Which is the best KT333 motherboard?

[Nestle]

Things I am interested in:
1)Stability - compatibility
2)Performance
3)Price

Things i would like but are not necessary:
1)USB 2
2)Firewire
3)Good integraded sound
4)Good brand

Things I don't care about:
1)integraded LAN
2)Overclocking
3)RAID

I read some reviews and it seems that all KT333 perform about the same. So stability and compatibility with software and hardare is the main thing I am looking for. Some of features of the board are also important.

From what i see so far the non-RAID asus A7V333 seems to be good for the price (even without the firewire).

 

[Boonesmi]

for price/performance/stablility/compatability i would go with the epox 8k3a

the gigabyte GA-7VRXP is also nice (it has good onboard sound and onboard usb2.0, but no firewire)

and of course the asus a7v333 is a great board, but asus always costs more

 

[Demonicon]

Forget about performance. Get the one that is the coolest color.

We all know red is a fast color.

I saw one that was purple. Like anyone is going to think purple is fast.

Green is deceptively fast.

The regular motherboard "color" is fast, but equally boring.



I'd personally hold out for a board with a racing stripe, but they only put those on dual CPU motherboards.

 

[daveqb]

this is what i am trying to find out. i read a really good article when it came to performance.
it seems the Gigabyte is slightly ahead on gaming.
for nifty features and onboard sound i think the gigabyte & Asus are the better on those fronts.

go to the asus site for some specs on that , looks good

but i like the idea of dual bios from gigabyte, been hit by the CIH virus once, dont what that to kill my machine again.


any other points of view out there ??? (i am looking to upgrade to a KT-333 board too)

 

[Slawsk]

From the review, the EPoX and the GigaByte take the lead in performance, however, the EPoX is a little cheaper. Since you don't like RAID, maybe this will change your mind. Having RAID is a good thing, if you have at least: 1 hard drive, 1 dvd-rom/cd-rom and 1 cd-rw. Having drives on seperate cables increases performance when burning cd, playing games, accessing programs, etc. RAID can act as just another ATA/133 port. I am an EPoX guy, and EPoX is on a roll with the top products. From the 8K7A on EPoX hasn't really produced a bad board. I have the 8K3A+, and love it. The 8K3A is just as good, just doesn't have onboard RAID. Newegg.com has a great selection of EPoX boards dirt cheap. Since the GigaByte and EPoX are almost equal when it comes to performance, the next thing to look for is price. The EPoX 8K3A is about $6 less in price but there is no RAID. EPoX also has greater BIOS support, and technical support is the best, as e-mails are answered in hours, not days!

If I were you, I'd GO GET THE EPoX!

 

[Geoffrey]

I'd like to recommend the new SOLTEK SL-75DRV5 (Purple Ray) VIA KT333. It's pretty inexpensive, about $100, and it comes with a great variety of nifty software. If you're interested in researching it, go to newegg.com and take a look at it. I did research and compared the Epox 8KHA+ to the Soltek, and I chose the soltek with no regrets. Take a look at it...you may just like it as much as I did.

 

[jpetermann]

Gigabyte 7vrxp is awesome. So is the 8IRXP. Both are fast, good oclockers and have many features. They are also very stable!

PJ

 

[daveqb]

well here in Sydney the Epox without RAID is only AU$20 (US$10) cheaper then the Gigabyte with RAID.
i am leaning towards the gigabyte with dual BIOS.

but they are all good huh !

one question about the RAID, i thought u could simply use it to insatll IDE devices seperately, but read you have to pair your devices on it , two on the same

is this right ? or should i go read something ?

 

[Boonesmi]

the raid controller can either be used to run a raid (in which case you will need at least 2 drives paired up on it)

or it can be used as a plain ata controller (in that case you can use a single drive.... you can use anywhere from 1-4 drives)

 

[mikef75]

check ot the MSI KT3 Ultra ARU

 

[Nestle]

It seems that not many people agree on this. Which probably means no KT333 motherboard sets itself apart from the competition.
So, to put the question in a different way: Is there any reason why I should AVOID one or more of the KT333 motherboards?

