Which Athlon XP Mobo to get / rate this system...

[IgoByte]

Hi all,

I'm looking to purchase a motherboard that supports all Athlon XP processors as well as DDR SDRAM.

This is what I plan to put in it:

Case: Antec SX830

Retail Athlon XP1800+
2 x 256MB PC2100 by Crucial
WD1200JB 120GB 8MB cache HDD
Gainward GF2 Ti/500XP 4ns, 64MB DDR
24.10.40 Teac CDRW drive
Sony floppy drive

I have a good idea of what's good in the motherboard department, but I need some feedback nonetheless.
Here is a list of boards I've come up with, and all sound pretty darn good:

- ABIT KR7A(R)
- ABIT KR7A-133(R)
- ***SOYO K7V Dragon Plus (like it for the onboard NIC & sound)
- IWILL XP333 (R)
- MSI K7T266 Pro2-RU
- ***MSI K7N420 Pro (nForce)

My dilemma/problem:

Cost is an issue, so I'd like to go as cheap as possible, without sacrificing performance, stability and quality. It's top priority that the system be as fast as only possible with the given components, but I am not looking to overclock this system anywhere beyond increasing the FSB sloghtly just to give it an edge. The big question is if the nForce board's onboard video is any good. Will it even come close to the Gainward card I listed above? If it will, it would be pretty logical for me to go for that board, because I'll be saving a lot in the video department, and getting a relatively good/fast board with built-in NIC and sound for a lower price than most of these other boards.

Can anyone critique my setup and tell me a little bit about their own experiences with any of the above boards or perhaps suggest something totally different?

I'd certainly appreciate any input.

Thanks in advance...

 

[johndoe52]

My pick is the soyo board. It is one of the more expensive boards but it makes that up with all the extra features. The nForce's onboard video is not that good. Also the chipset on the Dragon is faster than the nForce.

 

[Mltsao]

Look in the motherboard section.... there are so many good KT266A motherboards now that I wouldnt even know what to pick if i was going to buy now.

Look into these brands for 266A motherboards:

Epox
Soyo
Soltek
Abit
Asus
Shuttle

 

[IgoByte]

<< Look in the motherboard section.... there are so many good KT266A motherboards now that I wouldnt even know what to pick if i was going to buy now.

Look into these brands for 266A motherboards:

Epox
Soyo
Soltek
Abit
Asus
Shuttle >>



That's the point. There are so many good ones that I don't know which one to pick. That's why I'm asking for people who have had experience with some of these boards to give me some feedback. None of these just came out, so I'm sure that at least a few people have had the chance to try them out.

 

[IgoByte]

<< The nForce's onboard video is not that good. >>



johndoe52,
Is the above statement based on personal experience or on something you've read? If it's something you've read please LMK where so I can check it out. I'm very curious how good exactly the onboard video on that board is.

Thanks for the input.

 

[Snoop]

"Gainward GF2 Ti/500XP 4ns, 64MB DDR"
If your trying to save money, get a ti 200, not much difference in speed but a big difference in price.
Also, i second the Soyo Dragon Plus.

 

[Dreadogg]

ok just put one together using the K7N420 all I can say is great experiance with it no problems at all, the video is smooth and it suits most users needs the sound is comparable to my GTXP but with less bells and whisles,and the networking rocks no speed drops with it does its job all around great buy if your looking for simple good components for a very reasonable price if you are wanting to throw your own video card in I would wait for the K7N415 to come out it should be soon I think and less expensive the reason I suggest this over VIA is that im personally sick of the lockups and loops and bull$hit like that ! just my opinion though!

 

[IgoByte]

<< ok just put one together using the K7N420 all I can say is great experiance with it no problems at all, the video is smooth and it suits most users needs the sound is comparable to my GTXP but with less bells and whisles,and the networking rocks no speed drops with it does its job all around great buy if your looking for simple good components for a very reasonable price if you are wanting to throw your own video card in I would wait for the K7N415 to come out it should be soon I think and less expensive the reason I suggest this over VIA is that im personally sick of the lockups and loops and bull$hit like that ! just my opinion though! >>



So, you've actually put together a system with this board in it, and the video, sound, NIC, stability and speed are satisfactory or better? What do you generally do on your system? This system isn't really geared toward gaming. It's more of a workstation on which I will perform everyday tasks including lots of CAD work.


