Good motherboard for my P3 700MHz

[rayon]

Hi there,

I'm moving forward and I'll be buying a new motherboard for my Pentium3 700MHz very soon. I currently own a Abit BE6-II and although I've used 5 different Abit motherboard since 1998 with no problems, I think this one was not what I expected.

So, I'm thinking about moving to a Asus M/B. My doubt is what chipset to use. I've been looking at the Asus CUSL2-C, based on the i815EP chipset. Any good thing about this one?

What about other options? Are you guys happy with the VIA based Pentium3 M/Bs?

Thanks,
Rayon.

 

[MadAd]

that is a square 370 700 you have isnt it? The BE is a slot1 board, youll need a 370 FC-PGA P3 that if you want a CUSL2, which comes highly recommended as a stable good mobo in itself

 

[rayon]

Right, I forgot to mention. This is a Socket370 P3. I'm currently using the Abit Slocket adapter to convert it to the Slot-1 interface of the Abit BE6-II.

 

[birddog]

I have had nothing but good results with apollo pro 133a boards (about 20 in all). I perfer them over 815 boards. I have used the Asus P3V4X in the past, nice board -- I think the socket version is the CUV4X. The s370 board I have been using alot lately is the abit VH6-II. It has every adjustment you can think of in the BIOS; real good overclocking board also. A rock stable board (not great for overclocking) is the Tyan Trinity 400 (this is the board Micron uses in their PIII setups).

 

[AndyHui]

Go with the CUSL2-C, or if you can wait just a little longer, the coming TUSL2-C. The new board will give you an upgrade path to Tualatin Pentium III processors.

 

[pay]

I agree with the Asus CUSL2-C

 

[Fisher999]

Another vote for the Asus CUSL2-c (owner of Asus CUSL-2 which has been terrific!)

 

[rayon]

Thank you for your feedback, guys.

AndyHui, the Tuallatin m/b is good tip, but unless it's out next week or so, I will not be able to wait. Thanks anyways.

 

[reindeerflotilla]

I agree with birddog; the CUV4X supports twice as much memory. I just traded up from a i815e board that only supports 512MB (ala CUSL2-C). Memory prices are too good to plan on having a i815e board much longer.

 

[rayon]

birddog, reindeerflotilla,

How about performance? I'd like something stable and that would allow me to do some overclocking as well. I was going after ASUS and i815EP because of that. Is VIA really reliable and performant?

Thanks,
Rayon

 

[MulLa]

I personally won't go for a VIA based board anymore. Because of their compatibility problems and a pain to get them to work reliably. Hell computers are giving me enough problems without adding mobo to the equation.

 

[reindeerflotilla]

As far as I'm concerned via pro 133a is the most stable chipset available. Finally a 440bx replacement!

Having a good experience with a via 694xdp board as well (ASUS CUV4X-D). Very stable, great performance, and SUPER upgradable-- it supports 4GB of memory + a second processor. By the time I'm done fiddling with it another PIII 800 (stepped identically I hope) will be dirt cheap. Overclocking features are nice... supports 1.13GH. CUV4X-D

 

[Rellik]

Another vote for the Cusl2-C . There is a Black Pearl Special edition out that really rocks(black pcb!) If you like a hands on report, check out the workstation report on my site. We built a 1ghz workstation on the Cusl2-c. Only drawback: The 815 can only support 512 MB Ram., so if you want to do heavy video editing or photoshop projects, the only option is VIA or BX

 

[nicowju]

Yup go for the Asus CUSL2-C. Was thinking of getting one of those special Black Pearl edition ones at the next computer show for the Linux server (currently using a BH6 1.0), but not sure yet

 

[memphist0]

Definately the CUSL2, I've had one for almost a year now very stable, good performance.

 

[memphist0]

Actually, after looking at your system why are you upgrading, is your board unstable? Unless your having problems with the board or are planning on a new CPU I wouldn't touch it.

 

[DongTran]

I have played with both the cuv4x and cusl2-c and both are great boards, but IMO, i like the idea of having tons of ram. I never ran them neck and neck, but they seem to be pretty much the same.

 

[rayon]

memphist0,

Yes, I feel like the system is not as stable when overclocked as I'd like it to be. Besides, this specific Abit m/b (I heard about KA7 having the same problem) has issues with GeForce2 based video cards -- something related with power. So, I'm going to give it to my sister-in-law so she can get rid of that old Pentium (classic) 100MHz she still uses at home. She doesn't care about overclocking, so a regular clocked system should be just ok.

DongTran,

You guys are almost convincing me about the VIA chipset! Personally, I have 256MB at home and I though about going up to 384MB, but I don't see much reason for me to go beyond 512MB anytime soon.

Thanks again, guys.
Rayon