Pros and cons Abit BD7 II-RAID vs. Asus P4B533-E w/Raid

[iamTux]

I know there are already two long threads going on about these two boards but I think they are focusing very much on overclocking (which is a vital part of course). So how would you rate these two contenders in the following cathegories:



1. Ease of overclocking
I don't want to reach max speeds, I want ease of overclocking. 133 Mhz at 4/5 is enough, everything else is a nice to have and would be just sweet. Reaching these conservative numbers should be a no-branier.


2. Agressive RAM timing
Samsung PC-2700 should be capable of 166/2/5/2/2. What board guarantees better stability?


3. Raid controller
I think Abits High Point HPT372 IDE Controller should offer more options and more flexibility. What do you think about the performance?


4. Onboard LAN support
Asus' Intel solution should be superior to the RealTek RTL8100B found on the Abit. What are your suggestions? Does it make a diference in real world networking?


5. Onboard Audio
The Asus offers 6-channel PCI Audio onboard while Abit needs to be equipped with a card solution. Does the Asus chip as good as say a SB Audigy? What about the performance and CPU usage?


6. Stability and features
Last but not least: what board offers better all around stability. What board offers better drivers of the provided onboard chips, especially the Raid and the audio one? Which manufracturer offers better bios support?



What do you think? What is the better choice considering the given facts? Which one would you chose?

 

[oldfart]

don't want to reach max speeds, I want ease of overclocking. 133 Mhz at 4/5 is enough, everything else is a nice to have and would be just sweet. Reaching these conservative numbers should be a no-branier.

These are both 845E boards and do not have 4:5 ratio. You need 845G board for that, The Asus will support 3:4 ratio up to 132 FSB max. 133 and above is 1:1 only. The Abit supports 3:4 all the way up. Another nice 845E with RAID is the EPOX 4BEAR.