Hey fellas. I posted a question about 3 mobo's but no one seems to have answered it, I thought maybe I could get some advice here. Here goes>>>>>>>
I am getting ready to order a new mobo, ram and chip tomorrow. I posted last week about which one to get and the Epox EP-4G4A+ rec'd the top vote; however, I compared some specs between 3 of the brds I was looking at and I need some more help before I make the final decision. I have several questions that will relate to these brds also posted in here concerning the RAM and related questions so if you could advise on those also it would be great.
Here is the processor I will be installing.... INTEL PENTIUM 4 2.0A GHZ (BX80532PC2000D) W/512K CACHE
400FSB 478-PIN RETAILED (3 YEARS WARRANTY)
I was informed that the Corsair DDR ram is very good so I will be going w\ one of these two:
CORSAIR CMX512-2700C2 64X64 333MHZ 512MB CAS2 DDR DIMM W/HEAT SPREADER $159.60
CORSAIR CMX512-3200 64X64 400MHZ 512MB CAS2.5 DDR DIMM W/HEAT SPREADER $184.80
If you could recommend which one of these would be better, considering one is 333 CAS2 & the other is 400mhz CAS2.5, and which mobo will be able to handle the XMS 3200 \ 400mhz DDR or the XMS2700 333mhz DDR. Because what i have read on the Epox brd specs it can only handle DDR PC2100 sticks. Reference link here (
http://direct.mwave.com/mwave/doc2/A16067.html) The Gig brd list up to the same specs PC2100 (link:
http://www.giga-byte.com/products/8iexp.htm) and the MSI I did not see it listed.
Now to the 3 choices I have narrowed it dwn to for the mobo:
1. A16054 MSI 845E MAX 2-LR INTEL 845E CHIPSET ULTRA ATA133 ATX FORM FACTOR
1xAGP(4X)/6xPCI/1xCNR/3xDDR W/USB 2.0, RAID, LAN & AUDIO Detail Specs
(CPU TYPE:INTEL PENTIUM 4 (533MHZ)- 478PIN) $124.02
2. A16072 GIGABYTE GA-8IEXP INTEL 845E CHIPSET ULTRA ATA133 ATX FORM FACTOR
1xAGP(4X)/6xPCI/1xCNR/3xDDR W/RAID, LAN, USB 2.0, IEEE 1394 & CT5880 AUDIO
(CPU TYPE:INTEL PENTIUM 4 (533MHZ) - 478PIN) $129.47 YES
3. A16067 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) $116.63
Now Im sorta unclear on a couple of the specs for the ide slots for these brds. The desription from mwave says that they are all "ULTRA ATA133 ATX FORM FACTOR" but when you clk detailed specs on the brd links the MSI says "2 full IDE channels, up to ATA100" and the Epox says "PCI Bus IDE Port/UDMA100 x 2 (Up to 4 Devices) Extra IDE Port by HPT372 with Ultra DMA-133 & IDE RAID x 2 (Up to 4 Devices). So unless Im wrong these two wont handle my ATA 133 Mator 7200 drive to its max. The Epox has the extra IDE that supports 133 but not the main or secondary IDE, if Im reading that right?
The Gigabyte does have the IEEE 1394 capacity which the other two do not, plus it has the LAN, USB & RAID features on it. If it can handle the XMS 3200 DDR then I am guessing this is my best choice, but that's where I need your help.
Please advise and take the whole config into consideration. I use the system for gaming mostly and am looking for performance and stability. I have a MSI brd now, and upgraded from an MSI before it, and love em'. They have been smooove as can be and I would not hesitate to go MSI agn if that's what is recommended. I have never overclocked and it's doubtful that I will overclock this chip so take that into consideration. (Sry Crazy Saint.lol) I know this is a long post but I wanted to get clear on these final issues before I bought. Thanks to all that take the time to read and reply. I appreciate it very largely!