Looking for good DDR mobo

[Grendel99]

Im in the market for a DDR mobo. Would like to be able to use a Palamino in the future. I don't know if I'm going to o/c or not. Probably am, but if its a good mobo but doesn't have good o/c features thats fine. Price range somewhere under $150, would spend more if it was a really good mobo.

Thanks

 

[Boonesmi]

epox 8k7a
gigabyte 7dxr

both good boards, both ddr and both under $150 at www.newegg.com both will support palomimo and both overclock

 

[Boonesmi]

oops i lied, newegg doesnt show the gigabyte board now, and the epox board has gone down since i last checked it, its now $120

www.mwave.com is another online store i use alot, and it does have the gigabyte board

you might also want to look at fic ad11, and msi k7 master (also at newegg)

 

[Courtland]

A lot of people love the Epox, and there are a good number who are having booting problems with them, I was one of them, I returned it. I am hesitant to order another and am going to try and get a the gigabyte 7dxr, as it seems to have little to no problems, and is starting to look like a nicer board with its dual bios chips, and a third ram slot. There performance and overclockability is equal.

 

[Grendel99]

I have been hearing a lot of good things about the Gigabyte board. I built a friend a machine and used a diff Gigabyte board and no problems for about a year now. So I have some faith in them.

Any more? Or are those the only two good ones out? What about boards from MSI, Abit, or Asus?

Thanks so far!

 

[Courtland]

MSI K7 Master seems like a nice board, I have heard of quite a few issues with this however, ex no post, bad board, etc etc. Some call it the k7 disaster and others that have it working love it. I had this board for about a week, but it was to test my cpu, which was bad, so I never got to use it. However, the board did test fine when I returned it I am most likely going to get the gigabyte.

 

[Gracki]

I recently was making the same decision that you are right now. I evenually decided to go ahead and give EpoX a shot. I purchased the 8k7a from new egg and I could not be happier with the decision. In the past 2 weeks plus my computer has NOT CRASHED ONCE! I am running windows 2000 with a non-overclocked tbird 1.33. I would highly recommend this setup. I set it up without a hitch and haven't experienced any of the "known" issues. IMHO the 8k7a is a no-brainer.

-Greg

 

[Courtland]

that was my initial thinking when I bought my first one, now I am a bit more skeptical and will most likely buy the gigabyte.

 

[heffe734]

Epox 8k7a!

 

[Insane3D]

Well, the Gigabyte and the Epox are both very nice. I like the Epox personally, but the Gigabyte is also having some good results. As far as Palomino compatibility, I am using an Athlon 4 in my Epox now...so yes..it's compatible. I would imagine pretty much any AMD761 board will be. The only thing I am not too sure about the gigabyte is that it supposedly has FSB adjustment done via dipswitches..if this is true, I would prefer the Epox as the FSB can be adjusted all the way to 250 in 1 mhz increments in the bios. Either board should perform well though..

 

[SpideyCU]

Same here. Got the 8K7A+ for myself, but heard lots of good things about Gigabyte. Reason I didn't for the Gigabyte was:

1) Seemed to cost more than the 8K7A+
2) I preferred the 6 PCI slots on the 8K7A+ over the 3 DIMM slots on the 7DXR

In the end it comes down to personal preference. They're both quite good.

 

[bevo]

msi k7 master...

 

[crgnjul]

I don't know how soon you are looking to buy, but Abit's KG7 is due out any time now. I see a few online stores listing a release of July 3rd here in the USA. That is next Tuesday. You can read the specs at Abit's Site. I too am looking at this type of upgrade and that is the board I am waiting on. No, I have not read any good reviews or anything like that, but I have loved every Abit board I have bought and will continue to use Abit until I have a problem.
Craig Tompkins

 

[hokahknow]

MSI K7 MASTER and K7 MASTER-S with SCSI are just fine. Have used many and all work fine. I would stick with a AMD761 chipset for your board. You may even want to try the ASUS A7M266.

 

[bevo]

<< Abit's KG7 is due out any time now >>

The latest report is mid-July...

 

[greenpoint]

Has somebody experienced some severe issues with the K7T266-Pro Raid/ NonRaid?

greenpoint

 

[chainbolt]

<< Well, the Gigabyte and the Epox are both very nice. I like the Epox personally, but the Gigabyte is also having some good results. As far as Palomino compatibility, I am using an Athlon 4 in my Epox now...so yes..it's compatible. I would imagine pretty much any AMD761 board will be. The only thing I am not too sure about the gigabyte is that it supposedly has FSB adjustment done via dipswitches..if this is true, I would prefer the Epox as the FSB can be adjusted all the way to 250 in 1 mhz increments in the bios. Either board should perform well though.. >>



Frankly I think the 7DXR is better, Giga announced already in May, that this board is Palamino compatible.
It has a 3-way-power supply, and the 8K7A only a two-way-power supply. For the Palamino you do not need a 3 way power supply, but it's the better way, because the current is regulated between 6 mosfests instead of only 4. A 3-way supply is also running cooler. The 7DXR has FSB adjustments by jumper AND in the BIOS in 1 MHz increments up to 250. That is another reason why I prefer the 7dXR.

 

[Insane3D]

The 3-way power supply, actually it's a 3-phase power supply, will only help the MOSFETs run slightly cooler. It really is not &quot;better&quot;, and a high quality two-phase power supply is not any less effective. I think both boards are pretty equal, with the Epox having the overclocking advantage due to the higher vcore settings. Another downside to the Gigabyte board is they use a CNR slot that is essentially useless, and they give up a 6th PCI slot for it. The CNR slot is strictly for OEM manufacturers, and a 6th PCI slot instead would have been nicer. One other thing, can the gigabyte change the DDR voltage? If not, that is another advantage for the Epox.