Help MB with Athlon, DIMM slots, Radeon

[bogardan]

Hi,

Can somebody give recommendation which motherboard to get for Athlon 1 Gigahertz (Thunderbird), 512 Mb PC133 Crucial CAS2, 2 40 Gig WD HDD RAID configured (with Raid controller), Radeon All In One Wonder ?

Right now I'm using MSI KT7 and having problem whenever I try to use 3D heavy application or games such as GTA III, it froze and kills the motherboard for about 2 days ... lock up and can't reboot to windows ... have to power it down for 2 days in order to reboot it again.

I see this is quite a common problem of KT7 ... looking for replacement MB with future compatibility to upgrade to DDR

I was looking at Shuttle AK32 but it seems it has problems with Radeon Vid Cards ... recommendation for other MB appreciated ? At least the one with no problem what so ever (stable and reliable)

PS: I am not overclocking any of the part ... and not planning to buy/change to DDR memory yet as budget really restrict. Budget less than 100

Thx !!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Peter]

You should rather fix the problem than exchange mainboards ... most of the time, crashes and hangs under full load are cooling or power supply problems, or bad RAM. A new mainboard will fix neither of those.

 

[bogardan]

But I read many post about the motherboard I've been using and yet everybody experiencing the same problem ... other than 3 d performance hungry application KT7 has provided stability ... no problem whatsoever, but after about a year that problem will exist and those who r using KT7 change to another MB (assuming to DDR too) or just live with it

I use 400 watt PS and proper cooling ... (full tower desktop too) ... either a help me with recommendation or help me with a suggestion to fix

 

[Peter]

As I said, check the RAM www.memtest86.com, inspect your CPU cooling solution (good contact from CPU to heatsink, hs not clogged with dust, airflow not obstructed by cables) and your power supply unit. Don't trust the large "400W" label, inspect the fine print on how much power you may draw simultaneously at 3.3V and 5V.

It's a common misconception that only cheap boards need good power supplies. All do - only the symptoms differ.

 

[SuperPickle]

Not being able to restart your machine is a problem that I've had as well. If I ran the machine for a while and shut it down, I'd have to wait for ~20min before it would restart. I too was also thinking that it was my mobo but just for sh!ts and giggles, I replaced my el-crappo 400W PSU with a slightly less el-crappo 300W. Now it starts up fine. A good PSU is an investment that many overlook.