MSI KT3 Ultra2-R vs. Epox EP-8K5A2+........help me decide!

[bfletcher24]

I am looking for the most stable board I can find, and both of these are supposed to be rock solid. I know the Epox board is great for overclocking, but I don't intend to OC. In the Anandtech KT333 mobo shootout, Anand mentions the KT3's raid controller not being up to par. Does the 8K5A2 HPT raid contoller surpass the MSI's raid controller?

Which is the better overall board for the money? (Overclocking ability isn't a huge factor to me)

 

[Actaeon]

No complaints from my 8K5A2, extremely stable, and user friendly.

 

[Insane3D]

They are both nice boards, but the Epox is a bit faster, even edging out some KT400 boards. There will be no performance difference between the Promise RAID controller on the MSI and the Highpoint on the Epox. However, Promise insists on crippling their onboard RAID chips and won't let you choose certain types of RAID, or define the block size in a RAID stripe. IMO, the Epox is a better board.

One more thing to consider. The Epox is a better overclocker, and while you are not planning on o/cing, it's been my experience that boards that can run stable far out of normal speeds often are the most stable boards @ default speeds. I doubt you would have any stability issues with either board though. Also, check out this little snippet from Anandtech's review of Epox's latest P4 board...

Recently, Epox has been gaining some significant traction in the enthusiast motherboard market, dominated by overclockers and bleeding edge performance and features gurus. It's no wonder that AnandTech's very own forums are filled with Epox-related news, reviews, and all types of information related to Epox mainboards.

Quite frankly, we have to agree, Epox is doing a lot of things right. They clearly have the fastest Socket A KT333 motherboard on the market (only by a small margin though), dubbed the 8K5A2+. In fact, the Epox 8K5A2+ is faster than a number of KT400 motherboards available today. Overclocking-wise, it doesn't seem like many boards can match what Epox is able to consistently dish up. After talking with several Epox reps, we learned that Epox's "secret" to engineering consistently well-overclocking motherboards is to design boards with cleaner circuit layouts, which help in feeding a steady voltage to all the components on a motherboard.