Money no object... Which motherboard?

[jpetermann]

Which would you get and why? WIll be running a xp 2200+. Keep in mind, I am partial to Asus

PJ

 

[Insane3D]

Epox 8K5A2+ or the Epox 8K5A3+

 

[WhiteWizard]

If you are used to the ASUS brand, and you have money to expend, I'll recomend that you stick to ASUS. You can have a little more speed on some Epox models, but they can't compare in terms of testing procedures. Epox has problems with cool starts, non top quality memory sticks, power problems associated with insuficient PS but they work fine on other mobo's brands, extrange IDE writtings at random, and lack of testing. I had a cuople of 7KXA (first slot A), build some MVP4 chipsets mobos and some 8KXA (first Socket A from Epox), and they all have the extrange issue "Green Line Issue across desktop" in Win98SE. In Epox FAQ you can find a cure, just delete some MSBACKUP DLLs, of course, they all work fine Win98 first edition, my guess?, they never tested with SE, why bother?.
On the other hand, you have Abit, a very reputated brand, acording to many people, "ASUS quality and stability, SOYO prices", can't say its rigth, never tested one.
On my personal experience, from what I've seen, ASUS deserve the 1st place, but their prices are some times irritating.
And now you mention it, anybody knows why an SOYO Dragon (VIA KT266) refuses to cool start until you unplug and plug several times???????


Alejandro
Main: ASUS A7V266-E, T-bird 1.2@1266Mhz, 512Mb DDR, 2x15Gb IBM 7200RPM on RAID 0, CL Anihilator II, SB Live Platinium, 3Com Nic.
Spare:ASUS A7V133, T-Bird 1000(closed),196Mb 133Mhs SDRAM, 1x20Gb 7200RPM WDC On ATA 0, TNT2 Vanta 16Mb AGP. SB AWE 128, Encore 100Mbps NIC. RAID off.

 

[VTrider]

Originally posted by: Insane3D
Epox 8K5A2+ or the Epox 8K5A3+

Ditto bump for a great board!



-VTrider

 

[CraigRT]

EPoX 8K5A3+

 

[Executioner]

Originally posted by: WhiteWizard
anybody knows why an SOYO Dragon (VIA KT266) refuses to cool start until you unplug and plug several times???????

Are you plugged into a power strip or main console that with one button turns everything on? I had the same problem with several mobos, until I discovered that ATX power supplies like to be plugged into a LIVE socket, not one that gets turned on/off. By having it plugged into a live socket, the capacitors remain charged and the mobo is able to boot first time.

 

[VTrider]

Hmmm.....that's interesting? Never really thought about that one? I do have a K7S5A that I put together a few months ago which had cold boot problems. Played musical power supplies and all the FAQ troubleshooting tips about this motherboard and that issue - never did resolve it? Thing is either it burned in and fixed itself or something else because I don't have that problem anymore - now I'm wondering if it all might have been because of my power strip and stuff? I was always switching cables, power strips, sockets for a while back then too?



-VTrider

 

[Insane3D]

Originally posted by: WhiteWizard
If you are used to the ASUS brand, and you have money to expend, I'll recomend that you stick to ASUS. You can have a little more speed on some Epox models, but they can't compare in terms of testing procedures. Epox has problems with cool starts, non top quality memory sticks, power problems associated with insuficient PS but they work fine on other mobo's brands, extrange IDE writtings at random, and lack of testing. I had a cuople of 7KXA (first slot A), build some MVP4 chipsets mobos and some 8KXA (first Socket A from Epox), and they all have the extrange issue "Green Line Issue across desktop" in Win98SE. In Epox FAQ you can find a cure, just delete some MSBACKUP DLLs, of course, they all work fine Win98 first edition, my guess?, they never tested with SE, why bother?.
On the other hand, you have Abit, a very reputated brand, acording to many people, "ASUS quality and stability, SOYO prices", can't say its rigth, never tested one.
On my personal experience, from what I've seen, ASUS deserve the 1st place, but their prices are some times irritating.
And now you mention it, anybody knows why an SOYO Dragon (VIA KT266) refuses to cool start until you unplug and plug several times???????


Alejandro
Main: ASUS A7V266-E, T-bird 1.2@1266Mhz, 512Mb DDR, 2x15Gb IBM 7200RPM on RAID 0, CL Anihilator II, SB Live Platinium, 3Com Nic.
Spare:ASUS A7V133, T-Bird 1000(closed),196Mb 133Mhs SDRAM, 1x20Gb 7200RPM WDC On ATA 0, TNT2 Vanta 16Mb AGP. SB AWE 128, Encore 100Mbps NIC. RAID off.

