Need some help/thoughts on picking a Athlon XP board

[DragonFire]

Ok I was running a Soyo Dragon+ which did 148fbs just fine but some freak bios problem has killed...

Here is the boards I have to pick from:

Asus A7V-333
MSI KT3 Ultra (6380E)
Soyo Kt333 dragon lite
Soyo KT333 Dragon Ultra (platinum edtion)


Now I really got used to useing a optical out from the Dragon+ for my sound and thought about going with the Dragon Ultra, however Iv been reading that it doesnt overclock well (cant reach 166mhz) I would like to be able to at least reach 150-158MHz fbs. Is this possibly?

the MSI says it has optical out but Iv read that they dont included a bracket for it like the Dragon Ultra, is this true? Does the MSI overclock well?

The A7V-333 says it has 6 channel audio, does it included a optical out onboard? How does it overclock?

Iv thought about the Dragon lite as well and since I have 3+ network cards I dont have to worry about the LAN not being there, I know the lite doesnt come with a optical out bracket but does the board have a header for it? Is it weak at overclocking like the Dragon Ultra?



It might seem that I require a optical out from the way I sound but its not a must.....just would be nice


Ideas? Thoughts?

 

[Insane3D]

As for overclocking, there is really no equal IMO to Epox. An excellent motherboard to take a look at is the Epox 8K5A2+, and it's very full featured @ under $100. It's been the highest FSB champ with 200mhz FSB+ very common with the right RAM and a unlocked XP....one site had it as high as 232mhz FSB stable..

 

[DragonFire]

The only problem is that my local computer store doesnt carry Epox. At the moment they carry the 4 motherboard that I listed. I really dont want to have to get it online cuz then I have to wait to wait for it, I need it now!

EDIT: I also dont really care about reaching 200MHz. Since Iv never had a board that could do 150Mhz, Id be more then happy with one that can do 152-166Mhz without any problems.

 

[DragonFire]

Anyone else????

 

[GeminiZi]

From what I've checked, the EPOX 8K5A2+ is $98 with free saver shipping which only takes 2 days to ship.
Also it's retail box at newegg.com

 

[Insane3D]

Of those four, the Dragon Ultra or the MSI KT3 Ultra would be your best choice. If your supplier can get his hands on the MSI KT3 Ultra2, it would be even better.

 

[DragonFire]

Thank you Insane3D for being the first one to read my post right and to reply in regardes of my questions.

There website lists the MSI board as "KT3 Ultra2 MS-6380E Motherboard" Would this in fact be the ultra2 that your thinking of?

Does the Ultra2 overclock well? (152-166Mhz)

The specs say it has 6 channel audio and optical out by bracket only but Iv read that MSI doesnt inculded this bracket and because of that you cant have 6 channel audio either, how true is this?

Hopfully you will respond soon as I need to know soon before leaving in a hour or so...

 

[Insane3D]

Yeah, that's the one..the Ultra2. I would get that over the Soyo's. There are a couple of advantages to the board. First, it uses the newest 8235 Southbridge, that comes on all KT400 boards, and it supports USB 2.0 natively. Second, it has the correct dividers, and support for the upcoming 333mhz FSB Athlon's. If you can get your FSB up to 166mhz, depending on your RAM, your PCI and AGP will fall back to the spec speeds of 33mhz and 66mhz respectively.

 

[DragonFire]

hmmm.....The only way I can get to 166 is if I unlock my cpu first which I still havnt found a easy guide on how to do that.....

I know my 2000+ can do 1.8Ghz at default voltage with no problems and I cant see my corsair holding me back. Tho if I get this board I think I'll have to get a Audgiy Planitum for optical outs and at $125 I'll take it over the audigy2 plat


Thanks for the info...

 

[Insane3D]

The only way I can get to 166 is if I unlock my cpu first which I still havnt found a easy guide on how to do that.....

I used this Unlocking Kit from Highspeed PC. It's cheap, easy to use once you get the hang of it, and best of all, it's temporary and can be cleaned off at any time. The instructions for using this kit can be found here.