Poll: Help me decide on a mobo (hell make the decision for me :)

[GTdrew]

I can't decide what mobo to go with for my new system. Already got 256 megs of pc133 ram so I'm going with the kt133a chipset.

Price is not a huge factor I dont mind spending an extra 10 bucks. I don't plan on doing any overclocking now but want to be able to in the future.

Probably will go with the Thermaltake VOLCANO II Heatsink just cause newegg has them for 8 bucks and I can save on shipping cause thats where the processor and mobo will come from.

I don't need raid (will only be using one HD) and I don't need any ISA slots.

Components going in new system:
AMD Athlon Thunderbird 1GHz 200MHz
SB live (value)
Geforce 2 mx (soon to be replaced)
256 megs pc133 ram
30 gig matrox 7200
Enlight 7237 w/ 300w PS

Mobo's im considering:
Asus A74133
Epox 8KTA3
Abit KT7A
Iwill ???
Any others im missing??

Want to get the system put together asap. Thanks for helping my indecisive ass out.

 

[Duvie]

Epox is a great board...haven't seen any post here with major problems...

Probably go with the asus...gives you a bit more room for upgradeability versus the epox.

Abit I would try to stay away from...dominate post in tech support forum and it seems as some of the highest doa boards I have ever seen.

Iwill jury is still out in my opinion...do some research..if you like check out the price and free shipping at newegg.com

 

[GTdrew]

Well right now I think Epox is leading the race. At $110 with free shipping from newegg I think its going to be hard to beat. The Asus is still in contention ($119 + $10(shipping)) and the Abit is pretty much out.

One thing that concerns me is the built in audio on the Epox. Is that hard to disable? I know its just bios setting but has it been giving people problems?

Also I havent even considered the MSI board is it worth taking a look at? Newegg has them for $99 with free shipping.

Thanks for the help.

Drew

 

[GTdrew]

ttt

 

[Tideman]

Get the ASUS A7V133.... Nice mobo....

I have one and love it....and you can get good prices on it at a lot of locations on the net.

 

[Shmorq]

I always thought ASUS was one of the best brands both in terms of stability and overclockability. The motherboard is something I wouldn't wanna skimp out on to save a few bucks.

 

[huanaku]

I love the Asus board. I set up a computer for a friend with the epox, and it has run stable and good for the past three months. I'm not sure how it would overclock though. I've heard they're great...

 

[GTdrew]

Well newegg helped me make the decision. The epox board was sold out when the processors came back in stock so I went with the Asus A7v133a. Read some more good stuff about it so hopefully I wont be dissapointed.

Right now with my crappy p2 350 w/ 256 megs of ram and my geforce 2 mx im getting low fps (20-30) in firefights in Counter Strike. What do you think I can expect with my new combo. 1 ghz TB/ Asus A7V133a, geforce 2 mx. Hopefull Ill have the funds to buy a new vid card soon. Probably just go with a geforce 2 gts 32mb. I think that will be more than enough for what i want to do.

Drew

 

[dennisthegeek]

Abit KT7A and overall tech support =
:frown:

EPOX MB's are stable and I think provides much better tech support than Abit. The built-in sound on some of the EPOX MB's isn't too bad.

Abit Bx133 is super for OC.

But I recently needed a warranty replacement -- no more Abit for me !

 

[callpaul]

I upgraded my old system (PII 300 MHz, 128M PC100, OEM ATI Rage Pro) to an Athlon 1GHz, 128M PC133, GeForce2 MX, Epox 8KTA3+ Mobo) and I went from 11-17 fps in Half Life (in 800x600x16) to having to hold it to 70 fps (in 1280x960x32)! I hope you see the same kind of improvement...