Help choosing XP motherboard

[TgcRizzo]

OK, I want a good motherboard, for both overclock and general speed. I have
decided to go for the VIA KT266A chipset. I also want RAID, these are the
choices I have so far.

Abit KR7-A-Raid
Asus A7V-266-E
Epox 8KHA+ (with a RAID PCI card)

All are about the same price (the Epox with RAID card is the same price as
well).

Simple question, which one?

 

[yipperzz]

i like the epox, but i don't have raid on mine so i couldn't tell you how it is. have you thought about the soyo dragon+? that one is a kt266a chipset and has raid and nice audio and stuff too.

 

[Duvie]

Do research on latest via issue well documented in the last 2 weeks about performance using raid noboard controllers or pci controllers in kt266a systems...It may not effect you but I want you to be aware of it...

 

[PerfectFit]

I never went wrong using Asus

 

[JOSEPHLB]

The "issues" with the so called RAID controllers, and Via are supposedly only with the new UATA 133 controllers.
The flaw in the Via PCI bus, limits the full use of the bandwidth, that the new UATA 133 controllers need.
If you dont use RAID, then, this issue will not be of concern. Enough with the rumors damn it !

 

[TgcRizzo]

I can't find anywhere to get the Soyo one (I am in the UK), and I think it would be more expensive anyway.

 

[Insidious]

While not so popular in this forum, the ABit boards are easy to use and have decent manuals to go with them. (I really like the SoftMenu III).

note: I am speaking from experience on other ABit boards.... haven't used a KR7 here.

 

[woodie1]

I have found the ASUS boards to be very stable.

 

[MooseKnuckle]

Don't buy the MSI board, it's a nightmare when it comes to onboard RAID.

 

[TgcRizzo]

What I can gather then, is that all the boards are just as good as each other. The fact that the Epox doesn't have onboard RAID is neither here nor there because a PCI RAID card is just as good.

I am thinking that the Epox is going to be the best option, because it is cheaper (by about the same amount as a PCI RAID card costs), but I can probably find a deal on 2 hard drives and a RAID card, making it cheaper than the other options when just the hard drives are needed.

I can't order for a week or so yet, so I think the only thing stopping me from going to the Epox is a sudden deal on one of the other boards.

Thanks for your help. I'll let you know of my choice once I have orderd it all.

 

[Athlon4all]

Tough. First of all about the VIA PCI bus issues. The problem is VIA's sb's PCI bus performance is weaker than the competition and really, doesn't have enough in RAID configurations to keep up with the competition. Now, there is a patch by George from VIA Hardware. But, nobody offical has tried benchmarking it to see how much of a difference. I would investiage further, and if u do go with a 266A board anyway, then realize that the RAID won't be quite as fast. About which board? 8KHA+ is great, but I would have to say A7V266-E. It's got sound as well as RAID, and is the highest performer of all 3. They all can overclock well. It really is a matter of personal opinion IMO, but I would not hesitate to go A7V266-E because of the sound.

 

[Wind]

Go for Epox 8KHA+. Mine running fast & stable. The PCI latency issue has been blowing out of proportion.

 

[gplracer]

My Epox 8KHA+ is the best board I have ever had. I runs fast and stable.

 

[WhiteWizard]

My ASUS A7V133 gives more than 35500 points in Sandra 2000 hard Disk bench (under Win98SE), and 21000 with a single drive (IBM Desktar 15Gb ATA 100, 7200RMP), I'll never buy another mainboard that's not from Intel or ASUS, all the rest are crap.

 

[bigrash]

I have an Asus A7V and it runs good on XP. I'd go for the Asus A7V-266-E

 

[bstowe94]

like my epox amd 761 chipset just ordered the soltek 266a board. but i have to say my all time favorite board i have worked with was my Abit it was pricy but well worth it i'm not a fan of the fic's or the gigabyte though i haven't had good experiences with them