Poll: Asus A7V333 or MSI KT3 Ultra?? Please vote!

[SNoWyV82]

I want RAID, USB 2.0, NIC and stability. No need for a board that can overclock as I am not doing that. The Gigabyte seemed good except all these complaints about recent boards not working properly. Looked at Epox but I need the USB 2.0 for my front USB 2.0 ports. The Soyo won't even run certain games. I mean, I guess you can always find something wrong with every board. The Asus and the MSI don't have NIC, however I can live without this. If you have time, could you tell me why you recommend one board over the other? I noticed the MSI uses an NEC USB 2.0 controller instead of Via. I need the USB 2.0 and I heard the Via one can make you computer take a performance hit if enabled. So does that make the NEC better? Any input would help! Thanks.

 

[Jazzcat]

My vote is for MSI KT3 Ultra. This is the board I chose for my last Athlon system. I, like you came down to the Asus and the MSI based on reviews and postings. I was leaning toward the Asus due to performance but the things that finally made me decide to go with the MSI were price ($30.00 dollars less) not a breaker, but certainly a consideration, and the abundance of jumpers to be futzed with on the Asus board. As I looked through the forums I found a lot of confusion and complaints about these from Asus users whereas the problems with the MSI board were much more innocuous. So based on these things I chose the MSI. I have had it running for about two weeks and all is well. No installation issues, good documentation, and again so far no problems. I did not overclock it and don't have any plans to. I am running a XP 1900+ with Mushkin Hi Perf Level 2 2100 (512), I don't think there is anything wrong with the Asus board but if I can avoid a problem or confusion I will. I have not used the USB2 ports so I can't help you there. Good luck.

Edit: FYI: I am using the Ultra ARU version of the MSI KT3. It comes with RAID which I have not utilized yet.

 

[SNoWyV82]

Thanks a lot Jazzcat that kind of information helps me out! Yeah, seems like we have the same situation. I was dissapointed by the scores of the MSI on the Anandtech reviews, but I hope future bios updates fixed this. Question: What is the Ultra2??? Any other opinions? Thanks.

edit: Just realized the Ultra2 isn't even out yet. I will change it to the Ultra in the poll.

 

[SNoWyV82]

Hmm...no more votes? It's 3:2 in favor of the Asus right now.

 

[mrman3k]

It doesn't really matter, but I don't know, the Asus has always appealed to me.

 

[onelin]

edit: Asus board uses Via USB I guess

the A7V333 has no NIC, so if you care about that, go MSI right off the bat. If you hate jumpers? definitely go for the MSI. I'll tell you right now, I've had to fool w/ the stupid memory voltage jumpers and USB soooo much, and I never thought I would. Now I despise the 35+ jumpers the board has...

It's a fine board, but it's frustrating considering how much I like Asus.

 

[SNoWyV82]

Yeah neither of them have NICs I believe. I don't have much jumper experience, are the Asus jumpers documented well? If not, then I would have a hard time with them and I'd rather avoid that.

 

[XBoxLPU]

Check out the ABIT AT7-Max

Another review

USB2.0, Firewire and Onboard lan. Highpoint 374 IDE controller. Though no PS/2, serial and parallel interfaces.

 

[SNoWyV82]

Yeah, I was considering that but I didn't know if the I/O panel that was provided with it would match my Lian Li case. Lol, I'm being very particular about this I know. Otherwise, it seems good. I just have to figure out if I can live with 3 PCI slots!

 

[onelin]

all the jumpers except the memory voltage ones are documented... not confusing I guess, but not crystal clear...and threads in these forums cover the mem jumpers

 

[SNoWyV82]

Okay, it is very close to a 50:50. Just read another thread that highly praises the MSI in a direct comparison against other boards. This is too hard!

 

[CraigRT]

I'd vote for the MSI just because they are about the same calibur, excep the MSI is less money... MSI has always been good when I have used them, recently I have used a KT3 ultra, and a SiS 645 Ultra and they are both perfectly great boards.

 

[dwifuzi]

I have a7v333-raid and had read many reviews and had encountered little problems here and there, but they are not hard to solve problems. Anyway, I think all boards discussed here are pretty much stable. As far as the usb2.0, it's great. You have to turn on the "+5v" to use it instead of setting it "default". Also, as far as I know, the conflict is between Usb2.0 and raid. if you are getting only a7v333 or not using the raid, it's fine. I did not have any problems so far, but I did not use raid yet though. But that kind of problems can be easily fixed thru BIOS update. Comparing with a7v133, I have to agree, this is not the greatest a7v board Asus made aside from all the cool and extra features. Overall, I think Asus is still very reliable.


PS. if you want to build a computer right now, try to consider this. an abit bd-7 and a pentium 4 1.6a. For 100 more, it's worthed, rather than spending that 100 on loud hsf. I just built my a7v333 with xp1600. I was not too happy because xp chip is almost impossible to unlock. So... unless i got a pc2700 ram, I can't go up to 1.9 gig with that chip. I can only go up to 1.6 with pc2100 crucial and a good hsf.

 

[Soulkeeper]

the asus a7v333 has COP
one of few boards to be able to read the on-die thermometer heh
the first to
ASUS is and always has been top quality
you pay a little more for them but it is worth it
MSI has been in big competition with them for the top but i think MSI is cheeper in quality and therfore in price
guess it is a matter of preference to some extent as well
i've just had good experience with asus boards

 

[pitupepito2000]

I would go for the MSI KT3, they make great motherboards, and I have heard great things about them.

 

[Wiscow]

I choose MSI because that is actually what I choose. I considered both for my comp but MSI won because it was cheeper I knew it had Digital out and at the time I was researching I was seeing some people posting problems about their Asus.

My friend is building a computer and he has the Asus. The first time his system never ran so I am helping him getting it going this second time. Personially all the jumpers are not my thing.
.02

 

[CraigRT]

I've used both... no complaints.... both work good.. but the insanely high not-worth-it as usual price Asus charges would make me go with MSI. I have used MSI in the past in my own rigs and they are very, very nice.

 

[lstintxs]

i would go with msi, i have never had to rma a board to them but when i have called on their support they were both prompt and polite. i have used a number of their boards and have not been let down. the board you are looking at reads the temp off the die and not a socket thermister. both are great brands and stand behind their products. I would go with MSI but i have a bias of opinion.

ymmv
-mike