*cough* Bullsh*t *cough*

 

[VTrider]

:Q

 

[CaptnKirk]

pastorjay,
Glad to see your Link fix worked.

Looks like your thread got tangled up with the epoxy gang, and reverted to another discussion.

Still think best performing board for the money is the KX7-333 series.
Avoid 'clip-on' heatsinks, they kill CPUs. Look real hard at the ALPHA PAL8045, it outperforms almost everything,
with the exception of some very expensive specialty coolers, and when set up to extract heat is a tremendous unit.

The stuff with the KT400 isn't mature enough technology yet, and has so far been a miserable underformer, The MAX2's
with all their tricks are not really outclassing the KX7-333, just have the built-ins, which limit individual expansion chioces.

Cyberspace....the final frontier

 

[Insane3D]

Looks like your thread got tangled up with the epoxy gang, and reverted to another discussion.

And who would you be a member of...the "KX7-333 is the best board EVA gang"?

Avoid 'clip-on' heatsinks, they kill CPUs.

Care to explain that "pearl of wisdom"? How exactly do clip on HSF's "kill" CPU's?

Still think best performing board for the money is the KX7-333 series.

Wow...really? No WAY! That is sooooo surprising... Maybe in your opinion, but there are many people that might disagree with you...

The stuff with the KT400 isn't mature enough technology yet, and has so far been a miserable underformer, The MAX2's
with all their tricks are not really outclassing the KX7-333

What are you, an Abit only guy? Have you actually tried other boards...or do you just look at Abit? I actually agree the KT400 is a waste over a nice KT333 board, but the KX7-333 is not the end all be all of motherboards you know. The KX7-333 is a low end "budget" board with very little options...that's a fact.


IIRC, the title of this thread was...

Money no object... Which motherboard?

Some of us made suggestions, but apparently you think your super duper KX7-333 just outclasses everything else...and all of our opinions are irrelevant since we are not suggesting an Abit board...



:disgust:

 

[Boonesmi]

another vote for the epox 8k5a series boards

 

[CaptnKirk]

Some random thoughts in response to defending the EPOX over the ABIT:

Hijacked thread was directed at side conversation about power supplys & restarts

Operator errors with 'Clip-on' have broken a CPU or two, isn't that dead?

Swiftech MCX462 at 60% higher price for a 2 - 3 % gain in cooling is not cost effective.

KX7-333 is $ 82 @ NewEgg
8K5A2's are 35% to 42% higher
8k5A3's are 47% to 60% higher
8K5A2.b is 90% higher. Question - features that much better, UNLESS you specifficaly always overclock ?

When KX7 released it was a High-End board, but some technology has evolved, some better than others.
Think everyone is struggling with the KT400's, I wouldn't recommend that to anyone, including the ABIT line.

Hmmmm, think there may have been an "Off-Forum" dialouge with the author of this thread? been known to happen.

If money really was no object, wouldn't a Cray SV1 or X1 be an option? Get some pretty nice stuff for 19 Million.

Insane3D - glad you like the Epox line, good stuff, I like the Abits, There is more to a system than SiSan scores.
just trying to guide an inquiry to good, cost effective, stable equipment. Might try an Epox sometime,
but question the "No Refund - Exchange Only" policy. Don't know why they'd do that.

Keep pluggin'

 

[VTrider]

Looks like your thread got tangled up with the epoxy gang, and reverted to another discussion.

Epoxy gang! Hey, don't start turning this into a 'this' or 'that' camp thing, the guy asked for opinions and he's getting them.

Hijacked thread was directed at side conversation about power supplys & restarts

Pastorjay posted "which would you get and why?" key word here....'why?'

Operator errors with 'Clip-on' have broken a CPU or two, isn't that dead?

Yes, A broken CPU I would agree is a dead CPU. Heatsink clips however still don't kill CPUs, operator error does (like you stated).

KX7-333 is $ 82 @ NewEgg, 8K5A2's are 35% to 42% higher

8K5A2 @ NewEgg is $100.00 (roughly 20% higher)


-VTrider

 

[Insane3D]

KX7-333 is $ 82 @ NewEgg

Nice...I guess. Of course, the Epox 8K5A2, non " + " is only $83.46 @ Mwave...that's a whopping $1.46 over the Abit.

