I need a Good Motherboard for a good price..

[DrunkEngineer]

Something that can run an Athlon 1300 200FSB and also be XP prepaired. This K7VTA cant handle the speed its unable to post at 1.3ghz. So i need something good, dependable, reliable, and with a price of $100 at the most, i'm sure i can get a good board for less then that. So recommend something to me please

Edit: oh yeah, it must use PC133 ram, i got 3 256mb sticks to use

 

[microAmp]

<< Something that can run an Athlon 1300 200FSB and also be XP prepaired. This K7VTA cant handle the speed its unable to post at 1.3ghz. So i need something good, dependable, reliable, and with a price of $100 at the most, i'm sure i can get a good board for less then that. So recommend something to me please

Edit: oh yeah, it must use PC133 ram, i got 3 256mb sticks to use >>



ECS mobo with Sis 735 chipset, can use DDR or SDRAM, people here seem to like it. NewEgg has it for $57

 

[DrunkEngineer]

I was told that ECS K7S5A had some problems with the Tbird's. Otherwise I would get it, anything else to recommend?

 

[AZGamer]

Possibly the K7AMA. It has less chipset quirks then the K7S5A, has both DDR and SDR, but not sure on XP ability.

Also an Abit KT7A (later revision) is SDR only but still faster in most uses then the K7S5A.

 

[o1die]

I recommend the shuttle ak31 version 3.1 ($80 newegg) and one stick of 128 ddram. It will put you just over $100, but the ddram will run faster than sdram. You can buy more memory if you need it when prices come down, or sell your memory in the local paper to make up the difference.

 

[Duvie]

< Also an Abit KT7A (later revision) is SDR only but still faster in most uses then the K7S5A. >

I would doubt that...sdram scores on my ecs were higher then most kt133a boards, then throw in ide scores and what not and it still beats it...

< So i need something good, dependable, reliable, and with a price of $100 at the most, i'm sure i can get a good board for less then that. So recommend something to me please >

there are many boards that are reliable both via and non-via...look at other features you may want as well...onboard 5.1, onboard lan, etc...

I have ecs board, and built 4 others and have found them reliable, but it does have along with the shuttle board mentioned above extreme quality control issues by the motherboard maker. The sis735 chipset is near flawless to date...most issues are board maker related.

Why I do like the sis735 is that it gives the greatest route to upgradeability as it can run both ddr and regular sd-ram, and it handles all current xp chips...just buy ddr and pop it in...no motherboard upgrade to get ddr...

 

[Ionizer86]

I second the Shuttle AK31 V3.1

It's a really good board for around $80

 

[osage]

I have 2 of the K7S5A's I use a 1.2, and a 1.3 T-bird on them...no problems the 1.2 is a 200 mhz chip

 

[DrunkEngineer]

I'm looking at the BioStar M7VKD motherboard, its a KT133A, can go up to 1900mhz, 1.5gb of ram, and on the AMD recommended list. What do you guys think?

 

[Duvie]

NOt bad...I still think you should look at what will suit you best for upgrading...pc133 sdram will only suffice you for awhile more...

 

[DrunkEngineer]

i just got these PC133 sticks, this will be my last PC133 memory board, then later next year I will get a DDR board. I have the ram already so i want to use it.

 

[Athlon4all]

I'd go for IWill KK266+. It's a great board has 3 SDR slots, loads of overclocking options, no future DDR support, but you're not gonna find a DDR/SDR mobo that I would recommend that has 3 SDR slots. That board is Asus A7A266 but it wasn't the best performer, with SDR or DDR.

 

[sasa]

Also consider ECS K7VZA rev 3.0 - it has 3 SDRAM slots, price is about $70.

 

[Duvie]

I would still look at the ecs k7s5a with its 2 sdram slots and 2 ddr slot...I highly doubt you are doing anything that needs 768mb ram...stick the 2 in for 512mb sell the other and damn near pay for the board...

 

[AZGamer]

<< < Also an Abit KT7A (later revision) is SDR only but still faster in most uses then the K7S5A. > I would doubt that...sdram scores on my ecs were higher then most kt133a boards, then throw in ide scores and what not and it still beats it... >>



On most comparisons, the KT133A chipset beat the SiS 735 in SDRAM performance.

Almost any KT133A with XP-compatibility will serve you better since you are going to use SDRAM then the ECS K7S5A. You will also have more then 2 ram slots, so you can fill it up with your SDRAM.

