I can't decide NForce or KT333? Comments/Suggestions Please!

[nmcglennon]

Hey guys I am having trouble deciding which board to get... and I am not sure that they have an extremely different performance difference especially since I am gonna use PC2100 RAM, so maybe you guys can help me out, and give me some feedback.

Here are the 2 boards:

ASUS A7N266-C
nforce 415-D chipset
266/200 MHz
Dolby Digital 5.1 Sound
NO LAN - I will have to buy as a separate card
Twinbank Memory Architecture

Soyo KT333 Dragon Ultra
VIA KT333 Chipset
200/266 MHz FSB
CMI 8738 6 Channel Sound
Integrated LAN
USB 2.0

Here is what is going to be used in conjunction with the selected board:
AMD Athlon XP 2100+
IBM 7200RPM 120GB IDE HD
WD 7200RPM 40GB IDE HD
IBM 8x/4x/32x IDE CDRW
Chaintech GeForce 4 Ti 4200 128 Mb (overclocked of course)
2 x 256 MB DIMM of Crucial PC2100 DDR SDRAM non ECC

I know the KT333 Board supports PC2700 RAM, but I already have PC2100 RAM that I am gonna reuse. With the NForce Board needing a LAN card, both options are similarly priced. Would my best bet be to go to the KT333 platform, or stick with the NForce and it's twinbank memory system? I also hear that the nforce's audio is alot better than the CMI 8738 6 Channel Sound. Will there be a big performance difference in this setup? Anyways, ANY questions, comments, suggestions, incompatibilites, etc. are most definately welcome. Thanks in advance...

 

[nmcglennon]

anyone? anyone?

 

[Boonesmi]

kt333 is the best performing of the current socketA chipsets (not to mention its mature and stable)

for me it would be an easy choice

 

[HelzBelz]

Originally posted by: nmcglennon... Would my best bet be to go to the KT333 platform, or stick with the NForce and it's twinbank memory system? I also hear that the nforce's audio is alot better than the CMI 8738 6 Channel Sound. Will there be a big performance difference in this setup? Anyways, ANY questions, comments, suggestions, incompatibilites, etc. are most definately welcome. Thanks in advance...

For sound, the nForce "5.1 Dolby Digital" is quite impressive (as far as integrated sound goes); higher quality than an onboard CMI 8738 or ALC650 solution (and better than many lower end PCI sound cards...).

As far as performance : with the latest BIOS revision, the nForce is a faster performer (althought not by a huge margin; hardly noticeable in daily use).

However (not a problem in your situation), to get the real "Twinbank" advantage, you MUST use 2 sticks of DDR : 1 stick = one channel turned off, and the KT333 would then be faster.

Comes down to cost, really... both the KT333 and nForce are mature and fast solutions.

 

[rkoenn]

I build systems and have only used the MSI KT333 with good results so far. The performance of either is about identical and would probably be a couple of frames a second in gaming. The current things I am looking for when building a more performance oriented system is that the board be configurable, that it doesn't carry too much hardware on the board but uses expansion cards for video and sound since these items seem to change the most frequently. The NForce sound is very good, much better then the CMI and other low end solutions for an integrated chipset. But it does mean you carry the baggage if you decide to for an Audigy or whatever comes down stream from now. Things I am currently waiting for in a board are serial ATA, USB 2, and integrate ethernet is nice but not required. Probably start considering boards like the Abit that are completely doing away with legacy hardware support. Anyway, you can't go wrong either way, just tough making the decision.

 

[Kartajan]

nmcglennon: a7n266-e has onboard LAN if you want to go that way.

rkoenn: Asus A7N8X (NForce 2) is supposed to have SATA, Firewire, USB2, DDR400, etc. I am considering going either P4 now w/ all but SATA (Only DDR266), or waiting for NForce2 myself...

** edit- A7N8X is also supposed to have DUAL LAN. Why can't it be out yet?

 

[nmcglennon]

Thanks guys... my mind is still not made up... I am starting to lean toward the KT333 board, since I might just get an Audigy-esque card later on, along with some PC2700 RAM. However I know the Soyo KT333 board has had trouble with Audigy... hmmm...
Ya, I too wish the nForce 2 were already here, but I have to order a board this week so I have a new computer before I head back to college. Damn! Why can't nvidia just release the nforce2 boards now...!? it has everything I want... the ASUS A7N266-E version does have LAN, but the price premium includes integrated graphics which I will never use... (basically wasted money) the price difference b/t the ASUS A7N266-E and the SOYO KT333 Dragon Ultra Platinum is still too close to change my mind...
An another note: has anyone had good or bad experiences putting either of these boards together? I know NVidia is good about drivers, and has a 'one driver fits all' method. I might try some overclocking since I have never done any before (I have a PII right now ... hah!), which in that case the KT333 would be better.

Decisions, decisions, decisions...

 

[30wolverine30]

I'm running an Epox 8K3A+ and an Abit KX7-333R Both are excellent boards. Very fast and stable!

 

[nmcglennon]

I am going to go with the Soyo KT333 Dragon Ultra Platinum... I'll use the PC2100 RAM and the onboard sound right now, and probably upgrade my sound to Audigy and get some PC2700 RAM later on in the year. This option leads to more expandability it seems, (and overclockability), not to mention it is chock full of features(RAID, LAN, USB2.0, etc.). Sometime in the future I'll get a newer chipset, probably when mature Hammer boards come out or maybe NForce 4 or something... hahaha... This will be a damn good chipset for my use now though. Thanks for all your help guys!

BTW: Anyone have any installation problems that you know of with the Soyo KT333? I have heard of a way to fix the Audigy problems (ie. use the bottommost PCI slot), but thats all I have heard about.

 

[Boonesmi]

dang nice motherboard your getting there

you probably wont notice much improvement if you go with an audigy... that board has great onboard sound