Best board for an athlon xp 2000?

[kcbass]

I think the message title pretty much speaks for itself. What do you think?

 

[Athlon4all]

Not again!!!!!:disgust:

 

[kcbass]

I take it this is a sore subject with frequent anandtech users...still, anyone care to comment?

 

[CrazyHelloDeli]

For the love of god...do a search.

 

[Mem]

<< I take it this is a sore subject with frequent anandtech users...still, anyone care to comment? >>




Ok I`ll bite ,my vote is the Epox 8KHA+ (especially if you don`t need RAID),I`m very impressed with mine on stability etc & setup is very simple.

 

[kcbass]

Thanks for bein a good sport mem. It's nice to know that some people out there go out of their way to help people instead of cut them down. Any other takers?

 

[jamesbond007]

The EPoX 8KHA+ and Asus A7V266-E...I don't think you can go wrong with either of those boards.

Good luck!

 

[Ram0]

I use the epox 8kha+, rock solid and fast. I bought this board because I didnt need RAID (the bugspray is more useful to me). Also the soltek SLDRV4 is supposed to be a sweet board, it uses the newer southbridge with ATA 133 (another useless feature heh). And theres always Asus and Abit.

 

[Daovonnaex]

You're too vague. What features are you looking for?

 

[AGodspeed]

<< You're too vague. What features are you looking for? >>

I agree, more info would be nice. But still, here would be my choices...

1. Iwill XP333-R
2. MSI NForce K7N420
3. Tyan Tiger MP
4. ECS K7S5A
5. Shuttle AK31A

All offer the same performance (within a couple percentage points of each other).

If stability is mission critical for you, I'd get the Tiger MP.

If price is your biggest issue, I'd get the K7S5A.

If you want to overclock, I'd get the XP333-R.

If you want a feature rich and stable board, I'd get the K7N420.

If you want the absolute fastest board with 4 DIMM slot options, I'd get the AK31A.

However, it still depends on YOUR needs.

 

[Daovonnaex]

<<

<< You're too vague. What features are you looking for? >>

I agree, more info would be nice. But still, here would be my choices...

1. Iwill XP333-R
2. MSI NForce K7N420
3. Tyan Tiger MP
4. ECS K7S5A
5. Shuttle AK31A

All offer the same performance (within a couple percentage points of each other).

If stability is mission critical for you, I'd get the Tiger MP.

If price is your biggest issue, I'd get the K7S5A.

If you want to overclock, I'd get the XP333-R.

If you want a feature rich and stable board, I'd get the K7N420.

If you want the absolute fastest board with 4 DIMM slot options, I'd get the AK31A.

However, it still depends on YOUR needs. >>

Your selections are good, but leave out excellent contenders like the ABIT KR7A-133 or the Soltek SL75-DRV4.

 

[kcbass]

Good comments from all. To tell you the truth, right now I'm really just in the infomation gathering stage of buying my board, chip and memory, so i really can't say what kind of features i'm looking for.

 

[ShinSa]

There is no such thing as a BEST board. It all depends on the persons needs.

What if someone asked : "What is the BEST month of the year?

If your just looking for opinions, this topic has been covered many, many, many many, and many times.

If your interested in finding out each boards features, hardware reviews might be a better path.

For start, check out anandtechs kt266a roundup.

After, you can narrow down on your needs, well be more than happy to help you out

Have fun shopping!!!

 

[zodder]

If you don't need RAID, the EPoX 8KHA+ is an awesome board for the price. It's in the top 3 of all KT266A mobos. Very stable and very feature rich.

 

[JustStarting]

I've done systems on an EPOX 8KHA+ and an Abit KR7A-Raid recently. I agree with zodder- no raid required or desired, get the EPOX. I personnally like the option of raid and opted for the KR7A as my mobo of choice. I've built only Abit sytems for myself because I love the SoftMenuIII for OC'ing features. The SoftMenu on the KR7A allows you to set FSB and memory speeds independant of each other (ie. FSB @150 and memory remains at 133). I've yet to OC the FSB on this beast, but people here are getting at least 143 and some as high as 180 although I'm skeptical of those #'s. The Epox supposedly has a Beta bios that allows a 1/5 divider to OC the FSB even higher without PCI problems. Abit is stuck with the 1/4 divider as of now.

 

[oldfoof]

Another Vote for the wicked EPOX 8KHA+ Been one stable board! Fast too!