Motherboard with decent audio support

[Quetzacoatl]

Alright, so I was installing my new Thermalright Ax7 heatsink, great heatsink, poor clippy design. Slipped with my flathead screwdriver applying force and smashed a resistor on the board. Doesn't work very well anymore, I think it disrupted the 3 phase power regulation circuitry. Anyway, I now have a semi-dead Soyo Sy-kt333 motherboard. Luckily the thing is covered under warranty, so Soyo already gave me an RMA number, I just need to mail the thing back and they fix it for free. Good deal. Bad thing, I don't have any spare AMD motherboards. Bad.

So, i'm looking at a couple boards, either a real cheapo model to work in the mean time, or just get a really nice one and i'll retire my Soyo motherboard when it comes back, or sell it...I'm not sure yet. Any opinions on this? By the way, i'm running 1 stick of Crucial Pc-266 256mb Ddr, and an AXP 1800+ AGOGA stepping.

Abit NV7-133R, well it's an Nforce 415d, so it has to have decent sound from the Dolby Digital chipset

Abit At7/At7-2, not exactly sure....they sure do have a lot of USB ports, nice sound, and lots of IDE ports for the At7

Abit Kd7-RAID, hmm....kt400, yuck, oh well, but it's full of features and 6 channel sound

MSI 745 Ultra, cheap, dirt cheap

ECS K7VTA3-RAID, even cheaper!

Chaintech Apogee 7VJL, it looks nice, has cool stuff...and uh...rounded cables!

Need to get it within a week or two, so I can't wait for the Nforce 2 or much anything else.



Soon enough, Intel will make the i845s...imagine dual channel Sdram...*shudder*

 

[Crashman]

nForce/nForce2 would be your best bet.

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

 

[Spitfire_x86]

If you seriously consider onboard audio quality, go for a nForce based mobo. Asus A7N266-VM, if you don't need 5 PCI slots and can live with 2 memory banks. For 5 PCI slots and 3 memory banks, MSI K7N415 Pro or Asus A7N266-C.

I have heard good things about Realtek ALC650 chip based nboard audio of MSI KT3 Ultra and KT3 Ultra2. It's a good non-nForce choice.

** Isn't it surprising to you that I am recommending some non-MSI mobo? **

<b><font color=red> Long live piracy! </font color=red></b>

 

[Quetzacoatl]

god, will you shut the [-peep-] up already with the stupid MSI Kt3 boards, no body cares what you have to say

Soon enough, Intel will make the i845s...imagine dual channel Sdram...*shudder*

 

[TJinsane]

Look, if your going for audio, you probably want a few inputs/outputs, so I would recomend ABIT AT7-MAX2, from what I have heard, it's got prety darn good audio plus my friend claims its alot faster without all the extra ports that noone ever uses. Plus up to 10 USB and 3 Firewire, how bad can it be? Go for it.

If a CPU can be overclocked, try and overclock it. Do this always and forever, unless, of coarse, you have a POS ecs motherboard. In that case, thank god it runs.

 

[Quetzacoatl]

Way too expensive, I haven't seen that board below $180 in fact. Might as well get a cheaper motherboard and a sound card...Considering the MSI 6561, it's cheap at $65, and has decent everything, minus the ac97 audio codec.

Soon enough, Intel will make the i845s...imagine dual channel Sdram...*shudder*

 

[Spitfire_x86]

god, will you shut the [-peep-] up already with the stupid MSI Kt3 boards, no body cares what you have to say

Oh, how stupid Anandtech is! Recommends MSI KT3 Ultra2 for value gaming systems, praises its onboard audio.

<b><font color=red> Long live piracy! </font color=red></b>

 

[Quetzacoatl]

Hmm, torn between the Asus A7S333 and MSI 6561

The MSI has crap Ac97 2.1 sound, while the Asus has the Cmedia 5.1, and I can reuse my 5.1 sound bracket from my Soyo board (also uses the Cmedia 8738 chip). Asus though, has boring dirt color and less featured. Also, the MSI has a firewire bracket

Soon enough, Intel will make the i845s...imagine dual channel Sdram...*shudder*

 

[MeTaLrOcKeR]

I have an ASUS A7S333.....board is great......wont be disapointed with it =)

Sound is really good on it.....and i havent seen it fu<k up once yet....doesnt crash and takes anything i throw at it....

<A HREF="http://www.anandtech.com/mysystemrig.html?id=13597" target="_new">-MeTaL RoCkEr</A>