Need MB, No OC, you can cram, R-DRAM

[Ninepepper]

First Post,

Subject pretty much says it all. I've looked at sooooo many. P4B533, P4S533, EPOX, Intel, etc.. So many, that I am finding myself going around in circles. I've read all the recent reviews (with the exception of Anandtech 845G that has yet to be posted) but I am asking for assistance in making my decision. Let me list my priorites:


1.) p4, I've had enough of AMD Blues

2.) Stability, are intel boards a lock? I'm going to run windows XP home oem and I don't want any sneaky suprises. All the reviews I have read have confused me. Some say intel offers the most native stability, others have ASUS rated higher (see #5).

3.) Vanilla Board, no RAID, No LAN, at least 4 pci slots, no bluetooth, I have an audigy gamer so I don't need native firewire support, USB 2 would be a bonus but is not a deal breaker.

4.) DDR SDRAm PC2100. Prefer to avoid Rambus because from what I have read, intel's next generation of boards are chosing DDR instead.

5.) I have absolutely zero intrest in overclocking, if I get to the point where an intel board and an intel chip are slow, then maybe that is my clue to upgrade.

6.) I am looking for a board that will meet my needs for the next 4-5 years. To that end I have been concentrating mostly on 553 FSB. Is that overkill or, in your opinion can I get by with 400 FSB?

Thanks.

As a side note, I am so glad I found this community, I have learned more here (and saved more $$$ thanks to the hot deals board) than any other computer site I have ever been.

 

[Buz2b]

Let me be the first to welcome you to AnandTech. Problem is, I am not an "Intel kinda guy". So, I can't help you too much. However, I am hoping that some of our "better known" Intel users, such as thugsbrook can chime in here to both welcome you and give some insight on the Intel chipsets. Trust me in that there are many other users that can assist you, I just "picked his name" out of the many that I have seen that do well with the Intel systems.

So what say you "Intel kinda guys"? Can you help this "wandering soul" out?

If nothing else, it's a "bump" for you!

 

[RalfHutter]

P4B533 is what I'd do in your case. Fits your requirements and is a great overclocker if you decide to go this way later on. Intel 845EBG2 is also a great board but you'd never be able to OC it.

I may be a little biased towards OCing, but I think it's nice to have that option so you can play around. The P4 Northwoods are such great OCers that it seems like a shame to leave them at stock speeds.

 

[o1die]

The abit sr7-8x with sis 648 chipset is a pretty plain board. Anand has a review of it. Shuttle also has an sis 648 board, and it should be out any day now. The asus version will start arriving at venders tomorrow.

 

[mastertech01]

For non overclockers, the best performers have been Intel made boards. See what Anand uses for benchmarking new processors coming out. Intel D850EMV2 - Intel 850E Chipset Toms hardware uses Intel for some of its testing as well. Surprizing No?