Need fast & stable mobo for P4

[AfterBurn]

I got a great deal on a P4 1.7GHz CPU (read: free ), and now I'm looking for a motherboard to go with it. I already know I want it to be an i850 chipset based board, but I have no idea on which one to get. I do not care about overclocking, since I feel that at these speeds its not worth possibly sacrificing stability for 200MHz more.

So:
- i850/RDRAM chipset
- High stability
- Upgradability (ie support for new CPU's)
- Good support (ie regular BIOS updates)

I saw the Intel D850GB, which appears not to be very expensive and according to Anand its a very stable and fast board. Would this be a good buy keeping my needs in mind?

-AB-

 

[Athlon4all]

Well I assume the CPU is S478 right? I'd wait for Asus P4T-E, because Abit TH7II has had some issues. If your CPU is S423, then get a P4T, but unfortunately, it won't support Northwood.

 

[AfterBurn]

Yes, its a 478.

I hardly have a clue as to what is available and what is good as far as Intel at the moment as I'm running AMD for some time now (and will). This will be a nice cheap addition to my 'collection'.

Any advice is welcome!

 

[Diable]

The Intel 850MV and 850MVL are fast and stable but dont offer any overclocking features and few memory tweaks.

 

[Athlon4all]

Yeah, those 2 intel boards are great choices also.

 

[Flatline]

For stability, there is no better board than Intel (ASUS being a close second). Remember that this is coming from a man who runs an Athlon based rig, so that's a pretty big statement for me to make.

 

[Bingo13]

Intel D850MVL or MDL all the way, use both boards on a daily basis.