 

[L00PY]

<< On most comparisons, the KT133A chipset beat the SiS 735 in SDRAM performance.

Almost any KT133A with XP-compatibility will serve you better since you are going to use SDRAM then the ECS K7S5A. You will also have more then 2 ram slots, so you can fill it up with your SDRAM. >>



As usual, AZGamer poses his highly biased opinions as fact. Please show at least one reference. . . like this one that says "the SiS735 on SDRAM leaves the KT133A behind." I'd actually argue that the differences in that review of less than 5% aren't all that significant. Regardless, given that you can upgrade to DDR very easily and the SDRAM performance is there, there's no reason to goto a KT133A chipset.

 

[Pabster]

K7S5A all the way.

KT133A is an antiquated, bug-ridden chipset -- which is outperformed by the speedy, low-latency SiS 735.

With SiS 735, you can use your old SDRAM now, and upgrade to DDR in the future.

Toss in the incredible performance of SiS 735, and the (IMHO) ridiculously low price tag of $55-$60, you simply can't buy a better deal.

 

[AZGamer]

As usual, the ECS/SiS/Anti-VIA zealots have ignored the first post in order to spread their beliefs. And I quote:



<< oh yeah, it must use PC133 ram, i got 3 256mb sticks to use >>



And how many slots does the ECS have?

 

[L00PY]

The ECS board has 2 slots for DDR and 2 slots for SDRAM. Note that it fulfills DE's requirement of using PC133 ram. He doesn't say explicitly say that he's only looking to build one machine, and that the machine has to take 3 sticks. Maybe he's looking to add three 1.3 GHz machines to his home LAN that use SDRAM?

Have you found a reference to back up your li. . uh, biased opinions yet with regards the SIS735 vs KT133A performance? Or do you want to try and change the subject again because you can't?

 

[AZGamer]

Take a look at AT's roundup - the more mature KT133A wins out over the ECS paired with SDR in many tests.

 

[ToBeMe]

Go with the K7S5A and avoid all the Via glitches! I've got one running right now with a T-Bird 1.4 that passes memtest and has never had a BSOD in XP Pro since it was built! My oldest son pounds this system daily with numerous games and to date, the ECS board is the only one which has stood up to his torture for this long! Don't listen to the ViaFan...........the K7S5A is one damned solid solution and beats up on the Via offerings almost exclusively!

 

[Pabster]

AZGamer wrote:

"Take a look at AT's roundup - the more mature KT133A wins out over the ECS paired with SDR in many tests."

Do you ever actually look at the articles you reference?

I'm looking at Anand's Socket A Roundup circa August 2001. It pits SiS 735 using SDRAM directly against KT133A. They are neck and neck, with the SiS 735 edging out KT133A in most every test. Including the major Winstone tests.

So again I reiterate -- SiS 735 is a better choice than KT133A. It has lower latency, a considerably speedier PCI and IDE interface, and allows you to upgrade to DDR should you choose to do so -- in which case its performance is at the top of the pack.

 

[AZGamer]

<< Do you ever actually look at the articles you reference? I'm looking at Anand's Socket A Roundup circa August 2001. It pits SiS 735 using SDRAM directly against KT133A. They are neck and neck, with the SiS 735 edging out KT133A in most every test. Including the major Winstone tests. So again I reiterate -- SiS 735 is a better choice than KT133A. It has lower latency, a considerably speedier PCI and IDE interface, and allows you to upgrade to DDR should you choose to do so -- in which case its performance is at the top of the pack. >>



I said many, I didn't say all tests.

Go with the VIA board; avoid ECS lack of quality control, SiS chipset incompatbilities, and the like.

 

[MistaTastyCakes]

I'd go for the ECS SiS board simply due to the fact that you're that much more future proof by having some DDR options without having to shell out cash for another board when ya wanna upgrade. You'd have to leave a stick of SDR out though.. but 512mb isn't exactly something to laugh at.

 

[L00PY]

<< I said many, I didn't say all tests.

Go with the VIA board; avoid ECS lack of quality control, SiS chipset incompatbilities, and the like. >>



You know, in the one benchmarking you offered as evidence, Anandtech's, I counted 18 benchmarks (graphs). Comparing just the SIS735 with SDRAM to the KT133A, the VIA chipset beat out the SIS 3 times, they had the same score 2 times, and the SIS735 beat out the VIA 13 times. If 2 out of 18 is many for you (or as you put it originally "most comparisons"), I guess that's just how good your opinion really is.