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Best Current All Around Board?

I

InterWebGuy

Member
Hey all, I'm stuck building computers for my relatives now, thanks to my (almost flawless) success on my last gaming rig. 😀
However, here's my problem: I need to build a respectably fast and (if possible) very stable Gaming/Office rig for my uncle who has little/no knowledge of computers (and that makes me tech support). Any recomendations for a fast but stable board with a non-stellar price tag (I'd use another Abit KR7, but its a bit pricey)?
Thanks all.
 
The ECS K7S5A is now down to $49.95 plus shipping. The board supports Socket A Athlons and XP processors. It comes with onboard LAN and sound. There are a few problems with the board having tight connections for RAM and AGP, but the board is working great in my roommates XP 1800+ rig.
 
Thanks, but a few more questions:
-Is KT333 worth getting? Any 'good' boards with this chipset out there?
-Who, in your opinions offers the best support for their boards?
-I've never used an ECS board, are these comparable to abit/asus?
-Are the Nforce boards worth the cost?

And of course, does anyone have any other recommendations? 😀

Thanks,
IWG.
 
I have a side business putting computers together. I've used many different brands and overall have had the best success with the top tier 4 motherboard manufactures, being Asus, MSI, Gigabyte and ECS. I also had very good success with Abit and Epox. I have a ECS K7S5A in my rig, but am reluctant to put it in any rigs I build and have to support, with all the horror stories going around. Lately I've used the Gigabyte 7VTXH+ in the last 7 rigs I've built. It is reasonable priced, around $99, and runs stable. It is a full size ATX board, has the KT266A chipset, onboard Creative sound and onboard Realtek Lan. It seems to run flawless with Windows XP. But there are lots of good boards out right now. The 7VTXH+ isn't a overclocking board, but I think it is a good stable home, gaming or office board. Good luck!
 
I would recommend an Asus P4B266 retail and a 1.6AGHz Northwood CPU. Put a stick of 256MB DDR and you're set! The motherboard comes with USB 2.0, it's very stable, and it's lightning fast. Also, it comes with onboard 5.1 sound that is hardware-based. This combo is definitely a winner.

If you're looking for a nice all-in-one solution, I'd go with the Asus A7N266-D nForce-based motherboard. Pair that up with a retail 1GHz Duron for ~$60 and a stick of 256MB DDR, you're set! The nForce has given me headache-free solutions that I can sell people without hesitation. Plus, the nForce is loaded with features such as onboard GeForce2 MX video, onboard 5.1 sound, and onboard LAN as well.

With a quality name like Asus backing up these boards, you know you can't go wrong, especially with a lifetime supply of BIOS updates for newer/added features.
 
I've heard mixed opinons on the "Soyo dragon +".... is this worth consideration, or should I go with an Epox (as these seem to be the most highly recommended boards)?
 
just my opinion but the i would take the soyo dragon plus over the epox if ur lloking for best all around features, i have owned both board version of thier kt-266a series and have found the soyo more stable and better suited for all around features, tho the epox board is not bad by any means it too has it qualitites like its o/c capabilites, but for stability, and all the features that come with the soyo i would go with them

 
As per the support question.. I have only ever called 2 mobo manufacturers, but i have heard stories of all together four companies.

Soltek is the clear winner with support.. I emailed them with a problem once with a BIOS setting, got a very fast and very nice well written response, i was pleased.. i then emailed them back saying i loved their product and that i wished to get a case badge or some stickers or something if they had any, they don't yet carry them, but i was told that when they would send me an email requesting my mailing address and they would send me some stickers or whatever it may be.. Totally sweet. they are great people, and better yet, their motherboards are golden. I love my SL75DRV4 more every day. very fast and stable flawless operation, and i am into gaming too.. TWO THUMBS UP FOR SOLTEK.

As per the other that I called, was Aopen, they weren't very nice and didn't say much other than "NO" or "YES" or "MAYBE" was the guy's full dialogue.. they did not offer to help me fix the dead board i was calling about.. even though it was out of date (warranty wise) i was curious if i could get a replacement from them being as no stores carried the board any more and they said they couldn't help me.. that kinda peeved me... blah.

the other 2 i have heard of people calling and reporting on are Asus and MSI

both i was told suck butt.

for actual mobo recommendations I gotta give Soltek the nod.. the SL75DRV4 KT266A board goes for about $154 Cdn which is somewhere in the $90+ range USD, which i must say is fabulous deal IMO (comparing it to other mobos i have used).

on another note, there are so many good KT266A's out right now I take a leap here and say you would be hard pressed to find a mobo you would actually be disappointed with. (that is only KT266A - they seem to have a wealth of great boards with this chipset)

Good luck on your decision...
 
