Best K7 mobo with DDR & SDR slots?

[Solema]

I'm looking to get a motherboard for my brother, who purchased an Athlon XP2200+ CPU and would like a motherboard that supports both SDR and DDR so he can use his SDR right now until he can afford some DDR. I had originally sold him my ECS K7S5A (rev 1.x) board but the front USB ports do not function at all and the machine will not run stable with 2 PC133 sticks in it. Yes, the BIOS is the latest one out, so that is not the problem. Through much research on the Internet, I have resigned myself to the fact that my ECS is faulty. My question is, is the ECS K7S5A PRO any better? Have the problems been fixed? Is there a better board out there that supports both RAM types? Any input would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Remedy]

Biostar M7VIG Pro. Very nice board. I had a couple of them recently. Very nice and it has a VIA chipset for stability.

 

[AgaBoogaBoo]

Hmm... I didn't know they made SDR and DDR ram mobos in one

 

[ScrapSilicon]

Originally posted by: AgaBooga
Hmm... I didn't know they made SDR and DDR ram mobos in one

BioStar or any mobo manufacturer..? Asus and ECS(K7S5A) as well...probably others..

 

[Slogun]

I'm sure most of you know this, but, just want to mention this to avoid any misperception....

Can't run these boards using both DDR and SDR at the same time, it's either one or the other at a time.

 

[optimistic]

Shuttle has an AK32 if you don't want the onboard video and USB 2.0

 

[Solema]

All of these are DDR/SDR solutions? My bro has a GeForce4 so onboard video means nothing, and he would prefer USB 2.0 but doesn't really care.

 

[Solema]

Hey Remedy, do they make a version of that with more than three PCI slots?

 

[Remedy]

Not that I know of since it is a KM266 chipset mean't for MicroATX based systems.

 

[eplebnista]

ASRock K7VT2

 

[Bonesdad]

The BIOSTAR M7VIG is the way to go. Onboard video, audio, LAN, USB 2.0. I know he doesn't need the onboard video, but its always nice to have a backup! VERY stable, good board.

 

[Solema]

But what is the deal with 4 front USB? His case only has two front USB ports, so is he out two ports? Or can I hook up a standard PCI-slot connector to another set of USB headers on the board?

 

[Solema]

Right now I see a $2 difference between the two boards at Newegg, with the Biostar being cheaper. Does the Biostar handle Thoroughbred B's?

That ASrock one looks tempting, too, being a full ATX size. Why have I never heard of ASrock before? Are they for sure a division of Asus? And does that mean Asus manufactures the boards?

 

[eplebnista]

Here is a link to ASRock's homepage. I believe that they are a relatively new company formed by ASUS, in order to tap into the "value segment" of the motherboard market. There is an ASRock forum over at OCWorkBench.com.

hth,
eplebnista

 

[BmXStuD]

shuttle ak32l orak32a
i got ak32l but now i got a leadtek.

 

[Remedy]

The Biostar handles Thoroughbreds but not Bartons. The USB is ran off of a Header on the motherboard. 2 of them. Then you have back USB I/O plate connections as well.