Help with motherboards...

[salz]

Before I go nuts, I need some help deciding on a motherboard. I want to build a system with an AMD 1800+ (or 1900+ depending on how much everything will cost me) processor and after thinking that I finally had a motherboard chosen, I found out that I was very very wrong. I started to do more research on motherboards and I think I've chosen three (as of now

). I've been looking at the Abit KX7-333R, Epox 8k3a+, and the Soyo KT-333 Dragon Ultra. I'm concerned most about stability, and have been very attracted to the Epox because of its low price (compared to the other two models). The Soyo has the most features (if I remember correctly), but the Abit does have 4 DIMM slots. I'm not concerned about overclocking (I just want to get the thing built ). Any help would be greatly appreciated because the amount of info on motherboards seems a little overwhelming. Feel free to throw in any other motherboard options (this might confuse me even more, but I might as well see what all is available).

 

[Adul]

personaly if i was really concerned about stability I would get a Nforce based MB like the one from ASUS. it i sbased on the Nforce 415. no onboard video but eveything else is included. my 2 cents. I havent had any trouble with the Dragon MB. Has for the other ones i cant say.

 

[microAmp]

Tom's Hardware did a 18 board review.

Epox
Soyo

They didn't have the ABit board you listed.

 

[salz]

any other opinions?

 

[agrall]

I'm looking at similar boards to put an XP 2000 on in a couple of weeks...

I may be interested in overclocking though...

How about the Gigabyte?

What do the nforce boards offer that the KT333 do not, and vice versa?

 

[murphy55d]

The Soyo board really impressed me. If I didn't find a KT266A board REAL cheap on the For Sale forum, I'd have opened the check book and gotten the Dragon Ultra.

 

[Mem]

Don`t overlook the Epox 8KHA+ board(yes I`m using one with XP 1700+)it has proven to be probably the most stable VIA KT266A board available,I`ve had zero problems with it,also very easy to setup,going to KT333 boards won`t give you a big increase in speed with your XP 1800+, infact it`s quite small.

 

[ArvinC]

I have to agree with going for a KT266A board vs. the KT333's. Right now, the speed increase, chip-wise, is very small. And I've read that, when compared to some of the "faster" KT266A boards, some KT333 boards were actually slower in some areas. Right now, I'd only go with a KT333 board if: a.) I didn't mind spending for it; b.) I absolutely needed the ATA/133 support (But, I believe only Maxtor has drives that run at this spec...and they are expensive). High-end, really fast KT266A boards can be had at very good prices right now.

Anywho, I'd probably go with the Soyo (KT266A or KT333), even if I didn't run the DRAGON Plus in my current rig. It has a ton of features, is very easy to set-up and has proven to be very stable. Costs a lot more than some, a bit more than others...but no one will ever say that it didn't justify it's price because of all that you get from it. If I didn't go with the Soyo...Abit make a really rock-solid board as well. Just my $0.02 worth...

ArvinC