Help me choose a P4 motherboard for OC'ing 1.6A

[CrazySaint]

After being all set to buy an Athlon XP system, I started hearing about all the insane 1.6A overclocks people have been getting here and changed my mind. The trouble is that even though I know a good bit about AMD motherboards, I know practically nothing about motherboards for Intel chips and only a little more about the chipsets, so I need your input to help me narrow down my choices a bit. Here are some of the things I'm looking for in a motherboard:

- Decent sound. It doesn't have to be great, in fact, I'll be happy with anything that's at least as good as my ancient ESS AudioDrive sound card. I'll probably eventually upgrade to a decent PCI sound card, but for now I have to use the onboard audio.
- Obviously, I want it to be fast and OC well. I wanna get a 1.6A and take is as far as I can with the stock HS/F, then maybe eventually buy a better HS/F and try to take it a bit higher.
- USB 2.0 onboard would be nice, but I can wait on it if I need to, though I understand that USB 2.0 is integrated into the southbridge on the i845E&G chipsets, so I guess that won't be much of an issue.
- Onboard RAID would be a nice bonus, but I don't really care that much about it since I don't plan on setting up a RAID array yet.
- I don't wanna risk frying any of my other computer parts, so an PCI/AGP lock would be a very nice feature.
- Unfortunately, I'm pushing the limits of my budget, so I would really like the cost of the board to be around $120 US or less, though I might go higher if there's a good reason to.

The rest of my system will be spec'd as follows:
Case: Antec PP660B
CPU: P4 1.6A
RAM: Samsung Original PC2700 (chosen because VR-Zone says its the fastest PC2700 RAM and its relatively cheap, but I'm open to similarly-priced suggestions, like maybe the Mushkin PC2700W/Heat spreader)
HD: WD 'SE' 80GB
Video: Radeon LE 32MB DDR (pulled from my current system)
CD-RW: Artec CDRW 32x12x48x IDE BLACK CDRW

 

[AznRyda]

I personally like the abit bg7



Can't go wrong with asus boards either.

 

[HigherGround]

either Abit BG7 ( $129 on newegg ) or Epox 4G4a+ ( $138 on newegg ). Both have been reported to be great overclockers and have all the features you are looking for ( although looks like the Abit board lacks the IDE RAID capability ). Make sure to checkout their respective **official** threads in the Motherboard forum.

 

[KenNashua]

I'm looking for the exact same advise.

HardOCP forums haven't been real pleased with the Epox 4G4a+.

I'm leaning towards the ASUS P4B533-V. Doesn't have RAID, but does have USB 2.0. I already have 2 1394 PCI cards, so I don't need to waste my money on onboard 1394.

On the RAM, rumors now have it that the "D" Samsung parts are being binned and don't overclock as well as the "C" parts. I'm not sure where to even get the C parts anymore (NewEgg lists the C parts, but people have been getting the D parts.)

 

[oldfart]

If you are thinking of an EPOX, Mwave has really good prices n them

EPOX EP-4BDA INTEL 845 CHIPSET ULTRA ATA100 ATX FORM FACTOR 1xAGP(4X)/6xPCI/1xCNR/2xDDR W/ AUDIO Detail Specs (CPU TYPE:INTEL PENTIUM 4 - 478PIN) $94.16

EPOX EP-4BEAR INTEL 845E CHIPSET ULTRA ATA133 ATX FORM FACTOR 1xAGP(4X)/6xPCI/3xDDR W/ RAID, USB 2.0, AUDIO Detail Specs (CPU TYPE:INTEL PENTIUM 4 (533MHZ) - 478PIN) $110.21

EPOX EP-4G4A INTEL 845G CHIPSET ULTRA ATA100 ATX FORM FACTOR 1xAGP(4X)/6xPCI/3xDDR W/ INTEGRATED VGA, USB 2.0, AUDIO Detail Specs (CPU TYPE:INTEL PENTIUM 4 (533MHZ) - 478PIN) $98.44

EPOX EP-4G4A+ INTEL 845G CHIPSET ULTRA ATA133 ATX FORM FACTOR 1xAGP(4X)/6xPCI/3xDDR W/ INTEGRATED VGA, RAID,USB 2.0, LAN, AUDIO Detail Specs (CPU TYPE:INTEL PENTIUM 4 (533MHZ) - 478PIN) $119.84

 

[MiklosMillora]

I would choose the EPOX EP-4G4A+ due to all the features and the OC'ing ability.

 

[eaadams]

I am in the same boat. What about if we DO NOT CARE ABOUT features. (nic 1394 sound vid) the only thing that at all interests me is usb 2.0 but I really dont care all that much about that. So lowest price and lowest features.

 

[MetroRider]

i would definitely recommend the Epox 4G4A+ motherboard. With it, I have taken my P4-1.6 up to 2.64 GHz!

it has everything that you want CrazySaint:

1) Onboard nic
2) better than average sound
3) raid
4) USB 2.0

I bought mine from newegg for $138 before shipping, but that price of $119.84 sure looks tempting from Mwave.

good luck and enjoy

 

[CrazySaint]

Thanks for the suggestions, guys! I'm definitely very interested in $120 for the 4G4A+ from MWave. The only thing is I'm not very familiar with MWave, are they as good as newegg?

 

[oldfart]

Yeah, Mwave is a good place.

 

[CrazySaint]

Originally posted by: KenNashua


On the RAM, rumors now have it that the "D" Samsung parts are being binned and don't overclock as well as the "C" parts. I'm not sure where to even get the C parts anymore (NewEgg lists the C parts, but people have been getting the D parts.)

Can anybody confirm this? From newegg, would I be better off with the Samsung Original PC2700 or the Mushkin PC2700 (or even PC3000 - only $5 difference) with a heatspreader?

 

[THUGSROOK]

id go with Corsair XMS. here are its specs...

XMS2700 = 2-3-3-5-T1
XMS3000 = 2-3-3-5-T1
XMS3200 = 2.5-3-3-6-T2

i personally have a stick of XMS2700 running cas2/2/2/5 @ 334mhz DDR w/o a voltage boost.

 

[CrazySaint]

Originally posted by: THUGSROOK
id go with Corsair XMS. here are its specs...

XMS2700 = 2-3-3-5-T1
XMS3000 = 2-3-3-5-T1
XMS3200 = 2.5-3-3-6-T2

i personally have a stick of XMS2700 running cas2/2/2/5 @ 334mhz DDR w/o a voltage boost.

Hmmmm....cool! I was wanting to buy Corsair XMS RAM, but I the price at newegg was too high for my already strained budget, but I just saw that googlegear has it for $80!

Btw, what do those specs, like 2-3-3-5-T1, actually mean? I know the first number is the CAS latency, and that the lower the numbers are, the better, but other than I'm lost.