Good Athlon chipsets *besides* VIA

[wxjunkie]

I've got a KT7-Raid with the KT133 chipset, and I've had numerous problems with it, no matter the amount of drivers I update. Compatibility problems with other PCI cards and the like, which could or could not be Abit's fault, but usually it goes back to VIA's job. I'm looking to buy a new motherboard and cpu to replace my current board which has a 1Ghz Tbird. I've thought about Intel, and a Dragon board, but I would like to stay Athlon if it's going to be considerably cheaper.

Another factor is that I've been told that AMD's architecture doesn't cooperate with some forms of programming. I don't know if I'll ever run across this during my tenure as a CS or MIS major, but if anyone has some reliable opinions on that, it would be appreciated.

 

[Boonesmi]

the kt133 chipset was kinda buggy

the via kt266a and via kt333 are both very good/stable/mature/conflict free chipsets
so you really shouldnt worry about going with a via based board (personally i love the epox 8k3a+ kt333 based board)

if you really dont want via then your best choice is nvidia nforce based boards.


as for I've been told that AMD's architecture doesn't cooperate with some forms of programming. ... well that sounds like FUD


both amd and intel cpu's are both very very solid/stable/compatable cpu's.... you should have no problems with any kinds of "software compatablitly" with either one

 

[WetWilly]

If you're looking to reuse your current memory (SDR SDRAM) then your only choice is the ECS K7S5A, which supports 2 SDR and 2 DDR slots (not simultaneously). It uses the SiS 735 chipset. All other non-VIA boards will require DDR. It's also pretty inexpensive (usually less than $60 shipped), has onboard LAN, but limited overclocking options. The K7S5A kind of polarizes people though - there are some people that use it with zero problems and love it, and there are others that hate it. Generally if you've got a good power supply and the latest BIOS it's a decent board.

I was in your same situation - had a KT7 that worked fine until I started loading the PCI bus, at which time I got lots of BSODs. Considered the nForce, but I already had a NIC and sound card. Ended up with a MSI 745 Ultra (SiS 745) which is rock stable. Also my Diamond MX300/Aureal Vortex 2 card which required register patches to work on my VIA board works perfectly with the SiS. SiS' chipsets benchmark slightly slower than VIA's (~5%) but they seem to be less temperamental.

I don't think you'll go wrong with either nForce or SiS.

 

[RadioactiveMagpies]

It nice to see via being much better in making chisets, but a pain if you still have their old ones.
I have several amd761 and via southbridge chipsets and they are rather buggy in the pci management department too.
My friend kt333(great chipset) works flawlessly with everything and every pci card arrangement.
If it was intel there would have already been a recall, but with via, you can only pray everytime you add a pci card(with the older pre-kt266).

 

[wxjunkie]

Does KT333 support non-DDR SDRAM? I'd really like to get a new, stable, faster board, but salvage my 768 megs of Micron.

 

[jacktesterson]

no...the K7S5A from ECS will be the best board you can get for what your trying to do

 

[Boonesmi]

the a7a266-e would also work if you need to use your pc133 ram (hard to find board, but a very good performer)

 

[IRJack]

Just wondering, the 768mb of RAM... is that on 3 sticks or 2? A lot a manufacturers had issues using more than two sticks of ram - even with newer chipsets like the KT333. Abit a lot of times would actually have four dimm slots, but populating all four was kind of like throwing away stability.

I built a system for someone using an Asus A7S333 - Sis745 chipset - and had a lot fewer problems with that board than I had with my own A7V333 - VIA KT333. The A7S was rock solid - DDR only though.

 

[wxjunkie]

3 sticks

 

[0p73r0nG33k]

Yeah I agree with IRJack, there are a few mobos out there with issues when all 3 banks are populated (not to mention the extra strain on the memory controller when O/Cing)

The KT266A is about as solid as I've seen them. I've had this DFI AD70-SC board for a while now, and it's a wonderful board. Decent Overclocking options.

I don't recommend that people buy KT333 boards yet since you're running them ASync. with the CPU/Memory. I will plunk cash down when I'm able to run the CPU non-overclocked at 166 MHz FSB. It's coming, it's just a matter of when in time.

Spring for a KT266A board by a good manufacturer like DFI, Gigabyte or Abit or whatnot. The AMD chipsets are OK for compatibility, but don't offer much in the way of extra features from my experience. I avoid SiS chipsets at all costs right now because I've seen what they do after extended use. SiS is a good company, but they still have a little ways to go before they're as good as VIA. (Humble opinion here..)

 

[WetWilly]

I avoid SiS chipsets at all costs right now because I've seen what they do after extended use

How are you defining extended use? For that matter, the SiS 64x/7x5 chipsets have barely been out a year and there are no chipset-related issues I seen or heard of - and I frequent two SiS-oriented boards.

SiS is a good company, but they still have a little ways to go before they're as good as VIA.

I'd disagree and suggest you read these two articles:

VIA and SiS Battle for Supremacy: 3-way P4 DDR Motherboard Roundup
SiS 648 - Taking Advantage of the P4 Situation

In the P4 market SiS can deliver comparable or better performance with more features and lower cost than VIA even including the cost of an Intel license (which VIA doesn't have and thus doesn't pay for). In the AMD market VIA is strongly rumored to have influenced most 2nd tier board manufacturers to not use SiS chipsets. I don't know why they would have done that if they didn't think SiS was a serious competitor. VIA ended up shooting themselves in the foot since SiS focused on P4 chipsets instead and will shortly overtake VIA in total chipset market share.

Regardless, after using the 745 Ultra I wouldn't consider another current VIA board. The Aureal Vortex 2 (and several high end sound cards for that matter) which are notoriously finicky on VIA boards work with zero problems on SiS chipsets. The only VIA boards I might consider would be ones with the revised PCI controller in the new VT8235 southbridge.

 

[pdo]

Anyone wanna buy my POS K7S5A for cheap?

 

[Actaeon]

I run an Abit KT7a V1.3, which uses the KT133 chipset, and I think its perfectly fine, I've never had any major problems regarding my motherboard.

*shrug*