KT 133 or 133A, ASUS, IBIT or EPOX??

[dbota]

I was going to order a ASUS AJV 133 (and AMD 800 t-bird) as per recommended by Tom's "Dream Performance: Your very own Tom's Hardware PC" article, but have been alarmed by some of the problem posts in this forum regarding the asus.

What would anyone recommend? Asus, IBIT or EPOX?
What is the difference between a 133 and a 133A chipset? Where is the best online place to buy or to shop prices for such?

 

[lillazy23]

try pricewatch.com

 

[Guest]

KT133 chipsets have a lot of problems, regardless who made them, especially if you intend to try your hand at some overclocking. Make sure you get the 133A chipset. Asus and Abit are consistent legends, but Abit has faltered in my eyes recently and they are hell to exchange if you order it online. (They don't have a US return center) Epox's new 8KTA-3 and 8KTA-3+ are AWESOME boards. Well designed, lots of extras, lots of bad features REMOVED from what tends to be the standard 133A boards. I love mine. Just buy a good case or at least a GOOD power supply. These 133A's with an Athlon, a hot agp card, and hi performance audio card (if you turn off the onboard audio that is free with the motherboard)will really give you problems if you don't give them at least 300 watts. Trust me, do yourself the favor and get at least that much for most anything you build today and you'll save yourself a lot of frustration chasing down problems that don't make sense.