Just a note: As for CAD, please don't tell me to get a professional card. I have a Quadro 2 Pro and a 3DLabs GVX420 ($800 & $1500, respectively) and it's not necessary to have them for just a regular workstation. Cost is the biggest issue here, but I can't sacrifice speed and have crappy video quality either.

 

[IgoByte]

C'mon, people...Critique this system and give me some more feedback on the boards please.

 

[Siddhartha]

Concerning your system, everything looks great. I might go for a Plextor burner I am using a 12/10/32 now and have not had any problems with it.

Concerning the motherboards do a search on Anand's, Tom's, and AMDZone websites for "motherboards". I think Tom looked at KT266A and Nforce boards last month and found the KT266A boards to be faster. Also looking at "VIA KT266A roundup" tests most have found that there was not much difference in speed between the different makes. The Abit boards have done well in these tests. The Soyo board has done well and has a number of features like onboard sound and NIC. I am using the KT266A based MSI board now and it was easy to setup and has been very stable.

 

[IgoByte]

<< Concerning your system, everything looks great. I might go for a Plextor burner I am using a 12/10/32 now and have not had any problems with it.

Concerning the motherboards do a search on Anand's, Tom's, and AMDZone websites for "motherboards". I think Tom looked at KT266A and Nforce boards last month and found the KT266A boards to be faster. Also looking at "VIA KT266A roundup" tests most have found that there was not much difference in speed between the different makes. The Abit boards have done well in these tests. The Soyo board has done well and has a number of features like onboard sound and NIC. I am using the KT266A based MSI board now and it was easy to setup and has been very stable. >>



Already been looking and reading up on this. However, results seem contradictory from site to site. I was wondering if anyone had personal experience and such...

Thanks for the input, Dr Smooth. . .

 

[ThenIsaid]

Since you're looking for personal experience....here's mine (almost all from Newegg.com, I guess I'd recommend them. The case arrived with a crack, but everything else was good...and since the case is rock-solid, the little crack was no big deal)


Just made a system using:
Soltek SL-75DRV2
XP 1700+ Retail HSF
Chieftec server case(clone of the Antec 1030)
GeForce DDR (yeah, that's right, its from my old system )
256 mb Crucial DDR
SB Audigy OEM
etc...

I get idle temps of about 48degC (55degC=load temp) using the stock retail heatsink/fan and 2 case fans. System was easy to set up, after I realized I had a bad #&#%! IDE cable. Stabilty is good, I run WinXP. Another buddy of mine built a similar system using the Soltek and an XP 1600+. He doesn't push the system quite as hard as I push mine....he uses a generic case...he runs at higher temps but is still stable. So...I'd recommend the Soltek. It has a great software bundle (Partition Magic 6.0SE, PCcillin, a backup util and Virtual Drive or something), and a temperature probe which is really very handy for monitoring a vid card or sound card or HD or whatever you want. I dont' overclock, I figure I'll wait until the speed wears off...hehe...upgraded from a Pentium2 266

 

[navir]

you ahve a superb configuration there man.try a DFI AD70-SC motherboard, its not expensive(a little over $100) and is quite good.other good options are the EPOX KHA+ motherboard and shuttle ak51

 

[IgoByte]

Thanks guys.

 

[Athlon4all]

The On-board nForce video will not come close to GF2 Ti. But, the K7N420 pro is a great board anyway, and has 6 USB ports, better audio then Dragon+, NIC, and is at $146 so it's the same range as Dragon+, plus remember nVidia's drivers. I personally would have to say go for it. And I will note that those that say SuperStability is an issue, it isn't anymore with MSi's latest BIOS. In it, you can control weather SuperStability is enabled. No this isn't from experience (it will be soon, cause I'm getting this board), but the sources I've read are legit so I would not hesitate to go K7N420 pro.