I'm putting together a new sytstem and I've pretty much settled on MSI 6380 KT266A RAID MOBO. Opinions?

[powerMarkymark]

Hi,

I'm putting together a new sytstem and because my current system has a triple monitor set up I wanted to do the same with my new one.


I've pretty much settled on;

MSI 6380 KT266A RAID MOBO
AMD Athlon XP 1700 CPU
512 DDR PC 2100 RAM
GP3 TI 200 64 MB VID CARD AGP
G450 Dual head PCI VID CARD
ATI tv Wonder PCI
WESTERN 60 GB 7200 HD
LITE-ON 24X CD-RW

I plan on using Windows XP:

Any opinions on my choice of MOBO?

Could I be better served with something else? (in or around the same price range)

I plan on trying the overclocking thing (never tried it before).

 

[Daovonnaex]

The ABIT KR7A RAID has similar features, but overclocks much better, and is much easier to overclock. If you want to save $50, you could get an iWill XP333, which has performance comparable to middle of the pack KT266A boards (nothing compared to the KR7A, A7V266E, or SL75-DRV4, though), and it overclocks very well.

 

[powerMarkymark]

Owners past and present of MSI 6380 KT266A RAID MOBO lend me your opinions, good or bad.

 

[jonnyGURU]

<< The ABIT KR7A RAID has similar features, but overclocks much better, and is much easier to overclock. If you want to save $50, you could get an iWill XP333, which has performance comparable to middle of the pack KT266A boards (nothing compared to the KR7A, A7V266E, or SL75-DRV4, though), and it overclocks very well. >>



I suggest the Iwill. It's got the Abit overclocking skills, better performance and the MSI quality. The MSI is the best choice for a straight up quality board for Joe I-Wanna-Kick-Ass machine, but despite having RAID, etc. it's really "no frills" in the long run.

I use one and the only problem I have is that there really is no such thing as "333MHz DDR". Sure you can run at PC2700 long enough to play one game of Q3A, but my PC only runs 24/7 w/ the FSB set to 150 (I know, I know "WAAA!!!!!")

 

[Lonewolf54]

You might also want to check the FAQs on the cards you plan to use to see if they have any "known issues".

 

[AA0]

I haven't had this MSI board, but all of the MSIs I have had or have good friends with are very disappointing. MSI has serious quality problems, they tend to go dead quite early in their life, it happens with quite a few of their boards, must be a quality problem. Sometimes they go dead under a year and you get a replacement, leading to a hassle of swapping boards, other times its over a year and you're hung out to dry.

 

[ponch007]

Well I am getting same board -- should get it Monday.

I am looking at putting together --

MSI 6380 KT266A RAID MOBO + USB2.0
Duron 900 CPU -- need to upgrade
256 DDR PC 2100 RAM
GP3 TI 200 64 MB VID CARD AGP
WESTERN 60 GB 5400 HD X 2 raid 0
LITE-ON 24X CD-RW


I looked at getting the Abit it just was a little too much cash.

 

[fergiboy]

I had a kt133 msi go bad on me after 6 months. But I still picked up the kt266a board. The msi board is very stable and installs without problems.

 

[harbinger52]

I would recommend the K7T226 mine runs great and no issues.

 

[Acanthus]

umm i have true pc2700 ddr, corsair pc2700 cl2, running at 333mhz CL2 on my Iwill KA266+, this computer has been on for 5 days straight, and has endured long hours of Unreal Tournament, Warcraft 3 Beta, and Dark Age of Camelot. No true ddr333, bah!

 

[Athlon4all]

It's a solid board with USB2. It isn't the best overclocker, but if you can live with that, I won't hesitate to recommend it.

 

[JoPalm]

I built a system pretty close to yours on wednesday. Works really good. I havn't encountered any conflicts.

System:
MSI K7T266 Pro2
512 PC2100 DDR Micron
Athlon XP 1700+
Radeon 8500 retail
liteon 24x

 

[Bob535]

I am running a MSI K7T266 Pro-R, and it is running great. Make sure you get the board that you want, as there are two K7T266A boards, and three K7T266's. It's fast enough for me.
Bob 535