Mobo recommendations

[alphateam]

I'm building my first system, not really planning on over-clocking, I just want something thats stable and reliable, and fast as hell. Money isn't really an issue with it. Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated

-Alpha
Sorry I missed church, I've been busy practicing witchcraft and becoming a lesbian.

 

[Tinker]

If you're going with an AMD cpu then the MSI KT3 Ultra (-ARU if you want Raid). It's stable and very fast, has 8 USB ports (4x1.1,4x2.0), 6 channel audio, 6 pci slots, auto updates drivers and Bios, FSB 100-166, 3xDimms (3G total), UDMA 66-133; 4 IDE (+4 in Raid config). Not a stellar OCer, but very stable. Standard board is $77, Raid=$108 @ <A HREF="http://www.newegg.com" target="_new">New Egg</A>.

 

[alphateam]

What if I were going with a P4?

-Alpha
Sorry I missed church, I've been busy practicing witchcraft and becoming a lesbian.

 

[o1die]

If you need alot of standard features (usb 2.0, premium sound) check out the soyo p4s dragon ultra with sis 645dx chipset. It comes with the agp lock for overclocking, but don't flash the bios, as the new version doesn't have it. This board is not cheap ($160 at newegg). The other board to consider is the epox 4g4a+ ($138).

 

[AMD_Man]

If you want the best of the best in terms of performance, RDRAM is still the way to go. The Abit TH7-II is still the best RDRAM board in my opinion. If you want a fully loaded motherboard that leaves behind old 1980s legacy technology, I recommend the Abit IT7. It is a DDR board but it has support for the 3:4 (FSB to Mem) ratio so it will still provide excellent performance. I got one myself. It's a great board! It includes everything you'd want in a mobo: Firewire, 10 USB2 ports, above-average quality 6-channel sound (Abit insists on calling it Home Theater quality but it's not as good as TBSC which really provides Home Theater quality sound, however, it's good enough for most people), a whopping 4 channel RAID (you can potentially hook up 8 hard drives to a RAID 0! ). It also has support for the MediaXP or whatever they call it. It's basically a box that you install at the front of your computer in a 5.25" bay that includes some extra connectors and well as an IR receiver and a remote control.

<b><i>"A penny saved is a penny earned!"</i></b>

 

[bob_dn]

If money is no object <A HREF="http://www.giga-byte.com/products/8ihxp.htm" target="_new">what more can you ask for? </A>

 

[AMD_Man]

Except that it doesn't overclock too well.

<b><i>"A penny saved is a penny earned!"</i></b>

 

[Crashman]

It overclocks probably better than anything else up to the limit of it's clock generator (156MHz), it has more overclocking features such as memory voltage control. Considering the 1.8A tops out before this clock generator does, sounds like a good board for most users. Also high stability and excess features stand out.

<font color=blue>At least half of all problems are caused by an insufficient power supply!</font color=blue>

 

[Quetzacoatl]

I have a Soyo Sy-kt333 ultra. Highly stable, good overclocking, many features...Raid, integrated LAN, 3 Dimm slots, 4 fan headers...6 USB ports (4 are 2.0)...but expensive at $148 at Newegg.com

"When there's a will, there's a way."

Forgot to mention, it uses the kt333 chipset for AMD CPUs.<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by Quetzacoatl on 07/06/02 07:51 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[Guest]

but the TH7-II has the 850 chipset. what is the difference with the 850E?


<i> I like THG Interactive, Inc.</i>

 

[Quetzacoatl]

The i850e is "validated" for the 533Mhz QDR FSB and PC-800 RDR, but easily overclocks (or by resetting the sychronous memory bus) to PC-1066

"When there's a will, there's a way."

 

[Guest]

yes "up to 166Mhz". but do you know what is exactly QDR & how does that work?


<i> I like THG Interactive, Inc.</i>

 

[Quetzacoatl]

Of course I do. It is similar to DDR, but different. First off, it uses a base clock of 100 or 133 Mhz. Then, the signal is multiplied four times using double the rising and leading edges of the clock signal. Finally, the bus is "double pumped" like DDR. QDR 400 runs at 800Mhz and QDR 133 runs at 1066Mhz

"When there's a will, there's a way."

 

[Guest]

i didn't understand your recommendation.

i prefer the ASUS P4T533-C. it has the latest i850E from intel. it supports dual channel 3200 & 4200 RDRAM. it has an onboard ATA133 RAID controller, a Dual Channel IDE ATA100 & an USB 2.0 feature as well. plus it is extremely overclockable. (& alot of other stuffing features, i didn't all mention )


<i> I like THG Interactive, Inc.</i>

 

[Quetzacoatl]

I know, the TH7-II is reliable, fast, and has many features (don't make me list them). Using the i850, it can overclock well using PC-800 (high quality Samsung preferred). If you went AMD though, i'd prefer a different motherboard depending on your needs.

"When there's a will, there's a way."

 

[Guest]

If you went AMD though, i'd prefer a different motherboard depending on your needs.

i didn't understand your point, here?


<i> I like THG Interactive, Inc.</i>

 

[Quetzacoatl]

If you got Intel, I would suggest a motherboard like the Abit Th7-II for overclocking, but if you got an AMD CPU, I would recommend something different, such as an Asus A7V-333 or Abit At7...well it's a duh pal, an AMD CPU isn't going to fit in a socket 478.....unless you clip the pins and bend them maybe

"When there's a will, there's a way."

 

[Guest]

no, i think an ASUS P4T533 with a P4 2.26B is a better way for overclocking currently same as for 3D applications & DivX video capturing efficiency.


<i> I like THG Interactive, Inc.</i>

 

[Quetzacoatl]

Oh, undoubedtly yes, Intel has better oc'ing. But if you overclock AMD (I did on my Athlon), you can get good results using an Asus A7V-333 or Abit At7

"When there's a will, there's a way."