MSI vs. Gigabyte

[JPodL]

Hi,
I'm going to build a computer pretty soon and I need some advice on a motherboard. This will be the second computer I've ever built, and the first relatively nice computer I've ever had. I know I can put it together, but I would appreciate some advice. I have pretty much narrowed it down to either the MSI KT3 ULTRA-ARU, or the Gigabyte GA-7VRXP. I would appreciate any advice either way.

As far as the computer goes, I'm getting an:
Athlon 1800XP processor,
512megs of PC2700 ram,
Western Digital 80 GB hard drive with 8mb buffer,
Lite on 32x12x40 CDRW,
Toshiba 16X dvd player,
Geforce4 4200 128mb video card,
SB Audigy 5.1 sound card, and Windows XP.
It will be used for a lot of things including some movie watching, gaming, internet surfing, etc. I am pretty satisfied with the rest of the stuff, but feel free to comment on that too. Any help is greatly appreciated. Thank you.

 

[drewdogg808]

i've had both, and i ended up keeping the msi. it has been much more stable and faster for me. the gigabyte definitely has nice features, but there's been some issues when using it with geforce 4 video cards and radeon 8500s. the only complaint i have about the msi is that you can't use the 3rd or 4th ides as regular ides for optical drives (cd roms, etc...) whereas with the gigabyte, you can. not that big a deal though. another thing about the gigabyte is that the cpu temps are measured more accurately (which will generally show slightly higher temps compared to other motherboards) just some fyi. tough choice since both have great reviews, but with the geforce 4 issues, i would recommend the msi. some user comments
but it could just be a bad batch of gigabyte boards...

 

[jonnyGURU]

They both make good boards.

The Gigabyte does have more and better features, but you have to watch out for those 7VRXP's.

If you end up with a revision 1.0 board or a 1.1 board that's not a "D" lot code, you'll end up with speed and stability issues if you use a GeForce 4 video card.

At least you're trying to decide between two good brands and didn't throw Asus or Abit into the conversation.

 

[RoninRXN]

Asus is rock solid but they're expensive and plain in the features department. Abit is cheap...but also lacks in the feature department. They're pretty good overclocking boards though.

As for GigaBites...I've had the GA-7VRXP and I couldn't put up with it anymore. The problems with this piece of crap...it astounds me that it made it out the door and all these websites give it such great reviews. It makes me think that the boards sent to websites and magazines are hand-built and tested a billion times before they're sent...just like how nVidia and ATi have cheated benchmarks with their drivers.

I am waiting for the MSI KT3 Ultra-ARU to arrive (Tuesday probably) but from what I've read, they're solid.

Also, the MSI uses the Palmino's onboard thermoresistor to read temperatures....so I'm guessing it's more accurate than Gigabyte, which uses a thermoresistor under the chip.

If you really want accurate readings, get a flat thermoresistor and tape it right next to to core. That what I do with my Tt Hardcano 2.