Beating a dead horse but? 4 MOBO to choose from

[TechZen]

Posted for a Bud who's having a problem registering...

"Please forgive this topic; I?m sure you have seen this too many times. I?m building a new system and I am having a hard time deciding which MOBO too choose. I doubt if I?ll be overclocking much if any, but I would like to get a quality MOBO that is stable and offers the best bang for the buck. Looking at placing an 1800+ or 1900+ on the MOBO. Basically I have narrowed the choices to four DDR boards.



MSI K7T266 Pro2

Abit KR7A-raid

Soyo Dragon+

Epox EP-8KHA+



Plus, for the MOBO that have sound which if any a worth listening too.

Thanks in advance for your knowledge and advice."

 

[Strawberrymom]

bang for buck

8K7A

 

[johndoe52]

bang for the buck...dragon +. On board lan, 6.1 sound, multiplier and fsb adjustment.

 

[Tooter]

I agree with johndoe52...Dragon +

 

[o1die]

Bang for the buck? I use the shuttle ak31 version 3.1, and if you act fast, newegg has a refurbished one for only $59 with free shipping. With the money you save, you can get a better video or raid card.

 

[Athlon4all]

Bang for buck? At $100, 8KHA+. Plus it can overclock. If u want goodies that the other 3 have, then take the Dragon+.

 

[Davegod75]

shuttle

 

[TgcRizzo]

I have just ordered a Soyo Dragon+, I had a choice of basically those boards as well. In the end, the Soyo has LAN and v. good audio, it is also fast (according to Tom's Hardware).

 

[dkvamme]

Im in the same boat as you, Im building 4 systems to which Im ordering the parts for next week. One of the systems will be for me. Im choosing the Dragon + w/ 1700 xp for myself. Its tough not to get a little Soyo Dragon love after reading all the positive reviews on it. But for the other three systems I am choosing either the Shuttle Ak 31a or the Gigabyte GA-7VTXE. Stability, not overclocking is the main concern for these systems. Now the last choice for me is either GF3 Ti 200 or ATI 8500 LE (oem) video cards.

 

[Wind]

Epox 8KHA+ for me.

 

[TechZen]

Thanks everybody.
My bud still hasn't made up his mind, but really appreciated all the responce. He's researching the chipsets, before he decides. He's leaning towards a MB with 4 ddr slots, an Asus I think. But is having problems finding one with the option setup he wants. I can't wait till he starts building this bad boy, since I already bought his old rig but Don't get it till his new ones done. Thanks again for the help.

 

[majewski9]

Dragon for sure if you want bang for your buck, but I like the Iwill XP333 myself!

 

[Bingo13]

Not on the list but my Iwill XP333-R has been a much better board overall than KT266a boards I have had so far. Performance is equal to or just a little less but the overall stability of the system has been much better than VIA's solutions.

 

[BFG20K]

Sorry guys but I disagree with you all, best bang for the buck is the .... SOLTEK SL-75DRV2.

The MSI underperforms most of the other kt266a mobos out there.
The Abit is too expensive at over $140.
The Soyo is a good deal since it includes raid and 6channel onboard audio but not everyone needs raid.
The Epox is a great board but the soltek is more stable.