KG7-RAID alternatives?

martinm

Member
Jul 2, 2001
37
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So, my KA7-100 is fried and I'm looking to do a serious system upgrade. The Abit KT7A-RAID looks great, but wait! There's DDR cheap now! So from the specs, the KG7-RAID is the perfect board (I do need RAID functionality to support all my drives). Unfortunately, theres one small problem with the KG7-RAID: Most retailiers don't have it. More importantly, however is the lack of reviews. I don't want to buy a board without having read good reviews of it (Preferrably by Anand). So, since it could be a while before reviewers actually post anything, and I need a new board soon, are there any suggestions for a good, Socket A DDR board that supports RAID?
 

Boonesmi

Lifer
Feb 19, 2001
14,448
1
81
epox 8k7a+ has raid, and same chipset as the kg7, its probably the most popular board right now on this forum
 

martinm

Member
Jul 2, 2001
37
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0
Yes. I am purchasing 2 Crucial PC2100 256MB DIMMs, and I'd like to have at least one open slot available to add more RAM withut having to throw out a perfectly good 256MB DIMM.
 

Courtland

Senior member
Jun 11, 2001
703
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0
Giga-Byte GA-7DXR has 3 dimm slots w/ raid, is alost a great motherboard, just as good as not better than the epox, very hard to get atm though. Just so you know, all of the boards with more than 2 dimm slots require that all of your ram be registered, it is a limitation of the 760 chipset.
 

martinm

Member
Jul 2, 2001
37
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I was unaware of this limitation. While shopping for ram on the Crucial site, it lists both registered and unregistered modules as being compatible with the Giga-Byte board. Is this a flaw on their part?
 

Courtland

Senior member
Jun 11, 2001
703
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Two unregistered works fine, I guess I was not clear enough, sorry. If you have more than 2 dimms, they all have to be registered, if you are only using two dimms, you are fine with unregistered.
 

martinm

Member
Jul 2, 2001
37
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0
Another question about the Giga-Byte board: does it Support RAID 0+1? The Giga-Byte web site doesn't seem to indicate that it does.
 

Courtland

Senior member
Jun 11, 2001
703
0
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No it does not, it is the promise lite controller, although there is a hacked bios you can flash it with, however I have not seen a confirmation if it works 100 percent but it sounds like it does, check out www.amdmb.com, the gigabyte mb forum, lots of helpfull info.
 

martinm

Member
Jul 2, 2001
37
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If I have to have a hacked BIOS for RAID 0+1, I think I'll go with the EPoX (gotta love the HPT370!). Any thoughts on the quality of the board? I'm seeing a lot of problem posts about it in the forums, and that makes me just a wee bit nervous.
 

Courtland

Senior member
Jun 11, 2001
703
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I think the ammount of people that love the epox and have it working fine outweighs the number that are having problems, mostly caused by user error. The only two problems that you do have to worry abot is that it will not reboot with a Netgear NIC in it, and there is a slight chance that it will not POST with a printer plugged into parallel port.
 

martinm

Member
Jul 2, 2001
37
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Since I have a D-Link NIC, and if i get a printer, it'll be USB, I think I'll be good to go. Think I'll order the board later today, unless anyone posts a dang good reason not to. Thanks for the help!
 

Blain

Lifer
Oct 9, 1999
23,643
3
81
On these alternative boards...
Is overclocking/voltage done via the BIOS or jumpers?
 

martinm

Member
Jul 2, 2001
37
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0
K, no objections, thus the EPoX board has been ordered, and I should have it by Weds (whoohoo!). I do think a good question has been raised though - When settings exist as both a BIOS option and a jumper, which one takes precedence?
 

Courtland

Senior member
Jun 11, 2001
703
0
0
On the 8k7a all the voltages are on the board, including a dip switch for multiplier, the bus speed is bios. I am pretty sure this this is right, sorry if I am wrong about one of them.