A noob question: What's the best P4 RDRAM mobo?

[Bman001]

Like the title says. I'm looking for stability/reliability first, performance at standard spec 2nd, and OCing ability 3rd.

Is it this one?

Intel D850MVSE i850 P4 Skt478 RDRAM ATX Motherboard Retail

Or this one?

Asus P4T-E i850 P4 (Northwood) Skt478 RDRAM ATX Motherboard w/Audio Retail

 

[zzzz]

you can forget about overclocking with the intel motherboard but it is a stable mobo.
The Asus mobo is good in terms of all categories but for overclocking it is good only if you get a mobo with a specific clock generator.(search the forums for P4T-E)
If you consider Abit Th7-2, it is good in every category.

 

[Bman001]

Google Gear says that only mobos with "Northwood" in the description are guaranteed to work with Northwood CPUs. The TH7-2 doesn't say "Northwwod". Does this matter?

 

[ginfest]

do a search here and at OCing Forums for info, basically some of the TH7-II boards were coming with the "37" BIOS which technically doesn't recognize the Northwood. People with 1.8A and up chips were able to post, albeit at a "failsafe" 800 Mhz so they could flash to "38" and above. People, myself included, with 1.6A Northwoods couldn't post and had to either use an older Willemette P4 to flash, or obtain a new BIOS from Abit.
Of course, I bought mine in Feb., and people are reporting that newer boardsa have come with the "38" BIOS.
That hassle aside, IMHO the TH7-II has the best stability for OC out of the Rdram boards, due to the 6-layer PCB(others use 4-layer), and the "OC Strip" on the underside of the board.
I would suggest that you get Samsung branded, low density Rimms if you want to OC.

 

[Athlon4all]

Asus P4T-E, make sure you get one with ICS RDRAM clock generators.