I need recommendations for a mobo in the sub $90 range. KT333, KT400, NF1/2???

[SithSolo1]

Here is what it will have in it:
Athlon XP2100
256-512MB PC2100
GF3 Ti200
SB Live! X-Gamer 5.1

Must have onboard lan & USB 2.0, and the more PCI slots the better.
Onboard sound doesn't not matter and no I will not be selling my SB card in order to spend more on the MB.'

Thank You for your time,
J.

 

[nick1985]

get an nforce2

 

[SithSolo1]

A few things about NF2:
I'm not gonna use the audio.
I'm not going to have 2 sticks of ram.
The only one I can find in my price range is the FIC AU13 but I don't know how good FIC is as a company.

 

[loafbred]

I just ordered an Epox 8K9AI from New Egg for $69. It has Realtek 2 channel audio and LAN. New Egg's description didn't mention LAN, but every other mention I could find of it on the web says it does. The photo on New Egg shows a LAN connector. Here's the product description at Epox site:

For some reason I have to load some of their pages three times before it works.

Epox 8K9AI

 

[Actaeon]

Originally posted by: loafbred
I just ordered an Epox 8K9AI from New Egg for $69. It has Realtek 2 channel audio and LAN. New Egg's description didn't mention LAN, but every other mention I could find of it on the web says it does. The photo on New Egg shows a LAN connector. Here's the product description at Epox site:

For some reason I have to load some of their pages three times before it works.

Epox 8K9AI

Epox has a really slow webpage.

Anyway, I would opt for an Nforce2, great boards, and the Epox version can be had for extremely Cheap.

I would skip KT400 all together, and get the KT333, much better boards IMO. The Epox 8K5A2+ is great, USb2.0, 6 PCI Slots, Onboard Lan and Onboard Sound (but that doesn't matter to you).

I currently own the 8K5A2 (Non "+" Version), which is basically the same thing, just minus the onboard Lan.

Great board.

 

[AnAndAustin]

KT333 with 8235 south aren't bad but over all the KT400 are far superior even if you do give up 1% perf in the process it's worth it for standardised USB2, ATA133, AGP8x, certified 333FSB ability, 533mhz N-S link, DDR400-PC3200 ability (quirky but present), and you're far more likely to achieve Barton o/c'ing, 400FSB etc. KT400 along with SiS746FX are excellent budget buys esp if you don't need nVidia's nForce2's slight speed advantage and lovelly onboard goodies. I'd point someone to KT400/SiS746FX over the cheap nF2 mobos ... if you want the best get the best don't skimp and buy a partially implimented half-assed mobo like the cheap nF2 crap, if you're going to skimp get the KT400 or SiS746FX.

 

[loafbred]

Originally posted by: ActaeonI would skip KT400 all together, and get the KT333, much better boards IMO. The Epox 8K5A2+ is great, USb2.0, 6 PCI Slots, Onboard Lan and Onboard Sound (but that doesn't matter to you).

I currently own the 8K5A2 (Non "+" Version), which is basically the same thing, just minus the onboard Lan.

Great board.

I'm using an 8K5A2 also, and my good experience with it is why I'm buying this 8K9AI board for a friend. He wants something for his grandson to use, and I don't want to hear complaints later about it not having AGP 8X and fully compliant USB 2.0. KT333 works for me.

 

[LouPoir]

NF2 for sure

 

[grrl]

if you want the best get the best don't skimp and buy a partially implimented half-assed mobo like the cheap nF2 crap, if you're going to skimp get the KT400 or SiS746FX.

Half-assed? It simply has fewer onboard options and therefore a lower price. That's why nVidia is making two different chips.

 

[spanky]

Originally posted by: nick1985
get an nforce2

yup. it doesn't matter if u r not gonna use the audio. i read somewhere (which does not mean its true) that having two dimms will only have if u r using onboard video. look in fs/ft... there are quite a few nf2 board going in the $80 range... that is how much i paid for my epox 8rda+.

 

[bgeh]

i'd get the nforce 2 even thoug you're not getting 2 sticks of ram nor using the onboard audio

 

[spanky]

click here click here

 

[First]

Anything based on the nForce2 chipset. Absolutely no point in getting KT333 or KT400. If you needed a $70 motherboard, I'd still not suggest KT333 or KT400 boards; the nForce1-based ASUS A7N266-VM would be your best bet at $70.

