Mobo Choice: Iwill XP333R or Biostar M7MIA RAID?

[GasX]

I just got a couple of great deals and am upgrading my computer and my brother's computer. Which of these boards should I keep for myself?

 

[gc444]

I personally would keep the Iwill board. My neighbor has had to have his Biostar M7MIA (non RAID) replaced twice. Plus the Iwill ALI chipset does offer easier overclocking than the AMD 761 on the Biostar. I know not all Biostar boards are bad, but just my two cents.

 

[Oakenfold]

I picked up the biostar board in the twco deal, THIS THING IS SOLID!!! I tend to like it alot, I actually replaced an a7v266 kt266 chipset board with this one, the raid and price are hard to beat, I don't even need the raid but will appreciate it eventually I'm sure, my only gripe is the non grounded holes in the mobo where the standoff's go..

 

[PUN]

stay away from MSI, I've had 3 boards gone bad b4.

 

[ScrapSilicon]

<< I picked up the biostar board in the twco deal, THIS THING IS SOLID!!! I tend to like it alot, I actually replaced an a7v266 kt266 chipset board with this one, the raid and price are hard to beat, I don't even need the raid but will appreciate it eventually I'm sure, my only gripe is the non grounded holes in the mobo where the standoff's go.. >>

yah..M7MIA(w/RAID)...excellent..stable...42c CPU temp CPU fan 2570rpm ..XP1700+...deal from tcwo ended up this board for $11(according to the invoice) was going to get the iwill XP333r but the tcwo deal( too good to pass up ..) for 147 shipped w/CPU,mobo,and a Coolermaster(...did not do well for me)..62c at idle..so went with a Volcano 7..42c at idle 🙂

 

[GasX]

I guess jonnyguru is the only one with experience with both boards... I'll ask him.

 

[bowie71]

Pick IWILL bro,.. just finished building my friend's computer with that board... clueless at the first time when memory bandwidth is so low!!,.. updating new BIOS and voillaaaa.... flies like a rocket!!!!, about 10 minutes ago, I tried to use 133/166 setting,.. and it works with penciled Duron 1Ghz (morgan) that only has 200FSB... so easy to overclock. the PC2700 we've intalled is now utilized completely.

 

[Daovonnaex]

<< stay away from MSI, I've had 3 boards gone bad b4. >>

MSI is not Biostar.

 

[jonnyGURU]

<<

<< stay away from MSI, I've had 3 boards gone bad b4. >>

MSI is not Biostar. >>



I think he's saying "whatever you do, stay away from MSI". I don't agree, but I think that's what he's saying.

My Iwill XP333R died a horrible death and had to be RMA'd. I don't let this taint my judgement because I do this for a living and see hundreds of boards a day so I know that a dead board happens. This time it happened to me.

The Biostar is faster at default CPU speeds. Even if you bump the bus to 105, 110, etc. it's faster than the Iwill.

Iwill scores on overclockability, though. The Biostar is limited in that it doesn't allow multiplier adjustments.

The Biostar has an AMD 761 chipset. Arguably the most solid chipset on the market. Mine runs 24/7 in ME with NO issues. My XP333R had to be shut down every night or the next morning it would either not wake up or run REALLY SLOW (memory holes?).

The Iwill has 5.1 sound. Not that I need it or use it, it does have it and that's worth something.

The Biostar is better quality. The Iwill is not bad. It's better than Asus or Abit with it's 6 stage VRs, etc. but the attention to detail with the Biostar is out the window with things like steel gusseted reference fan mounting holes.

The Iwill's manual KICKS ASS. Gotta admit, they cover all of the bases.

I went with the Biostar in the end and sold the Iwill. The Biostar was a proven stable board and the bottom line for me was stability. The Iwill was GREAT. I mean GREAT, but for me the Biostar was a better board overall.

 

[jonnyGURU]

<< ...my only gripe is the non grounded holes in the mobo where the standoff's go.. >>



It's often mistaken that the silver rings around a mounting hole are for grounding. They are not. They are to prevent damage to the fiberglass from people that tighten their scres too tight.

Mine has the silver rings. I don't know why yours wouldn't. They're all made in the same factory. Are we talking about the same thing?

I'm willing to take pictures if you are. 🙂

 

[gregor7777]

Biostar makes solid boards. They're not crazy with options, but stable as hell.

 

[Stang289]

I've built one Iwill XP333, and one XP333-R. They are solid motherboards and great performers.

 

[lahockey]

Use the Iwill.
They just tested a Samsung 512 MB PC2700/DDR333 module with the Iwill XP333-R with NO PROBLEMS.
realize(if you will) that the BIGGEST obstacle to this chipset/mobo has been the memory.
To "TRULY" run at PC-2700/DDR333 the memory must be rated at 6.5 nano-second or less (like 5 ns)
The Samsung parts have been tested by Iwill ... validated ... whatever terminoligy you want to use ... they work!
I don;t have the ACTUAL part numbers with me at home (I left them at work - DOH!) .. but I will get them for you soon.
Hynix ( to soon be purchased/aquired/assimilated by Micron) and Nanya memory have so far NOT passed the tests by the good
people at Iwill.
I'll keep you posted as I get infio.
Epect more data MONDAY as my job requires me to travel on Thurs/Fri and not be "in touch" with the industry.

 

[rbV5]

After a little issue about seating the ram (ram slots are EXTREMELY tight on this board), my XP333-R seems pretty sweet. No problem at all running 166 * 9 with Kingmax 2700 DDR. Still just benching everything, so haven't tried to push it yet.