Top five 850 motherboards

[fern3]

For the Intel P4, using the 850 chipset, what are the best motherboards out there right now?

I don't need onboard sound, video, or network controllers. And I want more than 3 PCI slots (5 or more is preferred). Also, should fit in a standard ATX case.

Maybe someone could break down a list of, say, the top 5 contenders. Thanks alot, I appreciate it!

 

[fern3]

One additional thing that I forgot to mention in my post. This will be for a P4 2.0Ghz. So, I am interested in the 850 chipset based motherboards, not the 850e. Thanks.

 

[zzzz]

Abit TH7-2
Asus P4T-E

Abit has better overclocking features while some of the Asus board come with a new clock generator which can be overclocked to pc1066 speeds easily.

If you are not into overclocking, get the intel board.

 

[AndyHui]

Why limit yourself to the older i850 chipset? The i850E is fully compatible with the 400MHz FSB processors; you will have no problems with the 2.0GHz Pentium 4. A motherboard based on the i850E will give you more of an upgrade path as well.

 

[lambasa]

Why limit yourself to the older i850 chipset? The i850E is fully compatible with the 400MHz FSB processors; you will have no problems with the 2.0GHz Pentium 4. A motherboard based on the i850E will give you more of an upgrade path as well.

Okay, howabout my situation? I have 2 512MB ECC PC800 (-45) RIMMs that I am trying to match to a socket 478 MB. I have an old socket 423, but I was given (don't ask a 2.4GHz P4 at 100MHz FSB. I need a new MB to match these two parts as 1GB of ECC PC800 still isn't cheap. I have read that the i850e does not take the slower -45 memory, so I would be nervous about using it. I am aware that it is the same silicon, but the memory detection and initialization code might not have the corresponding programming for the tRCD that matches the -45 memory.

Do I get a i850 or i850e (run at 100MHz) MB??? Any suggestions?