At $90, I'd suggest any Epox, Chaintech, MSI, or Leadtek nForce2 board (all of which are between $80 and $90 depending on the features you want). I wouldn't do any overclocking with these boards expect perhaps the Epox board.

 

[mjolnir2k]

Another vote for the 8k5a2+.

Best board I have used so far in terms of ease of set up, stability and feature set. Not to mention it is a monster of an Overclocker. Consider that it has CPU V-core settings / CPU clock settings/ CPU multiplier settings/ AND Memory voltage settings all adjustable by BIOS. Let's you tweak just about anything you need to. Then throw in USB 2.0 and onboard LAN as well as RAID (if you are into that) and there's not much not to like.

I have read that the KT400 is not much of an improvement on the KT333 in terms of speed or performance (if at all).

Now the 8RDA, that is another story....But without using 2 sticks of memory you lose some of the major benefits.
If you can swing the $$, that's what you would want to get from all reports I have seen.

Otherwise, go with a proven winner... ePoX 8k5a2+

 

[AnAndAustin]

The KT400 are far superior to the KT333 as you get standardised USB2, ATA133, AGP8x, certified 333FSB ability, 533mhz N-S link, DDR400-PC3200 ability (quirky but present), and you're far more likely to achieve Barton o/c'ing, 400FSB etc. KT400 along with SiS746FX are excellent budget buys esp if you don't need nVidia's nForce2's slight speed advantage and lovelly onboard goodies. If you don't need the onboard audio and aren't going to use Dual Channel it makes no sense to get nForce2 unless you can get one for KT400 type pricing. It isn't just the onboard audio or 2nd LAN which the cheap nForce2 mobos skimp on, the also often lack proper AGP/PCI locks, 5th FID bit (for mult adjustments from 13x and up), highest FSB speeds etc etc. If you're paying the extra for nForce2 get a real nForce2 mobo, not necessarily one with the nVidia audio but a mobo where the basic things which make nF2 nF2 aren't skimped on. Good nF2 mobos are EpoX 8RDA+, ASUS A7N8X Deluxe and Abit NF7-S and the non '+', 'Deluxe' and '-S' are simply the same but without the full nVidia onboard compliment. I'm just trying to say don;t follow the rest of the sheep and presume everybody should get nForce2. YES it's the best but then so's the Rad9800PRO but I wouldn't rec that to anybody looking for a gfx card.

PS. nForce1 only showed gains when using onboard gfx (GF2MX200 LOL) but the nForce2 shows about a 4% gain without onboard gfx (and nForce2 with DC-DDR is about 5% faster than KT400/SiS746FX). nForce2 DC-DDR really helps boost the onboard gfx from GF4MX420 perf to around GF4MX440 perf.

 

[TimeKeeper]

Try this link for nForce2?

This this link for KT400?

so ask yourself what can $30 different get you?

 

[AnAndAustin]

Yeah a quick look at current UK mobo prices also reflects the same type of decrease in cost of the nForce2 based mobos. www.dabs.com shows:

SiS746FX £50
KT400 £62.50
nF2 £78
nF2 NF7-S (ie full nF2 implimentation) £99

I don't think there's a doubt nF2 is superior and certainly generally less problematic than either the SiS or VIA based alternatives. Although without it's great onboard goodies basicly all you have is a few % more perf than the competition, even when using DC-DDR. Is that worth an extra £22 (NF7 type) or £43 (NF7-S type) over the competition ... or to put it another way is it worth paying an extra 40% (NF7 type) or 77% (NF7-S type) on the price of the mobo? IMHO that depends upon your budget, prefs and reqs. The extra £33 (the average) is enough to...

1. Double your DDR RAM to 512MB and with a good brand like Crucial.
2. Get the Rad9700 instead of Rad9500PRO.
3. Get the Rad9500PRO instead of GF4TI4200.
4. Add a CDRW or DVDROM drive to your PC.
5. Add a basic USB scanner to your PC.
6. Add a 120GB HD instead of a 60GB HD.
7. Add a basic TVcard to your PC.
8. Buy a great HSF in order to maximise the potential of your CPU (etc).
9. Add a decent soundcard to your PC.
10. Enable you to get a faster or better o/c'ing CPU.
11. Buy 1 set of Lexmark injet ink carts (LOL!).

 

[Dug]

Sell the sblive.
Get an NForce2
Don't go to McDonalds twice and you can afford it.