Aren't there any perfect KT266A motherboard ?

[CyNics]

It was a nightmare for me in the past 6 months. Spent so much money and changed 2 motherboards, still I couldn't get my PC to work properly. I bought the MSI K7T266-Pro after reading several reviews saying it's a very good board and replaced it with MSI K7-Master 1 month later because I couldn't get it work stably. After 3 weeks, I sent my K7-Master back to the shop for replacement because of my keyboard connector failure, which was a very wierd case and my second K7-Master only last for 1 month(unknown reason). I sent it back to the shop again and got another replacement. My third K7-Master, which I'm using now, is the worst motherboard I ever had. Because of this, I won't buy any MSI motherboard anymore. I'm currenlty considering of getting a KT266A motherboard but I can't decide which board to go for. There are several choices for me, Asus A7V266-E, Epox 8KHA+, Soyo Dragon and Abit KR7A. Now the problem is, I can't decide which board should I go for because there are so many problems with all of them(Got it from amdmb.com's forum and other forums). There is a BIOS issue with ASUS A7V266-E, CPU temp and vcore reader gives incorrect reading and some guys are saying that Asus motherboard is too expensive since we can get the same quality motherboard for a lower price such as Epox's 8KHA+. But then there are reboot and stability issues with Epox 8KHA+ and lots of soyo and abit motherboards got sent back for replacement. Still, there are ppl saying 8KHA+, DRAGON, A7V266-E and KR7A are very stable MB, rock solid, blablabla. I was wondering that do we need luck when we buy PC stuffs ? Those who owns a bad board, are they just unlucky or there are real issues with their board ? and those who owns a good baord, are they just lucky or there aren't any issues with the baord ? (for example Epox 8KHA+ case) Guys please help me, which direction should I go ?

By the way, I tested all my PC parts before I changed my K7T-266pro and K7-Master and they were all OK.

Thanks for helping me

 

[o1die]

If you don't need raid and don't overclock much, I recommend the shuttle ak31 version 3.1. Running mine for 2 months with no major problems at 138 fsb. 4 ddram slots and 6 pci slots. No dip switches to mess with; all overclocking options in the bios. For $80 (newegg), it's a bargain. Or you can wait for the newer version, the ak35gt, which has raid, 5.1 sound, and ata 133 support. Should be at newegg about Jan 20th for only $129.

 

[CyNics]

Well Stability is the main factor for me Of course I will overclock but not more than 145FSB
I bought a lot of Asus motherbaords in the past and asus motherboard stability is very good. Just they are too expensive, like MEM said, we can get same quality board for a lower price (EPOX). It's just I don't have the faith to change from asus to other companies (well too many issues with epox, abit, soyo and of course asus too. That's the reason I can't decide with KT266A board to go for). I'm afraid of failing again after I've failed for so many times in the past 6 months. I'm Bored of it.

 

[Mustanggt]

CyNics I had K7master and had to RMA it, never bought another, If you have a good PS 340w ++ then go for the 8KHA+ there a few beta bios updates that fix troubles., I have also heard good things bout the shuttle ak31 version 3.1, your choice

 

[Pabster]

No.

 

[NFS4]

<< No. >>


Are there any perfect SiS735 boards? No. There is no perfect motherboard. Each has their own little niggling problems here in there. My Shuttle AK31 Rev 3.1 happens to be "PERFECT" for me, but that doesn't mean that it would be perfect for the next person.

Besides, what's a VIA thread without Pabster:disgust:

 

[osage]

NO.......no perfect boards on ANY chipset.

 

[Pabster]

NFS4 wrote:

"Besides, what's a VIA thread without Pabster :frown:"

Jeez, I can't even give an honest, single-word reply these days without getting attacked!

 

[Jen]

there has never been a perfect board. there has been some very good boards. each has thier positives and negatives



Jen

 

[NFS4]

<< NFS4 wrote:

"Besides, what's a VIA thread without Pabster :frown:"

Jeez, I can't even give an honest, single-word reply these days without getting attacked! >>


You deserve every word Pabster

 

[Beatles]

I'm extremely pleased with my Epox. Terrific performance and every bit as stable as the Intel chipsets I used to run.

 

[WarCon]

So let me see, I think Pabster really doesn't like VIA.......... (Did a VIA board explode on you or what?)

Me personally, I think mobo's that aren't thoroughly tested should be worth lets say double our money back(Time and frustration should be worth something). I have a VIA chipset mobo (KT7A). I will in no way defend it though it really hasn't treated me poorly other than limiting my FSB overclock to 139. I really can't say I love it or hate it. It hasn't stopped me from using my computer (which would put it in the hate category). I have been lucky and was post major issue era. And since I don't use SCSI or ATA133 right now, I don't have to deal with those problems. For all the systems that I have built lately I have stuck with VIA chipsets because I know them and had some real dislikes with ALi chipsets a few years ago. Be honest with you, I was hoping Intel would freak out and put out a socket A chipset that was as stable as the BX of old, but thats like hoping for gravity to reverse itself.

But in an impartial and intelligent way, can I ask what is the fastest most stable board out. I really want it to be both, I couldn't give a crap about brand names either. It can't cost over lets say $200 bucks so don't suggest dual processor boards (although it seems like the tyan is well liked).

Any suggestions, because I was looking at KT266A boards until this rucus got started.

