Asus, MSI or Abit? Need help choosing!

[MaGiQ_]

After hours of researches and forum browsing, I came up with 3 motherboards: the Asus a7v333 (a lot of features, very fast), the MSI KT3 Ultra (good overall performance, mid-price range) and the Abit KX7-333 (although not sure about this one, I read it was rock-solid and low priced). I also read that the EPoX 8K5A2+ was great, although it is not available in my region.
I am not planning to overclock a lot. What I'm looking for is mostly stability and speed (of course), and if possible good on-board sound and LAN.

Btw, are all Geforce 4 incompabilities fixed in rev. 2.0 of the GigaByte GA-7VRXP?

Any suggestions or recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Crashman]

If you want the best stability, go with an nForce board. These are now available without the onboard graphics if you so choose.

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

 

[chuck232]

But wouldn't you want a board that can use the future 166MHz FSB? Just to prepare yourself for the time when AMD switches?

<i>Past mistakes may make you look stupid, but avoiding future ones will make you look smart!</i>

 

[tersagun]

As a budget board, SiS745 seems like ideal, don't Crashman?
MSI745 Ultra may be a godd choice for you.

<b>Before getting angry to the (d)evil, just think about who CREATED it!</b>

 

[upec]

I have an Asus a7v333 and I think it is a great board.

 

[upec]

VIA KT333 chipset is very stable. I have use it for a few month did not have any problem. I would not go with nVidia Chipset since they not even perform as good as KT266A chipset.

 

[Spitfire_x86]

nForce seems better for you, it has onboard lan and extremely good sound. It's audio is as good as audigy.

Although KT333 is pretty stable, nForce is more stable than KT333. nForce is fast and little slower than KT333 that you will not notice.

My recommended nForce board ASUS A7N266-C if you don't plan to use integrated GeForce2 MX. For integrated GeForce2 MX, i recommend MSI K7N-420 Pro. I am personally using this board.

If you buy a KT333 board, don't hesitate to buy MSI KT3 Ultra.

Asus A7V333 is factory overclocked, you can't set the FSB to 133 Mhz, you have to set FSB 135 MHz instead.

 

[Crashman]

745 Ultra is a nice board, yes

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

 

[pengtao]

Someone said that nFore ,but almost all the website cosider the KT333 IS the best chipset of AMD.IF I going to buy a KT333 mainboard I choose GA-7VRXP,maybe its expensive but in tomshardwareguide is one of the best mainboard in the test .
1. it has USB2.0
2. it has LAN
3. it has creative 5880 soundcard.
I go for it.

 

[Sevenhunt]

You could buy the msi but it has more chance of crashing compared to the asus. But overall it has a great performance. The asus is stable.
So It`s just a choice of what you want, stable asus, fast msi.

 

[chuck232]

I heard the GigaByte had many problems among users. Something about the power usages of a GF4 Ti... I dunno, if you're gonna get a GF4 Ti, then I'd suggest the EPoX 8K5A2+ or the ASUS A7V333 for features.

<i>Past mistakes may make you look stupid, but avoiding future ones will make you look smart!</i>