Please help me pick a Athlon mobo!!!

[BG4533]

I am looking for a new motherboard for my Athlon XP 1700+. My newegg refurbed MSI KT3-Ultra2R has gone from booting maybe 50% of the time to almost never.

I would prefer a nforce2 chipset, but it isn't a must. I am planning on upgrading to a new processor (Barton probably) in the next few months as well. The motherboard must support the following hardware:
-Crucial 512MB PC2700- I know many nForce boards have a problem with this
-OCZ 256MB PC3000- I don't have to use this, but it would be nice
-MSI GF4 MX440 VTP
-Thermalright SLK-800
-Antec Truepower 430

The mobo must also have 4 ATA connectors. I do not like running PCI controllers. I am planning on purchasing a Seagate Barracuda 5 120GB to run with this. I am planning on buying the PATA version, but if I can only get a board with the extra SATA controllers then I will buy a SATA Barracuda.

My system is currently almost silent, so I would prefer a board that either has a passive NB cooler already or has a fan held on by removable pins. If I need to replace the fan I want to be able to fit both a Zalman NB cooler and the SLK-800. I know there are some problems with this.

Another thing I would really like is to have good onboard audio like the nForce2 soundstorm.

The system will primarily be used for everyday tasks and programming. I don't play any real FPS based games, but maybe some others. Overclocking ability is a plus, but the most important thing to me is stability.

$150 is the absolute most I will spend on this board, but something more like $100 would be nice.

Thanks,
Brian

 

[snidy1]

I would get the Asus A7N8X deluxe.

 

[BG4533]

Doesnt this board have problems with the Crucial PC2700? The crucial was purchased in the middle of february if that matters.

Thanks,
Brian

 

[FiberOptik]

I own an A7N8X Standard and I haven't had any problems with it, I've had it for about 5 months now, its been perfectly stable. Where are you getting information that the nforce2 has problems with crucial 2700 memory? Micron memory chips are usually of extremely high quality, I'd be surprised if the chipset had problems with that memory. I'm running Corsair DDR333 memory at CAS2 with a 166FSB (333DDR). I have an XP2100+ Tbred core that I purchased from NewEgg when they first started receiving them, it's currently running at 2.08GHz at the stock voltage and its perfectly stable. I only issue I can see with the Asus board is that it has a 2 phase power supply for the processor, I think the Epox 8RDA+ has a 3 phase power supply scheme. This will pay off in long term reliability of the board, especially if you're going to upgrade to a Barton based athlon in the future. Either way you look at it if you're going to upgrade to a considerably faster processor than what you have now you might want to get something that has a 3 phase power supply for the processor.

 

[BG4533]

All throughout this post and many others. It seems to be wide spread, but I heard some boards may be fixing it with new bioses.

Brian

 

[FiberOptik]

Wow, very interesting, I'd say you're absolutely right, there appears to be a problem. I know Asus release the 1003 revision of their bios for the A7N8X that enhances memory compatibility, I'll quote them directly from their website.

"Enhance system compatibility with Transcend DDR333(MOSEL chips) memory modules."

That might fix the problems that certain people are experiencing, this also makes me wonder if it has anything to do with the latest revision that Asus has added to their A7N8X series. They just released revision 2.0 of the mainboard, I wonder if maybe it has a new stepping of the nforce2 chipset that no longer has problems?

 

[BG4533]

I know the PCB 2.0 allows the board to work with the new 400mhx FSB athlons. I really wish I knew my Crucial would run with this. THe board does fit my needs pretty well. Anyone else have a suggestion for a different board that will work?

Thanks,
Brian

 

[FiberOptik]

Anything with a VIA chipset will work, there are many VIA based solution that have passive cooling for the northbridge. Anandtech did a recent preview of the KT400A (which should be available I think). This chipset performs nearly as fast as the nforce2 and in some cases outperforms it by a small margin.

/rant
There is one major issue that you might have if you use a VIA chipset. I used to have an Asus A7V that had a promise ATA100 controller, I used the promise controller for my HDDs and I used the onboard VIA controller for my CD burner. In all cases when I would burn CDs with a large amount of files I would get numerous CRC errors in my CDs. This is a well known problem that seems to exist on all VIA chipsets. A friend of mine recently purchased a KT400 mainboard and he experienced the same problems that I was having with my old A7V. VIA has never posted a fix for this issue, the problem becomes more prevalent as the user installs more IDE devices on a separate controller from the VIA chipset (such a promise controller). I personally will never buy a VIA chipset again simply because of that issue. The problem on my 3 year old A7V still exists today in VIAs newest chipsets!
/end rant

 

[BG4533]

It doesnt seem there is a single fully functioning chipset even available. A lot of people with the Asus board are having problems with their SATA controllers and coruption. Maybe I should switch to a P4 or even just buy a Dell. This sucks...

Brian

 

[mechBgon]

FYI, the SATA problem was only when running RAID0 as far as I know, and Asus has evidently fixed the problem with a new driver that is available in their Drivers > Beta section here. Remember that the onboard SATALink SATA controller is, in fact, a PCI device, so you're not really dodging the PCI bus completely.

If you wait long enough, nForce3 Pro 150 and 250 might be just what you're after

 

[BG4533]

I have heard a few people claim problems on single drive configurations as well. Hopefully those problems have been fixed. I emailed Crucial to see if they will replace my RAM if it has a problem with the board. Apparently the new sticks work fine and Crucial has said they are compatible now. I am planning on ordering my stuff this week. If the SATA problem is fixed and Crucial will RMA my memory than I am going to purchase this board. Anyone else have any other suggestions for boards? I don't feel like waiting for the nForce3.

Thanks,
Brian

 

[mechBgon]

I wish I had a 333-based CPU to test in my rev. 2 A7N8X-Deluxe, because I have three of the Crucial 512Mb PC2700 modules and I got them in about January, in the timeframe when the big hoopla was going on about it. I really want a 2800+ to replace my 1700+, but I don't have enough money right now and especially not if I'd have to get new memory too.

 

[BG4533]

Originally posted by: mechBgon
I wish I had a 333-based CPU to test in my rev. 2 A7N8X-Deluxe, because I have three of the Crucial 512Mb PC2700 modules and I got them in about January, in the timeframe when the big hoopla was going on about it. I really want a 2800+ to replace my 1700+, but I don't have enough money right now and especially not if I'd have to get new memory too.

Why do you need a 333FSB processor to test it?

 

[mechBgon]

My old Palomino won't likely run at 166MHz fsb. Running just the RAM at PC2700 speed while the CPU stays behind at its stock speed seems like only half a test.