best AMD high performance motherboard

[dud2k]

hey
i was just curious on what was the best AMD high performance motherboard out there. i've heard a lot about the ECS, but newegg does not have it in stock, and i am not up for waiting for it, but are there any other good motherboards out there that arent too expensive? i'd also like to stay away on VIA, but i havent any clue on other chipsets besides VIA and SIS. oh also... i'm not planning on overclocking, hehe.
thanks in advanvce

 

[wfbberzerker]

epox 8k7a for $120 at newegg

 

[dud2k]

doesnt the epox 8k7a still use VIA chips... or use the via 4-in-1 drivers?

 

[dud2k]

i know the epox 8k7a supports DDR ram..but can i use SD-RAM with it?

 

[Sunner]

Wait for the KT266A, assuming it doesn't have any significant problems, it will probabaly be by far the highest prforming chipset out there for the K7, at the very least until the nForce shows up.

 

[dud2k]

i also heard that the epox 8k7a has problems with that one netgear network card, which is the one i use so getting the epox would also include +10 dollar charge for a new network card.

 

[dud2k]

hmm i dont think i can wait for the KT266A, because i have no computer right now, and i need one, and need to get the new motherboard asap

 

[Grendel99]

Don't forget the ECS board, has the SiS 735 chipset, fastest thing on the market as of now I believe. Supports DDR SDRAM and SDRAM. Very cheap to, $65. And yes the Epox uses the VIA 4n1's but NOT the AGP drivers. Isn't that right?

If you can wait, I would wait for the nForce and the KT266A to come out, both are suppose to be faster boards than anything out right now.

 

[dud2k]

newegg doesnt have ECS in stock and i kinda need to order the mobo really soon, cause i need it for school

 

[Fardringle]

While NewEgg is certainly my first choice for online purchases, there are several other good retailers out there who do have the ECS board in stock... Take a look at Pricewatch and you might find something you like.

 

[dud2k]

ok thanks, so you guys would recommend ECS? hmm okay, so would u guys think my RAM fried when my motherboard fried? i'm not sure whether or not i should get more RAM, i kinda want to, since i could get DDR=) but it's kinda expensive if i want to go for 512mb ram, which seems to be the minimum these days.

 

[dud2k]

Ok, if i get the ECS motherboard, here would be my final setup, lemme know how u guys think about it:

1) ECS K7S5A
2) 1 gig AMD thunderbird
3) 512 DDR crucial ram
4) radeon 32mb LE
5) diamond sonic impact s100 audio card (unless the onboard is better)

oh..by the way, what is that website that shows the ratings on online shops, so i know whether or not the website is reliable or not?
oh! one more thing..would a sparkle 300w PSU be sufficient for all that hardware? (+2 hard drives , +1 cd-rom burner, +1 cd-rom drive)

 

[JMJ88]

Reseller Ratings

And yes, the 300W would work. I ran a 300W for a week on a 1.4, 512MB ram, 2-40gb HD's, DVD/CD, GF3, and about 6 case fans. Never crashed

I am running a 431W Enermax right now though.

 

[Floydian]

Resellerratings.com is the site, I'd go with the ecs, cheaper, no incompatibility with your network card, both types of ram, sounds stable and even some good OC's.

My friend tried that netgear card in his epox 8k7a, and it only seems to recieve information, and not send anything out, kinda strange, returned it and got a different one, so definitely dont use the 8k7a unless you get a diff network card

 

[dud2k]

so as for that arctic compound people use with the HSF, is that required, or do the fans usually come with some paste already..and is that suffice if i'm not gonna OC?

 

[dud2k]

and also, how much difference would a 950mhz with 200mhz FSB and 1 gigahertz with 266mhz FSB be? is there a big difference between them? because the cost is a big difference, by 30 dollars.

 

[hans007]

why even bother with a 1ghz tbird. just get a 1.4, i mean its like $20 difference at the most

 

[QuestionsandAnsweres]

get the one with a 266bus

get the 1.4ghz if u can.

if u cant get a 1.4ghz get a 1ghz 266mhz fsb since its suppose to be a decent overclocker (even tho the ECS board really sucks at ovreclocking compared to others.

it only has FSB overclocking. no mulitplier nor voltage.

 

[vampiro]

Go ahead and get the IWill KK266 Plus. It has the ALi MaGiK chipset, which isn't the fastest nor the slowest, and 5.1 digital audio on board. It is also an excellent overclocker if you ever get into that. Everyone on the forums seems to rave about this board, although personally I prefer the EPoX 8K7A.

 

[filmore crashcart]

If you opt to get the 1.4 for this board... please double check that the sparkle model number you have is the one listed on the approved list at the amd site. I too have a sparkle 300w which is a 60gt model (older that came in my supermicro 750a case) and I could not get a boot from this board with that processor. I'm not saying you'll most certainly have problems with an insufficient power supply but do yourself a favor and read the posts in the motherboard section related to this.
here
and here
If your sparkle is an official 1.4 support flavor, then you know your covered in that dept.

 

[azztec]

vampiro, isnt the IWILL kk266 plus a kt133a chipset?

 

[majewski9]

Yeah the best Athlon boards will be out soon as several KT266A boards are in the works as arer several sis 735 and Nforce. I dont know what ALI has up their sleeve as well.

I wish AMD would release another Athlon chipset as well!

 

[Bovinicus]

I would strongly suggest waiting for a VIA KT266A motherboard; however, I do understand your current situation. With that in mind I would suggest a motherboard using the SiS735 chipset. Newegg is definitely a very good retailer, however if they don't have what you're looking for you should go somewhere else. The motherboard is the most important part of your system. It can hold back performance, stability, compatibility, etc. The SiS735 is clearly the way to go right now. Also, I think 1GHz is more than sufficent. If you're a gamer and you play games at 1024x768x32, then a faster processor won't do you much. If you like to play in lower resolutions then your frames will mostly likely be so high no matter what that your framerate will be moot. If you're not a gamer then you definitely don't need a processor faster than that. That is if you're working on a really tight budget.

 

[Vincent]

<< vampiro, isnt the IWILL kk266 plus a kt133a chipset? >>



You are right, azztec.