VIA KT333 motherboards

[thirtythree]

Does anyone know which VIA KT333 motherboards are best? I was leaning towards the ECS K7VTA3 because of the onboard LAN and its superior audio quality (according to AnandTech review), but is it good enough for speakers such as the ATP3? I am not really interested in overclocking. It looks like it has the lowest FSB speeds .. what will that affect? Some other boards I am considering are the ASUS A7V333, ECS K7VTA3, and Shuttle AK35GT2 (none of which have onboard LAN), but I really don't know a lot about them .. so any advice would be nice. And what's all this about on-die thermal diodes?

Thanks.

 

[Vette73]

I love my AK35GTR. The AK35GT2R is the KT333 version of my KT266a board.

It has 4 dimm, High-Point raid(Not Promise), and a C-Media 5.1 sound card.
You can get this board for less than $99 at Newegg.com

Fast, Cheap, and stable.

 

[thirtythree]

Thanks is there a big difference between the AK35GT2 and the AK35GT2R besides RAID support?

 

[Vette73]

The R is ONLY for Raid. But I run a DVD-Rom AND a CD-Burner so having it helps. I put my harddrive on the raid and the CD and DVD each get their own port. That way I can burn on the fly faster, and one will not slow the other down.

But if you only run one CD or DVD and a single Hard drive and do not need the raid or plan to add anything to take advantage of it, then just get the AK35GT2, if not get the AK35GT2R

 

[manly]

Some food for thought if you don't immediately need a KT333 board.

I have an old Apollo Pro 133A based board that has both AGP 2X/4X and SB Live! issues, but all in all, it's been an okay performer and I think I've seen fewer headaches than a lot of people. I'm not trying to bash VIA, but they earned this rep the hard way.

 

[Vette73]

Originally posted by: manly
Some food for thought if you don't immediately need a KT333 board.

I have an old Apollo Pro 133A based board that has both AGP 2X/4X and SB Live! issues, but all in all, it's been an okay performer and I think I've seen fewer headaches than a lot of people. I'm not trying to bash VIA, but they earned this rep the hard way.

The only PCI Problem I am aware of is that Raid cards on the PCI Bus will run slow sometimes. But that is a limit of the PCI Bus. the Nforce, and even Intel chipsets have the same problem. Also the only sound card that has had a problem with VIA is sound blaster. C-Media, Turtle beach Santa Cruz, and even the Phillips sound cards work fine.

I have been running VIA Chipsets from the Socket 7 days and the only problem I have had is when I made the bad choice of getting a SoundBlaster LIve. After I replaced it I never had a problem with my KT133 chipset. I am now using the KT266a and have no problems.

VIA even makes a faster DDR P4 chipset than intel can, so says Anandtech and others.
Via updates their 4in1's and stays on top of any issues. Unlike Creative labs that only only makes drivers even worse then Ati's.

 

[MrCodeDude]

Toms Hardware had a roundup, the top preformers were the:

Gigabyte 7VRXP and the ePoX 8K3A+.
-- mrcodedude

 

[thirtythree]

Originally posted by: MrCodeDude
Toms Hardware had a roundup, the top preformers were the:

Gigabyte 7VRXP and the ePoX 8K3A+.
-- mrcodedude

AnandTech had a roundup, the top perormers were the ASUS A7V333 and MSI KT3 Ultra.

When are KT400 motherboards going to be available and affordable? And is onboard sound good enough for speakers such as the ATP3s?

 

[Vette73]

The KT400's should be out in about 3-4 weeks. If you can wait I would, if not get a KT333


As for On-Board sound. The only onboard sound I like is the C-Media. AC97 is a no go. The nForce onboard sound is supposed to be good, but you have to get a nForce chipset top get it.

One of the reasons I got the Shuttle AK35GTR is Because of the C-Media 5.1 sound. It sounds great on my Logitech speakers

 

[Jayczar]

Originally posted by: LAKERSGO1
Wrong forum!
Try General Hardware Forum!

Uh sorry dude time to correct you this is the Motherboard
forum and he is asking a Motherboard question.

 

[thirtythree]

Originally posted by: Jayczar

Originally posted by: LAKERSGO1
Wrong forum!
Try General Hardware Forum!

Uh sorry dude time to correct you this is the Motherboard
forum and he is asking a Motherboard question.

This thread was moved from the off topic forums because it is too on topic. I did post it again in the general hardware forums before this thread was moved though .. so confusing.

EDIT: Thanks for the help everyone...

 

[Heinrich]

I went through this myself and chose the Epox 8K3A+. It performs either at the very top, or at almost the top of the pack no matter what review you read. Anand had the MSI board at the top but Tom and a few others had it on the bottom. The Epox scores consistently at the very top one or two. I was disappointed that it didn't have a NIC and I had to spend another $20. But I was very happy to install my heat sinc, my processor, and my thermal paste, RAM, drives, and have it boot the first time. It has been absolutely completely rock solid, as I've now had it on for two weeks during flickering power (I do have a UPS) and running 3D games and it has not crashed one time.