4 2.26 Northwood processor which runs at 533 mhz and has a 512 L2 cache. Only about $40 more, I paid $261 for one this week.

I hope this helps!

 

[intrigue]

Gregor1C - The P4 2.0a (400) is about $189 vs. the P4 2.26a (533) is about $248... looking quickly at Anand's lastest CPU price guide. Will going to this processor and higher bus speed give me large improvements in performance that I should spend the extra $60? I have read that once you really get up at these high clock speeds, there is only a small percentage performance gain between the processors.

Also, i have been hearing that the Asus is the best if you have the money... but I do not really see this in terms of features? From what I have read on the forums, all of these boards seem to be rather stable. The Gigabyte GA-8IEXP offers 2 additional RAID ATA100 ports, Firewire ports, and an Intel NIC (vs. Realtek) when compared to the Asus P4B533-V which is priced much higher. If I am not overclocking, is the extra money for the Asus worth it for me? I don't see why it is better.

Also, one last thing - the GA-8IEXP is an Intel 845e chipset - is there an 845g version of it or should I just settle for the 845e one.

Thanks!!

 

[wingtel]

Ga-8igx is what you are talking about.go to gigabyte website.

 

[o1die]

The e or g boards are pretty equal in performance. Be sure to save some money for a good video card.

 

[Gregor1C]

You are are right about CPU Clock Speeds, but the jump in FSB from 100 mhz to 133 mhz is a big jump in performance. I would spend the extra $60 on a 533 mhz CPU (it runs at the 133 mhz FSB speed) plus you get twice the L2 cache. You see the P-4 400 mhz CPU and the Athlon Xp were very close in performance, with the AMD CPU just a little ahead. But that all changed with the 533 mhz CPU. For now Intel is the clear winner in performance! Intel pulls ahead of AMD

Features of the i845G

The i845E and i845G do not perform the same. The i845E was made for people who want a raid set up, but it will not run the memory at the 166 mhz bus speed needed to run PC 2700 at 333 mhz. While the i845G does have the 166 mhz setting, but it's MoBo will not support a raid setup. This makes the i845G much faster than the i845E in performance. The i850E chip set which uses RDRAM is the fastest of all, but it is only a little bit faster than the i845G.i845E vs i845G

Why ASUS? Well I have built several computers with them, and I have found them to be very stable with a full featured soft Bios and easy to install. I think they all have six channel sound, but the video on the ASUS is also pretty good (better than a Geforce2 video card, but you will want something else if your a real gamer; put a Geforce4 TI on this MoBo and it will really rock). And yes, I have installed a couple of other manufactures MoBo's on P-4 systems. If it has an Intel chip set I like the ASUS boards best!(I have had some problems with ASUS VIA MoBo's and memory errors, if it has a VIA chip I like an Abit or Gigabyte MoBo).