Motherboard, which one?

[greenpoint]

I will uppgrade my computer. I must. I am a video editor and my "old" AMD 400 is too slow for video.
I am not a gamer, except some flight sims, not a hardcore one.
I am NOT an owrclocker, but, who knows...
DDR is on. It's the nearest future. I?ll prefere DDR.
I am hezitating between:

1. ASUS A7M266 very good board, AMD 761 chipset, but no Raid (it's a must for me), expensive.

2. Epox EP-8K7A+ is a nice board, AMD 761 is a plus, but a lot of reviews say: poor, very POOR manual, confusing BIOS setting. Is it true? It IS the main problem, holding me away from this board. Any argues FOR/against this board. (Second choice in my list)
Just the poor and confusing manual makes me very uncertain? You can't even download the existing manual. It makes me look for other mobos. Any ideas?

3. MSI K7T 266 Pro Raid. Very new board, ver 1.0. VIA K266, eny good? BIOS 1.3 okay? Don't care about the USB 2.0. Promise Raid is a plus vs. HighPoint 370. Any issues?
Really speeking this board could be my favourite, until somebody has a serious argue against it...

4. Gigabyte, don't know. Don't know anything about it.

5. ASUS A7V133-Raid. I'd like it too but SDRAM. DDR is a little faster, nice prices and is the future. Isn't it?

So, mobo owners and gurus out there, give me a kick in the right decision.

(These thread was copied, by me, from an other place in this forum)


greenpoint

 

[SpeedTrap]

id pass on teh + version of the 8k7a and just get the regualr one. the manual is fine for me and the bios is good.

if you want raid get a promise card, make sure its the older ATA100 raid and not the TX2

 

[Digobick]

The Gigabyte GA-7DXR is quickly rising to the front of the pack. If it wasn't in such limited quantities (demand is very high...I hear one vender has already taken 500+ backorders!) I would recommend it without hesitation. Very nice board!!

Gigabyte GA-7DXR looks like the one!

 

[Dracodbj]

Remember all U need is a resistor to turn a Promise UltraATA/100 (IDE) card into a FastTRACK/100 (RAID) ... The guide is still on Toms Hardware, search for it!

Mobo: Well SiS has a new Chipset out so maybe look for it?! It supposedly woops 761's ass

Also take a look at Soltek SL-75DRV it's a fast & stable mobo, but it doesn't have that RAID controller, then again with the low price U should be able to afford the seperate RAID card (IF U really need RAID why the hell dont U build a SCSI system ...)

 

[jamesbond007]

I believe the SiS Dracodbj is referring to is the SiS 735 chipset, but it is not currently available to consumers.

I'd personally go for the Epox. However, take a look at the MSI K7 Master.

 

[Scouzer]

My vote is on the Epox...

 

[MrWhiteUK]

Try and get hold of the Gigabyte GA-7DXR, either wait until you can or go with one of the others if you can't. The 7DXR is such a great board. I think the best DDR mobo at the moment.

 

[MoesTavern]

I'd go with the MSI K7T266 RAID. Several reviews I'v read on the newest revisions of the board seem to be very promising. The promise controller is one of the better ones out there. The Highpoint controller sucks! I'm in the process of building a PC for a friends buisness. Right now, the MSI board is going in with a TBird 1.4GHz/266MHz and 512MB Crucial PC-2100 DDR with a couple of 40GB Maxtors. We'll see how it goes.

 

[greenpoint]

Thanks, guys.
Dracodbj, the UltraATA card is cheap enough to be considered. Yes, I know about the transforming procedure with only one resistor. Honestly, it is my initial plan, since some year ago. The Asus A7M266 could be a good choice for this combination. Thanks.

Moes Tavern, This board is the 1st in my list, just not enough info & reviews, to convince me.
Let us know how it'll go with your K7T266 Pro Raid.

WSP Trooper, The Epox board looks very fine.And a combo with the modified Promise Ultra ATA100 card could be a less expensive solution, then the Asus board combo. Your answer encourages. Thanks a lot.

greenpoint

 

[DamianEX]

<< I'd go with the MSI K7T266 RAID. Several reviews I'v read on the newest revisions of the board seem to be very promising. The promise controller is one of the better ones out there. The Highpoint controller sucks! I'm in the process of building a PC for a friends buisness. Right now, the MSI board is going in with a TBird 1.4GHz/266MHz and 512MB Crucial PC-2100 DDR with a couple of 40GB Maxtors. We'll see how it goes. >>




Stay away from the MSI K7T266 board. I spent a good couple of days trying to troubleshoot this board until I ran across the discussion groups at msihardware.com. I was using a USB mouse and my system would freeze about every 30 seconds for about 3-5 seconds (not a resource issue). It turns out this board has a problem with USB disconnects and it does not seem to be resolved with the latest bios or any drivers. I'm taking my MSI K7T266 back tomorrow and I'm going to go without a system until a decent motherboard comes out.

Hope this helps.

 

[Bingo13]

If you are interested in the KT266 chipset then look at the Gigabyte 7VTX. I get the same performance out of this board as I do my 7DXR now.

 

[nOfXite03]

If you feel like waiting, see how the KG7-RAID turns out...