Motherboard decision, can I get some help?

[rsboehner]

I am in the middle of ordering everything I need to build my first computer. I've spent lots of time reading around on the various reviews and forums on the net, but I keep coming to a personal dilemna on what motherboard I should actually buy. I can't determine which one (MSI K7T Pro series, ASUS A7V, Epox 8kta, or Abit KT7 series is best for me). Everything but the motherboard and processor are ordered (because I can get them locally the cheapest).

Can I get some input on what would allow me to have the best setup for what I'm using?

128mb pc133 cl2 Crucial ram
IBM Deskstar 45gb HardDrive
Elsa Erazor x2 DDR video card
Soundblaster Live! Value

I'll be swapping out my current DVD player and CDR to put into it and I also plan on getting a Zip drive within a month or two, and I have no intentions of overclocking anything.

Since I only have one hard drive (I might also swap out my current 6GB ATA66, but that would be for mp3 storage probably) I don't know if I really need the Raid setup, but I've also read where that might be needed so I didnt' have to put one of the CDroms or Zip drive on the Hard drive IDE cable. Would the Abit KT7-100, Epox or MSI mobo be better. Also, I think I might fill 6 PCI slots, so I've halfway ruled out the ASUS board and I am somewhat tight on cash so I don't want to spend any extra money on features I won't need...

Can someone give me a little help with this?

 

[abracadabra1]

asus is too old in my book.
msi, i never liked.
epox, not my cup of tea right now.
i'd go for the abit.

truthfully, i don't think you'll see much difference between the abit and the msi which are the only 2 boards i would consider if i needed 6.

 

[Mem]

First get some right facts about the MSI K7T PRO board from a owner, yes me,this board is rock solid I love it & has 6 PCI slots so definetly forget about the rest & go for the best, MSI K7T PRO.Btw I have a similar setup to yours,SBLive value,Crucial ram,Geforce2 MX card,IBM 18GB 7200 rpm ATA-66 HD.

 

[rsboehner]

Does the MSI K7T Pro come with the ATA100 controller ? Or would I be forced to add the zip drive onto to same cable as the Hard drive?

 

[chansen]

First, let me say that you've composed an excellent question - much better than the twits that ask, "Who makes the best board?"

You'll surely receive many votes for the MSI and Abit boards. If PCI sloats are at a premium then you are right to discount the Asus. The Epox is intriguing because it is typically less expensive, but you won't find as many people with one either. If you are building your first system, you will likely need the help of the forum.

Which leaves us with MSI and Abit again. Abit's RAID may come in handy if you at a premium for IDE devices, but I think you are running a chance with it. There are conflicting reports on the compatibility of Abit's Highpoint RAID controller, as well as a rather chequered past with respect to quality control. The Abit board is also rather expensive. Now, I've used Abit before and never had a problem, but statistics show a higher return rate than the other manufacturers, at least as reported by several vendors.

Which leaves you with MSI. They seem to be the hot board right now, but I've been using their 6163 BX board for two years now without incident. I also recently bought the K7T Pro 2-A, and have found it to be very stable, even overclocked (Duron 600@800). They are also priced lower than comparable boards from Abit and Asus. If you truly do not plan on overclocking, you should still be able to pick up the K7T Pro for a very good price - though it will not provide ATA100 support for your IBM drive (the Pro2-A will).

Hope it works out for you.

Regards,
Craig

 

[Mem]

I know you can buy the MSI K7T PRO with ATA-100 support,mine is the standard ATA-66,however I don`t know if they are still using a ATA-100 PCI controller card thrown in the box with the motherboard or ATA-100 support from the actual motherboard,maybe someone else would know,anyway if you want ATA-100 version make sure you order the right model.

BTW chansen right about the MSI K7T PRO2-A this has built-in ATA100 support & great overclocking ability,It`s up to you if you think It`s worth the extra if you are not going to overclock.

Lastnote my friend got a MSI K7T PRO BOARD with a ATA-100 controller card with it,I don`t know if MSI are still doing this,but if you want ATA-100 guaranteed go with the PRO2-A version

 

[chansen]

Just caught your second post. There are no additional controllers on the MSI K7T Pro series besides the VIA south bridge. Therefore, without an optional controller card, you are limited to four IDE devices. The K7T Pro and Pro 2 have the VIA ATA66 controller, and the Pro 2-A has the VIA ATA100 controller.

