new gamming system

[Guest]

hi all i hope u can help me

my sys is an amd k6 2 300 (u see why im updateing)
256m pc133 ram asus 7100 mx geforce 2
I am looking to update of course so what i was hoping was to get a kick ass m/b and stint on cpu a bit not much but
so whats a good chioce i am going the anthlon but which board

I want a board that will give me the ddr support udma 100 etc no onboard [-peep-] either
i am also hoping that next upgrade the m/b wont have to be replaced hmmmm (big ask!!!!)
also a board that could use my old pc133 then latter go to ddr would be good but i wont suffer any performance losses for that
I know that its all a fair bit to ask but i think that there are many more ppl out there like me looking to prepare for the future whilst running things well at the moment without selling our first born

 

[njeske]

The ECS K7S5A with the SIS735 chipset is the closest you can come to what you are looking for. As far as I know anyways. It has integrated sound and network, but it also has the standard SDRAM and DDR-SDRAM combo you are looking for. I don't think I have heard of any boards besides the ones with the 735 chipset that have dual memory types. And if there are, they probably have at least integrated sound.

Another option would be to go for a motherboard that has just DDR-SDRAM slots and buy 256MB of DDR memory for $40 or less, including shipping.


- I need someone to think me up a good sig...

 

[Guest]

no u missed it i ment that i dont want any thing onboard
i hate the idea of onboard stuff

 

[mbetea]

go with the tyan thunder K7. the only thing i would trust for my gaming.

ewww, put that thing away, you're in public!

 

[Guest]

Memory is so cheap, if you are going to put the money into an upgrade anyway, why not just get a MoBo that is designed to take advantage of that Athlon you are planning to get and not tie your hands with the PC133 thingy.

Beyond that, I am not well versed in MoBos of all brands to make a good recommendation... I have used ABit MoBos for several years now and like them. (Presently using KG7-Raid, awsome MoBo, but it is a little pricy)

 

[njeske]

No, I didn't miss that. The point of my post was to tell you that if you want no onboard components then you can't have both SDRAM and DDR slots on your board, and vice-versa.

That is why in the last part of my post I said to just get a DDR board with no onboard stuff and buy new memory.

- I need someone to think me up a good sig...

 

[Crashman]

Get the ECS K7S5A. If you look hard enough you might be able to find it without the onboard stuff, if not DISABLE the stuff you don't want. You don't have to use the onboard stuff, it is not a requirement. If having extra parts that you refuse to use makes you feel like a hermaphrodite, a little surgery can fix that! Get out the solder gun! GEEZE some people just don't understand. IT'S THE BEST AMD BOARD CURRENTLY ON THE MARKET from both the stability and compatability standpoint, the best performing also. Hey, did you know that the Lamborghini Diablo comes with a stereo, even if you don't want it?

Back to you Tom...

 

[Oni]

you could always disable the onboard stuff (in bios and with jumpers) and then the onboard items don't even work. Its like they arn't even on the board.
I have an Epox 8K7A+ that has onboard audio so I disabled it. For awhile I forgot it had onboard audio, I use a Hercules Game Theater XP for audio, but in my opinion I like having a backup sound capability incase something strange happens to my GTXP.

 

[mbetea]

ya, when i was looking at buying one, that was a big strike against the diablo, i wasn't gonna pay that cash to have a stero in it. so i went with an 85 ford escort instead

ewww, put that thing away, you're in public!

 

[Guest]

with the k7s5a you can disable every thing from in the bios, you don't even have to mess with jumpers.

 

[knowan]

Just a note here.

Most AMD mobo's on the market today can use both PC 133 SDRam and PC 266 RDRam. Most have 2 slots for each. In every case that I know of the 2 different types of RAM CANNOT BE MIXED! You can use either 2 slots of SDRam OR 2 slots of RDRam, but not both at once. Most will accept up to 1 gig of RAM, some 1.5 gigs or more.

Most boards have "onboard stuff" now-a-days. You'd be hard pressed to find a board without it. Most have on board sound and/or on board NIC. Alot also have onboard RAID. In all cases these can be disabled in the BIOS, so that they don't use up valuable system resources. The possible exception is on-board RAID. I've never tried to disable this. It hardly uses any system resources though.

Although the ecs k7s5a is a good mobo, I cannot really recommend it over any other mobo on the market right now. It is at least as good as anything else (except for overclocking), and is very inexpensive, but looking at your specifications I cannot say if this mobo meets them any beter than any other mobo.

All mobo's on the market today will accept the Athlon and Duron chips. Most will also accept the next generation of AMD CPU's (the Athlon 4 or XP or Palimino, what ever you want to call it). As for the generation after that (the "hammers"), I have no idea, but I doubt that any will support them. It seem to me that if they are going to 64 bit CPU's then they might have to get rid of the socket A (but I could be wrong).

The main advantage of the ECS k7s5a over any other board is price. It is faster than most and cheaper than almost all, but unless you use a modified BIOS it isn't much good for overclocking.

My next recomendation would be the Epox 8kha+ (note the plus). It uses the newest VIA kt266a chipset, can be overclocked six ways from Sunday, but is twice as expensive as the ECS k7s5a.

Some other things that you may want to look into for the sake of "future upgradability" are: UDMA 133, PC 333 RDRam capability, AGP PRO slot, and firewire. These are all coming along eventually (likely in a year or two).

Enjoy!

 

[jiffy]

I can't be of no help. Since I sudjest the Abit KT7A-Raid, it's not DDR, but there's no sound. I love this board, it plays UT very smooth, better then my Asus A7M266 board w DDr, and that board had great reviews. The SIS chip board has good reviews, but is also a cheap board and new. My Asus DDR had good reviews too, but for UT Abit KT7A raid is my board. So a board may have great review, but when you bring it home it may not do what you want. Does anybody own this SIS board or just going by reveiws??? If you play UT Abit plays smooth, if not never mind. haha [Terminator]