I own 5 different motherboards with their own quirks - WHICH ONE WOULD YOU USE?

[CoasterGuy]

I own the following 5 boards..

DFI AK76-SN - Athlon, AMD 761 Chipset , 2100 DDR
Quirk - NONE, just an aging chipset. The most stable board I have, but not the fastest.

Gigabyte GA-7DXR - Athlon, AMD 761 Chipset, 2100 DDR, Promise RAID, SB Soundchip
Quirk - Likes to occasionally reboot in the middle of using, and an aging chipset.

ABIT KR7A-Raid - Athlon, VIA KT266 Chipset, 2100 DDR, HighPoint RAID
Quirk - Likes to occasionally reboot in the middle of using, Delay in booting after hitting power button.

Gigabyte GA-7VRXP - Athlon, Via KT333 Chipset, 2700 DDR, Promise RAID, USB 2.0, LAN, SB Soundchip
Quirk - Randomly restarts itself after shutoff, WILL NOT RUN in 333 DDR mode (Only 266).

Asus P4T - Intel P4 (423), 850 Chipset), PC800 RDRAM
Quirk - After boot-up there is about a minute pause before any apps will start working, Doesnt seem as 'Snappy' as the Athlons

I will be using the following components.....

(Depending on the board) AMD Athlon XP 1900+ or Intel P4 1.8 (423)
Promise PCI ATA/100 controller (If the board has no 2nd integrated RAID/ATA)
(Depending on the board) Either Crucial PC2100 or Kingmax PC2700 (5ns, CL 2.5)
SB Audigy FireWire


Now, considering the problems with each board listed above... which setup would you use. I really dont see that much difference in real world use except the newer ones are a smidgen faster here and there. In my mind there is no clear winner. Keep in mind I do not overclock either. Just want a FAST, STABLE board using the components I listed.


I am just sick of switching and testing and so forth. Time for some outside opinions.

 

[JustinLerner]

Use the reliable, non rebooting boards, speed is nice, but if the darn things are unpredictable, what kind of use can you expect?

The 'need for speed' is insane if you ask me. I still use a BX board with PIII 800 (100 FSB), of course I use 256MB ECC memory (PC100). It may seem slow to some people, but I can run Illustrator 9, and older Canvas, Pagemaker 6.5, older Ventura Publisher 5 and Corel Draw 5, Office 97, and other programs at the same time just fine. No reboots or BSODs. Sometimes the old Win3x 16bit programs misbehave. The only other problem - IE sessions sometimes lock up, but then I close them down. Dunno why that happens. My current OS, Windows 2000 Pro.

Only consider the DFI, Asus, and Gigabyte GA-7VRXP, get rid of the other two rebooting boards or find the common problem (like other components) and eliminate the problem. c

 

[Jayczar]

You should get 7 or 8 more motherboards and see if they have
any quirks. If they all do then pick between the boards that
have the least frustrating quirk. You have some nice boards,
seems strange that they all do not work right.

 

[Gene396]

I agree with JustinLerner. Your so called aging chip set does a very good job. My question is; "do you really need that extra speed?"

If you are truthfull; your answer would probably be --- "Just ego and braging rights"

My 2cents worth.

Gene

 

[ScrapSilicon]

<< DFI AK76-SN - Athlon, AMD 761 Chipset , 2100 DDR
Quirk - NONE, just an aging chipset. The most stable board I have, but not the fastest.
>>

I'm using an AMD 761 board the Biostar M7MIA never thought of a getting a 761 chipset always went with latest fastest til now have to admit stability has me in its grasp at the moment. Has cooled me on getting the newest greatest for the moment.

 

[salfter]

<< which setup would you use. >>



The DFI setup you mentioned is the only one that you said is stable. While the others might be faster, what good is speed if a board locks up if you look at it funny? Keep the DFI and ditch the rest of 'em.

(The AMD 761's a nice chipset. I run a 1.0-GHz Athlon on a Biostar M7MIA with 768 megs of RAM, an All-In-Wonder Radeon, a 3C905C, and a bunch of hard drives (currently a 45GB 75GXP, two 60GB 120GXPs, a 14GB Fireball CX (via FireWire) and a 4.3GB Fireball ST). Win2K SP2 is loaded on the 75GXP, while I just loaded SuSE Linux 7.3 onto the FireWire drive (!) to give me something to build a Linux From Scratch system. It's been solid as a rock under Win2K, and Linux has behaved well on it so far.)

 

[Acts837]

What would I do? Build up the DFI rig for everyday stability and use (back-up rig). Sell some of your extra components. Buy another case, a KVM switch...and build up that Asus P4T and flash, tweak, swap till you figure out the glitch. Thats what I would do anyway.

 

[Greatwolf]

I'm wondering, what kind of PSU are you testing these system setups with?
The reboot problems you're having could be due to a low quality PSU.

 

[AA0]

DFI is the only board with the complete AMD chipset I believe. Multiple computers the have power problems? I don't think its the boards so much as your own power situation.

 

[mechBgon]

I'm suspicious of the PSU also, perhaps the memory too. I had a friend whose system did that and it turned out his power supply's voltage switch was at the 230V position, as strange as that may sound. Setting it to 110V fixed the issue.

 

[AA0]

it may not be the psu, but if the psu was the same for all, then I'd suspect it. It could be the house power, which many many people have problems with, they just think its the psu. In all reality, a 300W psu will handle what you need, as long as the power coming into it isn't awful, that's why I have a line conditioning ups.

 

[rogue1979]

DFI AK76-SN sounds like a winner. Yes the AMD 761 chipset is aging a little, but it is still fast and one of the most stable. Raise the fsb up a little and then you can compete with the faster KT266A chipset.

 

[CoasterGuy]

I am using an Antec 350w PSU. I have two of these and another 300w PSU that came in a UNEEC case and I have the same quirks when using any combination. Also, when it comes to the speed thing..... I guess I think I should get what I pay for.

 

[sipre]

my question is what psu are you using?

 

[italtom2]

I, too, vote for line condition problems. I live in a new, high-priced, development, so my place not only has the latest in wiring standards, but the cabling to the power company is also new. Every time my wife turns on her monitor in the other room, though, I hear my Back-UPS click into battery mode temporarilly because of the drop in available power (her computer is also on a UPS). While a drop in available juice is unlikely to cause permanent damage to your computer, it quite likely will cause reboot or crash problems.

 

[WT]

I had the same problem with my main PC on my first floor, usually playing games, but not always. For some odd reason, the 2nd and floor of my house were rewired but the first floor was not. I had been plugging into a 2 outlet wall jack (no ground) and had these occasional reboots (maybe once every other day). I picked up a Belkin UPS and it has helped considerably. I have had no reboots yet, although it is plugged into one of these 2 prong outlets until I can get it rewired.

 

[Pabster]

LOL, 5 VIA motherboards. That explains the "quirks" dealio.

I'd sell 'em all and migrate to Northwood with a rock solid Intel chipset.

 

[CraigRT]

Use the one that is most stable and does not restart itself. probably the DFI I would say if I was going to keep one.. I crave stability, and when a mobo is powering down or resetting itself regularly, its gotta go.