P4 mobo questions, comments, opinions

[bigboi]

i am specing out a system for a coworker and need some advice. the system will NOT be OCed not even by 1 mhz so please don't recommend mobo X because it has dimm voltage adjustments up to 40watts

i read the anandtech review and am considering the gigabyte 8IEXP. my main question about the board is can the raid ports be used as regular ide ports? current owners, what is the stability like? this is my main concern.

i am also interested in the asus p4b533 but it is expensive and i'm trying to save money here. however, it has some good features and being an asus SHOULD be rock solid.

i've also considered the plain vanilla intel D845EBG2 mobo. is there a better intel branded mobo that has lan included on it?

thanks for your help,
big boi

 

[gururu]

the abit bg7.

it has great onboard sound, decent onboard video, and nice onboard LAN.
Has 6 usb slots, and ps2 ports. has no RAID though, and only handles up to ATA100.

very stable and dirt cheap. i used this board for a buddy's system as well as my own.


good luck!