 

[dAv]

See my post about Aopen Link

 

[Mem]

Hmm perfect board? nope if there was there would be no bios updates for it and 0% RMA on that board so that`s going to be impossible,some people might say " I`ve a near perfect board" and I guess if you happy with it and it`s rock stable then it`s not too far off the mark.


Also the perfect motherboard would never need a upgrade IMHO.




<< I was wondering that do we need luck when we buy PC stuffs ? Those who owns a bad board, are they just unlucky or there are real issues with their board ? and those who owns a good baord, are they just lucky or there aren't any issues with the baord ? (for example Epox 8KHA+ case) Guys please help me, which direction should I go ?

By the way, I tested all my PC parts before I changed my K7T-266pro and K7-Master and they were all OK. >>



Everybody has good or badluck but I try to follow some simple rules like make sure all parts I buy are all quality parts then I always do a bios update followed by a clean install of OS then start with all updates from Microsoft and drivers etc, you can have parts go faulty but nothing you can do about that RMA does not care who`s the next target.

So far I`ve had no problems with either my old MSI K7T Pro and my new Epox 8KHA+ board.

Btw I did have a T-bird go faulty after 6 weeks, did it stop me buying AMD again? Nope as I said RMA is down to luck and anybody can be the next target .

 

[86plymouthcolt]

Stay away from the Soyo if it has a RAID controller. I wasted so much money on the last Soyo board I had, I was forced to sell it at a lost on Ebay.

Although I am curretly using an Asus board and love it, their performance under kt266a sucks.

Go with the Epox for now.

 

[CoachClevenger]

IMHO, the shuttle ak31a is a great board at a great price. It uses a three phase power switch, which only a few boards use; all 4 dimms can be populated with unregistered memory, 6pci, jumperless, and the dimms aren't in the way of the agp. I have been running this board solidly for a couple of weeks, without a single crash, on 98se, win2k, xp pro; with a 1700xp, gts2, 2940u2w, intel nic. I don't overclock because the adaptec card is unstable at freq's above 36 or so. It has never crashed! 3dmark2k1, q3, UT, giants, nfs5, max, spiderman, serious sam... what more could you ask for. Besides, at $80+ you will have plenty left over for cool gear. If i were building my mother a system, this would be the board I'd use. If i were building my little bro' a system, this is the board i'd use. If i were building my boss a system, this is the board i'd use...and i'd tell him it cost twice the price .

 

[CyNics]

Well I heard this before from my friends. They said that there are a few quality level of processor, such as Top level processor, second level processor.third level processor(same model of course)...and those top level processor Intel and AMD will send it to OEM manufacturers and those second and third they will send to the shop for diff. prices. I'm wondering that does this situation happens in motherboard field too ? Cause the shop I bought my K7T-266Pro and K7-Master offers the lowest prices for all PC parts in my home town. So I was thinking that maybe they are selling 3rd level stuffs since their prices are so cheap and because of this all my MB I bought from there couldn't work properly ? Does this make any sense ?

Thanks

 

[AZGamer]

The Epox 8KHA+ is as close as there is to a perfect implementation.

 

[CyNics]

Well I want to thank you guys for helping me

Abit and Soyo are definately out of my way now. I wanted to get the Asus A7V266-E but it's really too expensive. Although I can afford it as long as its stability is excellent, like what Mem said, I just think not worth it since there is another excellent board in the market, which is the Epox 8KHA+. But everytime when I was 99% sure of getting Epox 8KHA+, there would be another issue come out which made me hold back my decision for a while. I can't afford to get another problematic board again after what I've "suffered" for the past 6 months.

Thanks again

 

[Bingo13]

You could go to the dark side...... Asus P4T-E is about the most stable motherboard I have ever used in the last 18 years. If you want to stay with a KT266a board I would highly suggest the Gigabyte 7VTXH for ease of setup and stability in a VIA platform.

 

[CyNics]

I admit that Intel's chipsets is more stable than Via's. I do hope that there will be a similar BX chipset for AMD processors. But I'm not going to buy Intel processors until they come out something better than AMD and cheaper than AMD, which I don't think we will get it in the next 2 (??? or maybe forever (hehe)). Sorry, no Intel now.

 

[AAjax]

Personaly I feel the Dragon+ is the best MB Ive ever owned. It is 100% rock stable and for someone like myself that just overclocks a little it is the best bang for the buck. The audio sounds way better than my soundblaster live. Of course your luck may be different but I love this board

Jax

 

[455olds]

Give another look into the Dragron+. There is another forum(amdmd) that deals just with the dragon+ and it's issues, they are good ppl and quite helpfull(flaming is very rare). For me it was the best bang for the buck (with the extra cables and all). stable at 149fsb and raid 0 bench=48000, 3dmark 8300, sisoft 4400, all on a xp1600 in XP. Of course I sure that there are other boards that can be work out to the same performance or better, but after months of researching the forums and board issues the dragon+ was the choice and it was a sucsessfull first build.

 

[Quad]

will the epox 8hka2 (the 8hka+ with raid...model might be wrong) be just as good as the 8hka+ ? because when the raid controller is added, i'm sure MANY people will be very interested in this board. the only reason i've been looking at other boards besides the epox is because of the lack of raid on the 8hka+

 

[themadmonk]

My K7T266 Pro2 works great.