ABIT / MSI? What should a newbie do?

[Zeppy]

Ok...

I'm doing research all over the place about Socket A motherboards. Until today I was sold on the ABIT KT7. What's the deal with the MSI? I hadn't really even heard of it until I ran across this forum.

So, give me some advice. I'm looking to build a pretty decent system on a VERY tight budget. I had planned on going with an ABIT KT7 and a Duron 700.

I'm not an overclocker, so that's not an issue. I just want stability, good online support, and a decent price.

Other than the board, here is some of my plan:

WD 20GB 7200RPM HDD
Hercules Prophet II MX
Corsair 128MB RAM (PC133)
SBLIVE! OEM Value

 

[Zeppy]

It's confirmed. I'm very lost at this point.

I've been going over tons and tons of threads and responses here and at other web sites. It's quite apparent that MSI is what everyone is suggesting. Here is my situation...

Facts:
1) This will be the 2nd system I've built in my life. The previous was an FIC PA-2013 with a K6-III 400.
2) I am on a very limited budget.
3) I've never overclocked before and don't plan on doing so. (Can't afford to make a mistake.)
4) I will be using the computer to do some MSOffice work and play a few games (AOE, Quake III, Diablo II, HHBaseball, etc) with my wife on our LAN. She will be using the aforementioned PA-2013.
5) The system will need to get me by for at least a year or more.
6) I can troubleshoot anything from a good web site and will not call tech support if my life depended on it.
7) I will likely not notice speed differences and will not be running bench marks to see how speedy I am. I just want something stable and dependable.

That brings us to the question again...
Abit KT7 or MSI K7TAPro or other MSI K7?

In all sincerity...I need some straight advice.

 

[Insomnium]

The MSI K7T-Pro2A offers Stability, great features, and a generally cheap price of ~$110. If you can't wait for/afford a KT133A solution, then go for the Pro2A which everyone seems to agree to be much more stable than the Abit boards.

 

[jsbush]

And good luck getting support from Abit!

 

[JonB]

I'm waiting on mine right now (MSI Pro-2a, that is). Very big on stability, but I'm sure I'll try to bump up the speed. If it doesn't stay stable, I'll just take it back down. No harm, no foul. C'mon T-Bird!!!

 

[rb56]

Chris,

I think there are pros and cons to all the boards that you are thinking about. Like me you've probably read most of the posts here in the fourm. There are alot of the boards that you are thinking about being used by many of people here and if you talked to a hundred of each I'd guess that the percentages of those that like each and don't like each would be pretty close.

Pick the one that you want for the reasons that are important to you. Then buy it from the dealer that you have the most confidence and trust in.

 

[Zeppy]

Chris? OK.

Well, I see your point, but at the same time I need guys like you to give me advice on real world experience. Ultimately I may just ignore everything you say, but I'd really like to get feedback from people who know other than just the company's sales pitch. That way I can weight the opinions and make my decision. If I used normal purchasing logic I'd probably go with the ABIT since it's more expensive and "you get what you pay for". However, because of this forum, I really wonder if that would be the right move.

I'm at 75% for MSI at this point because I'll be getting a Hard Drive with ATA100 support. Not to mention all the cool tricks I'm reading about the Fuzzy Logic app. So, I need a little more convincing in one aspect....Conflicts. How does the MSI get along with SBLIVE and GEFORCE II MX cards? If it does well, that will probably do it for me.

 

[gittyup]

I just got the MSI Pro2A and am very happy with it for my new system. If you plan to run WIN2K, you wil need to get the utility that allows ATA100 support from here.

 

[JimMc]

Pro2/Pro2A over an the Abit any day, particularly if $$ are tight.

 

[Zeppy]

Well, even though all of the benchmarks say that the ABIT is a faster board, I decided to go with the MSI K7TPro2A. That ATA100 and all the high stability ratings seems to make it perfect for me.

Unfortunately the place I was going to get it from (TC Computers) just put it on allocation. WAH!:|:frown::Q

I even went by a local store today that had it in stock, but it was $30 more than TC. I almost got it, but said, "nah...I can save $30 and still get it within a week or two."

I sure hope they get it in stock soon.

 

[PCComp]

Sometimes it's worth paying the additional $20 - $30 to buy it from a local vendor. If it's defective, you simply return it for a refund or exchange; no shipping or RMA worries. Also, when it's bought online, you must factor in the shipping costs. Don't get me wrong, I buy most of my stuff online. However, if I can find it at Fry's for a few dollars extra, I will buy it from there...

 

[dartblazer]

monarchcomputer.com has the msi board for cheap, and i received mine within a week from them.

 

[Rocket34]

I actually want to get the same model.

I am wondering where you can get some CHEAP memory that will work with this board. Does anyone know?

 

[Mem]

This is easy has a ex-Abit owner now MSI owner go with MSI, much better in all departments like stability,quality parts etc.

 

[wreed]

Hey Giddyup did you get that 256 memory from BUy.com last month? I got the same memory and I want to know if I can overclock it to PC133 cause I plan on buying that board.