Here is my opinion of who to choose, and why. Its a bit long, but its got a lot of research in it from all the boards I've used and read about over the years. Prices, performance, issues, its all in there.

http://www.aselabs.com/articles.php?articleid=16

As for a model, pick your brands that look good, then choose your chipset. Chances are there are various boards from one company.

For stable, good performance at a low price... well, stability and performance don't go together unless you want to pay usually.
Epox, Abit (although a little pricey), maybe gigabyte. The others lack performance, or cost a lot like Asus.
 
I also build systems on the side. My current 'favorite' board that I have been using lately is the Shuttle AK31 rev 3.1. It is a nice stable, easy to work with board & costs less than $80 at newegg. You never can go wrong with Asus or MSI boards based on a good chipset either. I've been tempted with the nForce boards also. But the cost does not justify it. I can build a system on good KT266a board & put in the Visiontek GeForce 2 GTSv card, 256mb pc2100, and a decent yamaha soundcard for less than the cost of the nForce (and the extra stick of RAM needed for the on-board video). Besides costing a few $$$ less than the nForce system, the GeForce 2 GTSv drastically outperforms the on-board MX video.
 
ASUS P4B266-C.

Rock solid Intel core logic (i845-D), incredible overclocking ...

A strong case can also be made for P4S333 (SiS 645) as it sells for $10 less and is also capable of hitting quite high FSB speeds. It's really a toss-up between these two right now, IMHO. I've had great luck with both.
 
If you will be the tech support my only suggestion is
go with ASUS, go with A7V266A or ASUS P4B266
if your uncle wants a Intel Inside computer.
If it was me I don't want to overclock it. See how it runs for awhile
once your uncle get used to it and learned little bit. than you can tell him to
OC the system. It just prevent you from getting an emergency call at night
if the system stuck and he didn't now to do.

My experience, ASUS still make the best one from out the box, the others are great
I', using ABIT now, but they're all need little bit tweaking before they ready for the best.

peace
 
I would go with the K7S5A.

Also the Soyo Dragon, and the Tyan Tiger are sweet too, with the Tyan being about the same $$ as the Dragon, but you get dual CPu support.

DDR 333 is not really worth it yet, only a few % points above 266.
 
I'm looking at the "EPOX 8K3A+ KT333CE" from newegg for $115... seems to have all the features I want at a reasonable price... Anyone have experience to the contrary? 🙂
Thanks,
IWG
 
ecs worked well for me.. no problems at all but im still hesitant to put it on someoneELSE's machine cuz it MIGHT fail.

here are my benchmark scores

tsp.someserver.net/benchmark
 
SOLTEK SL75DRV5

It has DDR 333 ATA 133 and rock solid. It even looks kewl. The only thing I wish this Mobo had is USB 2.0 but the price is right. If USB 2.0 really gets popular I'll just buy a card for it but things may go firewire also. Who knows?
 
For cheap I go ECS
For stable I go ASUS
For cheap and stable all I can say is, whatever you build
with if it runs great you're a hero.
 


<< For cheap and stable all I can say is, whatever you build
with if it runs great you're a hero. >>



I can think of maybe 2 manufacturers for sure that fit in there pretty well

Shuttle
Soltek

both cheap, and both have rave reviews lately.
 
You are better off going Intel NW/Asus route. AMD is very solid but more for hard core users who like to tinker in the box. I have many AMD systems and 2 Intel systems - P3/P4 and intel still is the no-brainer. My AMD always needs some attention one way or another (granted they are overclocked but so are the intels).
ECS is dog $hit - not worth the effort.
 
< I also build systems on the side. My current 'favorite' board that I have been using lately is the Shuttle AK31 rev 3.1 >

I know 3...2 personally who have this board and are experiencing poor hard drive performance with window XP, DDR setups. I'd stay away from Shuttle. As far as ECS, the K7S5A is a terrific inexpensive vanilla board for the non-overclocker. I've built 4, my nephew 3 and a good friend has built 1..all with minimal problems. If you're a clock tweaker, look elsewhere and spend the bucks.
 
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