What are the main differences in these boards?

[camtr]

I am fairly new to computer specifics. I will be building my first computer and think I want to buy either the ABIT IT7 MAX or the ASUS p4b533-e. I would like to know what the main differences are in these two boards. I have tried to look at spec sheets for the two and compare them but I still do not understand exactly what some of the specs mean. Please Forgive my ignorance as I am still learning, I have already learned a lot from these forms but realize I have way more to learn. One thing I would like to make sure of is what is the fastest ram each can use. Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[Crashman]

The biggest difference is that one (P4B) has Keyboard, Mouse, Printer, and Serial ports, the other (IT7) doesn't. I don't usually recommend "legacy free" boards as I don't see any advantage to them. But the biggest drawback of the IT7 is that it only has 4 PCI slots, and since 1 is sharing an IRQ with the AGP, only 3 of those are usefull for many cards.

Both will run your DDR400 at DDR354 speeds if you select the 3:4 CPU:RAM bus ratios, using a "533" bus processor. Overclocking would allow you to see the full DDR400 speed at 150MHz FSB. DDR400, aka PC3200, is relatively inexpensive, just a little more pricey than the slower types.

<font color=blue>You're posting in a forum with class. It may be third class, but it's still class!</font color=blue>

 

[camtr]

Once again thank you for your advice, I think I will go with the asus board.