Regards,
Craig

 

[AmdEmAll]

Get the MSI K7T PRO2A. Here are the 2 sites I found it at. Site1
Site2

 

[interchange]

MSI K7T Pro2 is the best IMO.

BTW, why don't you check out Anand's article specifically about that:
Socket-A VIA KT133 MotherBoard Roundup - November 2000

 

[rsboehner]

I was really leaning towards the Abit Raid board before I posted this because I really didn't want to have any hard drive cable conflicts, but I think the Microstar Pro2A board is probably the best way for me to go. Is the only difference in the Pro 2 and the Pro2a the ata100 controller?

Also one more question... I'm not positive on how to set up the drives with the cables, so let me see if I got it right. I can put the 2 cdroms on one ata66 cable, the zip drive on another with the 6GB hard drive (if i add it), and then the IBM on the ata100 cable? Can i do that with the zip and 6gb drive?

Also, does the MSI board come with the ata100, 66, and floppy cables? And how good is the manual it comes with?

I guess that's more than one more question...

Thanks for the help

 

[Mem]

It comes with all cables(mine did)make sure you order the right model ,there are two versions of PR02,
MSI K7T PRO2 (ATA-66 support)
MSI K7T PRO2-A (ATA-100 support)
the manual is adequate, I think ASUS manuals are better anyway you normally can download the Manual from MSI website in PDF format if you want to have a look.



Click here to go to MSI website

 

[ALstonLoong]

EMM...how about msi pro-r 815ep mobo ? Not a good choice ?

alston

 

[ALstonLoong]

Is anyone know which type of mobo can support 2 fcpga celeron2 ?

alston

 

[chansen]

rsboehner,

Again, you are limited to 4 IDE devices with the K7T Pro series of motherboards unless you add a controller card.

ALstonLoong,

Probably deserves it's own thread, but I'm pretty sure that Celeron 2 does not support SMP (dual processors). Somebody correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[Regalk]

Whay are you leaning towards Abit- I can refer you to 100's of posts about people going crazy about ANY ABit board (of course that does not include me - I personally never had any trouble after the initial hiccup of the BH6 way back in 1997/8). But MSI = they are unstoppable. Too me it is a given when you install MSI that it will almost certainly boot up trouble free unlike Asus or Abit..almost 100%.

 

[rsboehner]

Ok, I'm about 95% sold on the Microstar K7T Pro2-A motherboard, but the one glaring trait that keeps shining in my eye is the 4 IDE device limit. Can someone give me a bit more of a description on how this works? I'm seriosly looking at having 5 drives (2 CD roms, 1 ATA100 hard drive, 1 ata66 hard drive, and a Zip drive) and the 3.5" floppy that I want to have on this and that's got me concerned. I don't know jack about the controller cards. I'm assuming I hook the IBM drive to the ata100 cable/slot and 3 others up to a single ata66 slot. Is there such thing as a 3 connector ata66 cable? Then install some kind of a controller card in one of the PCI slots and hook up the 4th drive to that. Is this the same way the SCSI stuff works too?

I am also hoping to have 3 OS running on this (Linux, 98SE, and 2000), is this feasible?

These questions probably sound really stupid, but I am a beginner to building my own system. Thanks for the help!

 

[LXi]

If you absolutely need more than 4 IDE support, get Asus A7V. I'd still get the MicroStar because its so stable and reliable. Asus is not quite as stable or high quality, but it will serve your needs. Nothing against Abit, but I'd have to say both Asus and MSI are leagues above them in reliability. Also, if you have CD-R, why do you even need the zip drive?

 

[rsboehner]

I have had the CDR for about 2 years now and I received word about 2 weeks ago that all the computers at my school will be eliminating the 3.5" floppy disks and will only have Zip drives. Since I do a lot of work while in the labs on campus and during class, I'll need something to save my stuff onto.

 

[Fisher999]

Another vote for the Microstar International K7T Pro2-A.

