Epox 8k7a or 8k7a+???? HELP

[timers]

I am thinking of buying a 1.4 Ghz athlon t-bird, because id be on top for a while, and its overclocking ability on a board like the Epox. Reviews all say that the + ownz it all, and the reg 8k7a is just good. I dont know what to get, I know the + has raid, but I dont really use raid, or know what it is. My IDE controller, yes I have one, is a Promise Ultra 100/ATA, its nice, and gives me 4 or 2 i think extra IDE devices, and all it does is take a PCI slot up. But if I get this RAID mobo, what will I do. Will I have to use the Promise card? I have 2 Maxtor HD"S, one 20 and one 40, at 7200 rpm each. and a 13 gb at 5400 rpm. I also have 3 dimms putting out 384 mb of ram, but i am gonna get 2 ddr sticks of 256 each. PLease help me. thanks

 

[erikiksaz]

read up on raid if you haven't already. just search the forums. and if you do decide to get the + and don't use raid, you'll probably have to flash your bios to a newer version to be able to disable the oboard raid. that's only if your bios version wasn't one of the newer versions. you ask why you would want to disable raid if you don't use it? well, raid will take up a good 5-10 seconds (don't remember anymore) checking for raid configurations. for some people, that 10 seconds is unbearable when you want your computer on NOW.

 

[JeffreyLebowski]

I don't think the 8k7a series uses DDR memory. I had a 8kta+ and it used PC100 or PC133 SDRAM. As far as the RAID, It won't run in a RAID unless you mwke it. Otherwise it will work just like your current ATA-100 controller.

 

[Scouzer]

8K7A is DDR no doubt.

 

[NelsonMuntz]

You might as well just get the regular 8K7A (definitely DDR) and use your current controller card if you aren't going to use RAID because it will save you like $30 and the rest of the board is identical performance wise. It is a great board and I would highly recommend it.

 

[TunaBoo]

<< I don't think the 8k7a series uses DDR memory. I had a 8kta+ and it used PC100 or PC133 SDRAM. As far as the RAID, It won't run in a RAID unless you mwke it. Otherwise it will work just like your current ATA-100 controller. >>



no.

8k7a = 87k7a+ - 2 raid chans

 

[WhatWasIThinking]

I have the 8K7a, and really like it. Sometimes I wish I got the + but realistically I don't really need RAID, and AFAIK they're identical otherwise. If you reeeaaally want a box that screams you might want to go for the + and set up raid (I think you need 2 identical hds for that), but otherwise the plain 8K7A is probably fine for you. I've heard raid can be a headache, but I'm not much of a techie.