What P4 mATX mobo would you go with? I need your help!

[nolovenohope]

I am looking to go with a P4 mATX mobo for a system, and am just totally confused by all the different chipsets availible. I am looking mainly at Soltek and Asus.

Here is what Soltek has to offer:
http://www.soltek.com.tw/English/product/socket478.htm

And Asus has:
http://usa.asus.com/products/mb/socket478/p4s533-mx/overview.htm
http://usa.asus.com/products/mb/socket478/p4s533-vm/overview.htm

Boards currently looking at:
Asus P4B533-VM - http://usa.asus.com/products/mb/socket478/p4b533-vm/overview.htm
Hyper Threading - No
Chipset - Intel845G
AGP - 4x
ATA - 100
Gigabyte GA-8SIMLH - http://tw.giga-byte.com/MotherBoard/Products/Products_GA-8SIMLH.htm
Hyper Threading - Yes
Chipset - SiS 651
AGP - 4x
ATA - 133
Soltek SL-85MIR2 - http://www.soltek.com.tw/English/product/85mir2.htm
Hyper Threading - No
Chipset - Intel 845GE
AGP - 4x
ATA - 100

Some questions I have are:

1.) Has anybody had any experience with any of the mATX boards listed above?
2.) Are there some P4 chipsets I should stay away from? Some I should take interest in?

I'm shooting in the dark now, so any help I can get I'd be grateful. Thanks in advance.

 

[jagr10]

I am confused with all the different mobos out there too. I'll add my question to your post.

Let's say i pick one company (Asus). Now what's the difference between all the different chipsets? Any advantages or disadvantages or is it just a personal preference?

 

[nolovenohope]

Bump to the top! Somebody help me and jagr10 please! = D

 

[Ezikel]

The main thing to look for is what the board has to offer!

Now'a'days boards running P4 should at least support 'Hyper Threading'. (H.T.)

It should also be supporting 'sATA 150' for the next generation hard drives.

Looking at chipsets... Well ups and down all around, but i'm realy satisfied with my Intel E7202, although the 845PE is quite the piece of work asswell.

Double RAM is a must aswell... No comment necesary! ( At least PC2100. )

I could just recomend my board ASUS P4G8X - Deluxe.

Well thats just me jabbering on... Hope it helped.

 

[WobbleWobble]

The Asus P4S533-MX and P4S533-VM both have the same chipsets, except the MX supports SDRAM as well as DDR RAM where as the VM doesn't. The MX also comes with integrated graphics.

I personally am in the same situation as you and am looking for a P4 mATX mobo with integrated video. I prefer Intel chipsets and I'm looking at the

P4BGL-MX
P4B533-VM

Edit: I'm swaying towards the P4BGL-MX, not the P4B533-VM because it's cheaper but doesn't come with an AGP slot.

 

[Sandman1]

I'm in the same boat too. But i'm looking at Giga Byte boards

GA-8INXP or GA-SINXP1394

The GA-8INXP has the best 3dbenchmarks (in the region of 24,000), but the GA-SINXP1394 is a newer board. . . . . I THINK??

 

[IncendiaryLemon]

I have the P4B533 VM. Its very stable and what you'd expect from a Asus board.

 

[Ezikel]

I Would agree compleatly... Gigabytes boards are exelent... But i prefere the support given by ASUS.

 

[nolovenohope]

Wobble Wobble - I don't quite know why Asus put SD and DDR support on that TX mATX board. I personally HATE it!

I was just looking at what Gigabyte had to offer, and then I saw this board.

http://tw.giga-byte.com/MotherBoard/Products/Products_GA-8SIMLH.htm

What is everybody's thought on the SiS chipsets?

Also, does anybody know if it is possible to make a mobo HT supported by a flash? And if so, does anybody think Asus would ever put out an update for their mobos aka the p4b533vm to make it HT supported?

 

[WobbleWobble]

It's nice to have SDRAM support on a budget board, that way, it's cheaper to upgrade from old systems with SDRAM. If you have 512MB of SDRAM or something like that and don't want to spend the money for another 512MB DDR, it's not a bad option.

If you're going to spend good money for a HT CPU, why don't you spend a little more on Asus and get a newer board?
The P4GE-VM using i845GE supports HT.

Link

 

[nolovenohope]

Damn Wobble, that P4GE-VM looks hot. I just can't find any places that are selling it on pricewatch, googlegear, or newegg = (