What chansen is referring to when he mentioned the "controller" card is a PCI controller card for ATA hard drive support like the Promise ATA-66 or ATA-100 controllers (for example).
These cards eat up one PCI slot but have the advantage of freeing up both your mobo's onboard IDE controllers ( to which 4 devices in Master/Slave relationship can be attached) and the Promise controllers allow you to attach up to 4 (2 master-slave pairs) hard drives for a total of 8 system hard drives (or 4 hard drives and 4 of whatever type of IDE or ATAPI devices you want to connect to your mobo's IDE controllers). Remember that only IDE hard drives can be attached to the Promise contoller cards.

I think you can see the flexibility this allows you in using many IDE or ATAPI devices , often WITHOUT having to configure ANY device as a SLAVE to another device.

I'm glad to see you have an IBM drive. STAY AWAY from MAXTOR drives when using the Promise FASTTRAK66 RAID controller; I had tons of problems with an Asus Cusl2/PIII 800EB/Mushkin H.P. system I finished a few weeks ago and thanks to help from people at this forum like Lxi I was able to "rule in" the Promise/Maxtor combo as the "source" of my problems.

My understanding is that the Promise FastTrak/IBM combo is a compatible one.

 

[LXi]

rsboehner:

I would do this, get the external Zip USB version, you can bring it around, its compatible with any computer with USB support, and best of all you can take advantage of the school internet bandwidth and save the downloads to the Zip disks. I would get the MSI then, with 4 IDE devices, its perfect.

 

[Fisher999]

Lxi, not to my surprise, just posted an EXCELLENT suggestion for a solution to your 5 storage device problem so long as you anticipate NO need for future expansion in this area; like adding another hard drive down the road.

If you see expansion in your future, go with a good IDE-ATA PCI controller card. The flexibility can't be beat.

 

[chansen]

So, in summary, you have three choices:

1. MSI K7T Pro 2-A with Promise ATA100 or ATA66 controller card that will allow you four extra IDE devices, but steals a PCI slot.

2. MSI K7T Pro 2-A with external USB Zip drive, which conserves your extra PCI slot.

3. Asus A7V, which is now likely the most cost-effective solution (assuming you already have the internal Zip drive) but only has five PCI slots to begin with.

 

[Regalk]

In Canada - the A7V retails for around $215 while the MSIK7Tpro 2-A about $179 and I am picking one up today - what do you mean that the A7V is the most cost-effecitve solution??
Personally 4 channels are sufficient for most needs (2 HDs + 2 CDroms especially very large HDs)

 

[LXi]

<<Asus A7V, which is now likely the most cost-effective solution (assuming you already have the internal Zip drive) but only has five PCI slots to begin with.>>

The price difference between an A7V and the K7T Pro2A is nearly $30, Im pretty damn sure you can get a very decent controller for that money. Even if you lose the PCI slot you'd still have the same number of open slots available. The K7T Pro2A is also jumperless, no DIPswitches, its more stable than the Asus as well. And no, he does NOT have Zip drive yet, even if he does the K7T Pro2A + controller solution will be just as cost effective.

 

[chansen]

Regalk and LXi,

Apparently we all have to read a little more closely.

I missed &quot;I also plan on getting a Zip drive&quot; from rsboehner's first post. I was also surprised at the cost of Promise controller cards. $50/$65CDN for the ATA66/ATA100 versions is actually quite good, and brings the total cost of a K7T Pro 2-A w/controller card ($179+$50=$229CDN) very close to the Asus A7V ($215CDN).

Please note, Regalk, that (opinions aside) the A7V could still be effectively argued to be the &quot;most cost-effective solution&quot;.

Now, as he does not have the USB Zip drive ($240 vs. $125CDN for the USB and IDE versions respectively), and supposing portability is not a concern, I believe we can agree to eliminate #2 - K7T Pro 2-A w/USB Zip drive ($179+$115premium=$294CDN). Please note the qualifying statement this time: &quot;supposing portability is not a concern&quot;.

Now, I apologize if I was vague in my previous post, but I too would recommend the K7T Pro 2-A. I also have one beside me and am very happy with it.

Gentlemen (again, I'm assuming), 'tis not a pi$$ing contest. Please refrain from tersely-worded responses to those who happen to be on your side of the debate.

Regards,
Craig

<edit> Schpellingk und gramma