Best this...best that....is there really one 'WINNER"? (KT266a)

[Nutdotnet]

So over the past week or so I have been cruising through the lovely motherboard forum to see what current KT266a mobo is the best out right now....

Gigabyte (haven't heard much about it, although it does look cost-effective)
Asus (haven't heard much about it except it is spendy)
MSI (Some people like it.....some don't)
Shuttle (Some people like it....some don't)
Epox (Some people like it....some don't)

As you can see, there isn't one clear winner yet and really I haven't seen a single thread that swayed my mind about buying one mobo over the other. I would have gone with the Asus if it was out at the time of my purchase, but then again would it have really mattered?

My point is, so far the main boards of discussion on this forum (MSI, Epox, Shuttle) have many happy people running them, and a few people who had problems with them. They are all decent boards.

I went with the MSI board, not because I thought that MSI was the best but because it was the only board Newegg had in-stock at the time. 😉 (Supposed to get it tommorow, hopefully it will be a smooth install, lol)

In conclusion, I hope that potential buyers of a KT266a motherboard read this little thread and understand this one thing. You are not going to go wrong by selecting one of these boards, just go with one you think is "cooler" than the others and be happy with it.

 

[jaybittle]

<< .You are not going to go wrong by selecting one of these boards, just go with one you think is "cooler" than the others and be happy with it. >>



Or available, as in your case.. 🙂

I too went with the MSI board from NewEgg.. after frying my A7V266 and my A7V133..

cheers,
--jb

 

[Nutdotnet]

Very true. 🙂

 

[chizow]

One thing is for certain:

There will be plenty of information you can gather on these forums if you pick any of the above mentioned mobos. From what I have read, I don't think you can really go wrong with any of the above mentioned boards from a performance standpoint.

As for stability/ease of use, I think this will be a topic that will be hotly debated. Everyone has different levels of experience building a system, and more importantly, everyone has different components that are going into these systems. Don't let one person's bad experience turn you off to a board. Just think positive and imagine a smooth and trouble-free installation. I'm going in with that mentality, but I know there will be at least one major snafoo before I reach the "promised land."

It sounds like everyone is moving towards a DDR solution, and with good reason. Now is the time with both KT266A and nForce upon us. No matter what you go with, some people will install and run in a breeze, and others will have endless problems with their boards. Some people consider the "major problems" to be minor bumps in the road. Experienced system builders know what problems to look for and adeptly side-step them. Other people get hopelessly tangled and come here for advice. Thats just how it goes, and the benefit will be the hundreds of other people here that own the same board as you do that can help you trouble-shoot. 🙂

Chizow

(Soon to be running an Epox 8KHA+ with an Athlon XP 1800)

 

[joshieca]

I agree 100%!

Everyone needs to keep in mind that we are all "test pilots" when it comes to these KT266A boards. It took ASUS three (3) revisions of their KT133A boards to get it right. Mobo makers can't possible test every single hardware combo, there are just too many choices for things that you can stick in your PC....errors are bound to occur....So as long as we need and want to have the newest stuff, this is what we have to "put" up with.

- josh