If money really was no object, wouldn't a Cray SV1 or X1 be an option? Get some pretty nice stuff for 19 Million.

Umm, no actually. Those types of computers are designed for a different type of operating enviroment, they would not make the best home PC's.

When KX7 released it was a High-End board

If you say so, looks like a low end budget board to me...

Think everyone is struggling with the KT400's, I wouldn't recommend that to anyone, including the ABIT line.

I agree 100%. The KT400 is not really an "upgrade" IMO. It is hardly ever faster than a good KT333 board, and really offers nothing new except AGP 8X, which is nothing exciting.

There is more to a system than SiSan scores.

I assume you mean SiSoft Sandra, and I agree once again. The tests it runs are synthetic, and not always indicative of real world performance. I rarely use it.

just trying to guide an inquiry to good, cost effective, stable equipment.

As am I. I would compare Epox stability to anything out there. I've found in my experience, boards that are designed with o/cing in mind are usually the most stable boards...o/c'ed or not. If a board can operate @ far out of spec speeds, it's even more likely to run rock stable under normal operating conditions. I just don't see the point in buying an older, slower board with less features when there is essentially no price difference.

Might try an Epox sometime,
but question the "No Refund - Exchange Only" policy. Don't know why they'd do that.

Only Newegg has that policy, not Epox or any other online vendor I know of. The reasoning behind it is most likely the large number of 8K3A series users who couldn't handle seeing the actual core temperature of their CPU, and returned their boards for no other reason than "they ran too hot". I order all my Epox boards from Mwave anyway since they have better prices and no such restriction.



My point is this... You have every right to suggest whatever board you want, as do I and every other member of these forums. That is the whole point of these forums. However, just because you feel a certain way about a brand or particular board does not mean that anyone who suggests something different is wrong. Your comment about the "epoxy gang" was not really needed in your post, and I probably wouldn't have said a word otherwise. If there was a board out there by another manufacturer that I thought would be even better than the Epox, I would suggest it in a heartbeat. However, right now, in my experience, the Epox is the top Athlon board right now...wait a couple weeks and that will change...

 

[Mem]

Time for me to jump in ,Epox IMHO is better then Asus,yes better,first Asus quality has gone downhill and is not like the old days, as for stability well Epox is better in this department IMHO due to the fact that most of their boards are designed for OC and have proven to be OC kings with stability.So another vote for Epox.

Asus is not superior, just that people like to think so because they pay more,infact I would choose a few other brands before Asus ,especially with AMD boards.

 

[CaptnKirk]

YO Bubbas, (Including me)

Epoxy gang was a light joking reference, just like Abit Bubbas. Ain't this fun !
Hey, we're all learning anout the different features about these peices, & thats
what makes it interesting. A year ago the Epox entry were not nearly the performer
they have become in the last 6 months, thats evolutuon at work. Just be glad YUGO
didn't make a motherboard. So many times the hits against a systems performance
are the result of poor RAM, but the MoBo gets the blame. Just like when someone
puts the heatsink clip on with a chainsaw, not a good result.

P.S. Insane3D - Most of the time your comments are right on !
But if someone doesn't poke you - would you
rise to the occasion and be so darn good?

Can't wait for the technology to evolve to
where our present Dinosaurs are fossil fuel.
Think of the fun we'll all have when we Juice
the Hammer's and melt those chips.

ta ta for now (go look at that post about Power Supplys, CD Burners & Disc Compression
you won't believe what electricity can do - Shrinking Quarters)

 

[canadianpsycho]

I had a MC-462 for the longest time. Great HSF, but such a total PITA everytime I upgraded my CPU.

So tedious having to unscrew everything just to put in a CPU :disgust:

 

[jpetermann]

If anyone really wanted to know, I went with the Asus a7v8x, an XP 2200+ and 512 mb of Corsair xms 3200. So far, things have gone well with it. Hope to oclock a little later this weekend. THe only thing I do not like about it is the inability to disable the promise raid in the bios. Hopefully they will add that later. I flashed to the 1006 final and it is still not there.

PJ

 

[Ripvanwinkle]

I was looking at that or the ASUS P4S8X. But Im not in a hurry.
Can wait for NForce or just jump in and spend some peso's and let
the butterflys out.

 

[CaptnKirk]

Congradulations on sticking to your gut feelings, and getting what YOU wanted, and not the composite of a random bunch of people.


A rat built to Mil Spec - is an Armadillo,
a duck built by a comittee - is a platypus.