 

[rarotonga]

Most improvements in this business are incremental gains of about 5 - 10% from one generation to another. The KT333 offers ATA133, USB2.0, 5 or 6 channel sound, DDR333 (PC 2700), Gf-4 compatibility. If these additions are not of much interest then consider the Shuttle AK31a ver 3.1 for around $79.00 bucks. This mobo won over 20 editor choice awards but uses the kt266a chipset. A fantastic value with performance within 5% of the KT33 boards.

 

[Yvo]

Well all KT333s have something good in one way or another.

Which ones to stay away from... anything made by a company that isn't very reliabe. These are for example: Acorp, Lucky Star, Biostar, ECS (sorry but they haven't proved to be very reliable... you have strange problems with these boards that I have yet to see on other boards... ECS is a brand where its a 50/50 chance that you'll get a good board), and Biostar

Some brands to look at: Abit, Asus, Epox, MSI, Shuttle

Just elimate one by one from the 5 I listed... its a good place to start

Good luck!

 

[daveqb]

yes i have seriously considered a KT266A board. But i figure if i am going to upgrade i may as well go for the best at the moment so at least i wont have to upgrade again as soon.

But knowing me, i will probably upgrade as soon as i have the cash

But i think your right Nestle, non of the KT333 boards really set themselves apart.

i think its simply the brand you are more used to dealing with + the features you want for the price your willing to pay.

I am still liking the Gigabyte with the Dual BIOS & comes with 8 physical USB ports plus RAID for only AU$250

 

[Nestle]

Well, I am curently using an Asus A7V with my 900Mhz Athlon, so maybe i should stick with Asus and get the A7V333 with RAID.

 

[BarMan]

<< Things I am interested in:
1)Stability - compatibility
2)Performance
3)Price >>



If this is mainly what you're looking for I say go with these boards:
Soyo Dragon Ultra (KT333)
Epox 8K3A (KT333)
Gigabyte GA-7VRXP (KT333)

Only difference in the boards is that the Dragon is onboard RAID standard so it's more expensive and there's no non-raid version.
The Soyo is HIGHLY stable and is not the best of OC'ing baords, but you're not looking for that anyway. The Gigabyte is very stable and isn't a great OCing board either. The Epox is very stable but IS a nice OCing board. Personally it's a great toss up, they're all VERY nice but you might just want to go with the cheapest. I'm switching form my Soyo Dragon Plus (KT266A) to the new Epox 8K3A+ for better OCing.

Oh and remember RAID is your friend


<< Since you don't like RAID, maybe this will change your mind. Having RAID is a good thing, if you have at least: 1 hard drive, 1 dvd-rom/cd-rom and 1 cd-rw. Having drives on seperate cables increases performance when burning cd, playing games, accessing programs, etc. RAID can act as just another ATA/133 port. >>

- Slawsk

He is totally right, onboard raid is the future, you might as well get it now. the HD performance is much better with primary connections than with secondaries.

 

[daveqb]

<< The Gigabyte is very stable and isn't a great OCing board either. >>




really???

thats interesting. i thought it had a good range of mhz settings for its FSB, memory & multiplier.

what is it missing that the Epox has ??


but then again i havent unlocked my XP chip & by the looks of the procedure i dont think i am going to

so only FSB & memory speed overclocking will concern me

but more info on this would be interesting .........

 

[Nestle]

It seems that there are a lot of reviews for most KT333 motherboards, but i couldn't find any for the SOYO. Are there any reviews comparing it with the rest of the KT333 motherboards? Also, it seems that the Soyo is the most expensive one.

About the Gigabyte one i read in one review that it's on-board sound is just 2 channels and not 6. Is that true? (although it doesn't matter that much anyways).

 

[Finite]

If you are going to get a new motherboard you should deffinately go with one of the KT333's. It makes no sense not to. The price difference is non existant and the ability to run the mem at 166.5x2 is a really good thing. The benchmarks that i have run prove this to me. Then U enable the 1T command and set the speed option to Ultra (at least on my MSI board) and dam! One wierd thing is that the benchmarks that I have run on the mem still say I am running 2100mhz mem although the scores say otherwise (SiSoft Sandra). Anyways I would have to reccomend the MSI board. I have been using their products for some time now and have had not one single problem with any of them. Well accept for having to open the case to reset the bios everytime I would push my fsb a little to far or something. This board is awsome though. I highly reccomend it. $99 bucks at newegg for the one without raid. Ohhh and the red pcb is SWEET!