Which KT133 motherboard to replace my Abit KT7?

[VinY]

Well, after talking to Kuk on this board and finding out his IBM 75gxp HDD was not compliant with his KT7 board, it confirmed my suspicion that it was locking my system up. I need to replace this board, and I want THE MOST stable board that will run Win98 or Windows 2000 preferably, with NO problems at all. I game heavily, and my KT7 ran games perfect in Windows 2000, but gave me errors out of games. I would like to be able to run all games in Windows 2000 without having to dual boot with Win98. I have been looking at the Microstar K7T Pro2 and the Pro2-A. What other suggestions do you have, and are there any others I should look at? Thanks!

 

[stultus]

I would also appreciate some tips. I was all set to get the Pro2A, but it appears there are many problems with it. (Either that, or it works fine for most people but just some people get headaches with it.) Is the K7T Pro2 a sure thing? Who really needs ATA-100 support, anyhow?

 

[VinY]

Exactly my point. People seem to be having tons of ATA-100 headaches with it. Plus, it seems to be the slowest board from Microstar. Come on, post!

EDIT: Also if it helps, here are my current system specs:

AMD Thunderbird 750 @ 1100 with Alpha PAL6035 HSF
Abit KT7 Motherboard (to be switched)
512mb PC133 Generic RAM
Hercules Prophet II MX Video
SBLive! X-Gamer Sound (Non 5.1)
Netgear FA310TX NIC
IBM 45gb 75gxp as master, 13gb Seagate as slave on IDE 1
TDK 12x/10x/32x CD-RW as master, Teac 540-E 40x CD-ROM as slave on IDE2
TEAC Floppy Drive

 

[VinY]

Bump..

 

[LXi]

I would recommend the K7T Pro2 non-A until they get the mess cleaned up.

 

[zippy]

Wait, you are having problems with an Abit KT7 and an IBM 75GXP? Ever think that you overclocked too high, your RAM is crapping out, you need a fresh install of Windows?

I built a system for my friend with an Abit KT7 and a 45GB IBM 75GXP that is, for the most part (only an occasional crash because of Windows or his AIW Radeon drivers) quite stable.

 

[VinY]

I have underclocked it to 750mhz and still had the same problems. So I would say no, and I reformatted and did like 9 installs of Win2k and Win98. Read about it here: http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.cfm?catid=27&threadid=328069

 

[VinY]

Bump...!

 

[Mem]

MSI K7T Pro2 or 2A,would still be your best bet.
Btw a review of Pro2A
here at TechZone

 

[VinY]

Anyone else?

 

[stultus]

Well, shoot, this is just pathetic. I can't buy the "new" KT133A boards because they've got a problem. Can't buy the current Pro2A because it has a problem. I have to step back to an older board (Pro2)? Someone console me - if the only difference between these boards it ATA-100 support, and all hard drives on the market can't even hit these transfer speeds, why do I need ATA-100? Or, OTOH, can I buy a Pro2A and not use ATA-100 (but just ATA-66) for the shiny new 45GXP that's coming and get out of any problems? (Maybe they'll fix the errors in a BIOS update... maybe...)

This whine serves as a <bump>!

 

[VinY]

Bump for more info!

 

[Dulanic]

<< Well, shoot, this is just pathetic. I can't buy the &quot;new&quot; KT133A boards because they've got a problem. Can't buy the current Pro2A because it has a problem. I have to step back to an older board (Pro2)? Someone console me - if the only difference between these boards it ATA-100 support, and all hard drives on the market can't even hit these transfer speeds, why do I need ATA-100? Or, OTOH, can I buy a Pro2A and not use ATA-100 (but just ATA-66) for the shiny new 45GXP that's coming and get out of any problems? (Maybe they'll fix the errors in a BIOS update... maybe...) >>



Can you tell me what you mean by they have problems? Ive used tons a Pro2As and they don't have a problem I know of. And whats wrong with KT133A boards? The chipset is the exact same except it support 133 (266) FSB.

 

[GL]

Dulanic,

Apparently the Pro2A with the new VIA southbridge is up slower than the Pro2 with the older VIA southbridge...slow enough that it is actually one of the slowest KT133-based mobos. Go to Tom's Hardware as he speaks about it somewhere in a recent article.

-GL

 

[Chadder007]

Uhh...yall have heard of Microsoft's patch for High clock CPU's (over 500 mhz) and IBM GXP hard drives haven't you? Oh yeah, what is this about the KT133A chipsets having a problem?

 

[airfoil]

Hey VinY,
Check thisout!

 

[Dulanic]

<< Dulanic,

Apparently the Pro2A with the new VIA southbridge is up slower than the Pro2 with the older VIA southbridge...slow enough that it is actually one of the slowest KT133-based mobos. Go to Tom's Hardware as he speaks about it somewhere in a recent article.

-GL >>



I wonder tho.... Anand didnt get thoose poor results. Maybe a different BIOS version? I benchmark all the machines I build for customers to make sure they are performing right, and it sure doesn't seem any slower than my A7V (Which as you know is not slow).

 

[nortexoid]

definitely get the epox ep-8kta3, which i've been suggesting for the past eon...

and if u have to settle for less, get something else w/ a kt133a chispet, like Abit's crummy kt7A solution...(although epox's is all round better...cheaper, same feature-set, overclocks (fsb) better, equal stability, etc.)

 

[CAMS]

Hi

I have an ABITKT7 with 2 IBM 75gxp and no problems.

I also have a MSIK7TPro2, so far the most stable board I have owned.

Have heard the MSIK7TPro2a may have a problem. You dont have the option of changing to the ATA66 controller on this board as there isn't one.

Haven't heard of problem with the KT133A chipset other than finding one.

 

[Insane3D]

I love my KT7A-RAID. I am running one of my 75GXP's on one of the 686B channels, and it runs ATA100 mode even in Win2K. I just dropped in a 1.2ghz bird and cranked the FSB to 150...

 

[Biggs]

The MSI K7T Turbo-R is drawing near.

 

[stultus]

What is this Microsfot patch Chaddar007 is talking about, and what does

<< I am running one of my 75GXP's on one of the 686B channels, and it runs ATA100 mode even in Win2K >>

mean? Why wouldn't it run at ATA-100 in Win2k?

 

[loosbrew]

the opatch delays the HDD from shutting down, or does it delay the cpu, i forget but it solves the issue of the system being way to fast during shutdown, thus having corrupted fies and such. i would suggest that mayeb you try a differnet 80w cable. my kt7raid locks up all the time with the cables they gave me, but i put on an old ata33 cable from my old MB and its never crashed. i stil dont understand exactly why. im gonna try using some different 80w cables as soon as i get them in order to try and get the ata66 support back.

loosbrew

ps...win2k doesnt support ata 100 until sp2 which is out in a beta version, which is how he might be able to support ata100.

 

[Sunner]

What about the A7V-133?
My biggest grief with the original A7V is the lack of BIOS multiplier changing, which has been added to the A7V133.

 

[VinY]

I am leaning towards the Pro2 instead of the Pro2-A now since I've heard it's the most stable T-bird platform. The only problem is, can anyone tell me where I can buy one cheaply? Nobody on pricewatch sells one besides the Pro2-A...