octoberblue makes good points re: hardware associations.
well, interestingly enough, after years of Abit/Asus worshipping, I've tried a couple MSI boards, the BX Master and the K7T Pro2a, and they both have been the best boards I've used for each platform.
I used to swear by Asus and Abit, but lately, MSI has been blowing me away. Took my Duron 800 up to 1000 @ 1.75v without problems, stable as hell. Easiest setup I've ever had in my life, too.
Let's be honest here for a second...most people really don't know what they're doing. If they're bitching about hardware, the problem almost always lies between the keyboard and the back of the chair.
Now then, the reason you see so many people on these forums having "problems" is a fewfold:
1) Anand rated the K7T Pro2a as the best Kt133 board (I concur)
2) People read what Anand wrote and said "hot damn, I'm gonna get me one"
3) TONS of people who read Anand's website bought one
4) People made small mistakes in their installation. Some examples:
a) didn't reinstall windows and had an Intel-chipset based board previously
b) Didn't install their drivers in the right order, i.e. 4-in-1 then video drivers then DX8, in that order
c) Tried to install Windows with all their peripherals plugged in already, instead of starting with the "bare essentials", i.e. RAM, video, HDD and CD-ROM, then adding (in order) sound, modem/NIC, SCSI, etc.
5) They report their "problems" here, because that's where they got the idea to get the board in the first place.
6) Since so many people that read Anand's bought Pro2a's and are reporting their mistakes/"problems" here, it seems like the boards are "problematic"
Another MAJOR MAJOR issue I see is people blaming things like a CPU unlocking or overclocking instability on the motherboard, when in reality, they have performed a HACK JOB on their CPU's to get them unlocked. They either do a $hitty job on the lucite/conductive pen bridge closing, or they use a flippin' lead pencil and think it's going to be a
permanent solution (what a joke!) or they use a FOP3x and in the process of attaching the HSF, they either damage their CPU or mess up their bridge closing.
Really, everyone seems very willing to blame the motherboard in all their situations, when in all probability, it's their own screwup. This isn't just with MSI boards, either, I'm seeing it with almost all boards anymore.
<steps off soapbox>
anyhoo....
A friend of mine recommended the MSI BX master awhile back, and tho reluctant to give up my obsesion with Asus and Abit, I went for it, and it was, quite easily, the best performing, most stable mobo I've ever had.
up until the Pro2a...
The K7T Pro2a kicks some ass, all around. I used the overclocker's beta BIOS (help me out with linkage guys, I have it on my home system), and the thing was so stable it's almost funny. Couldn't get it to crash no matter what.
As it stands, I've only used 3 MSI boards so far (2 in "upper end" systems where I actually care about performance and stability, I'll be darned if I can remember the first one), but I was stupid impressed with all of them, especially the 2 "big guns".
I wouldn't worry about using the MSI board unless you're not real familiar with hardware. In which case, using ANY motherboard may (or may not!) give you fits.
If you don't want to go KT133a, grab the Pro2a. It is killer. So good that, when I pick up a KT133a board, it'll almost definitely be the MSI solution. Color me totally impressed with MSI.
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