Which MB should i Choose??

[VINMAN]

Hello,
I have 2 MB for my new athlon XP to choose from so im looking for opinions. They are the MSI K7T266 Pro and a Shuttle AK31 VIA KT266A ? Both seem like good boards and i have to choose one of them, any help would be appreciated.

thanks
Vinman

 

[Boonesmi]

either one should be fine

 

[Boonesmi]

are you asking if they are kt266a?
the K7T266 Pro (kt266) K7T266 Pro2(kt266a)

Shuttle AK31 comes in both kt266 and kt266a versions

the kt266a is a lot better of a chipset then the kt266, so if either of those boards have the kt266a thats the one i would get

 

[tazdevl]

I had a Shuttle and would steer you clear of it. Had some voltage issues and the AGP port burnt out. You might want to wait until middle of November to buy... fair number of boards will be hitting the market and you will have more choices. Asus, Abit... and also some integrated nForce boards will be hitting the market.

If you don't know much about nForce based motherboards, here's a link for one company that will have a board on the market soon. Upside of these boards is that they have very good quality sound, ethernet onboard as well as a modem, and integrated graphics as well. The graphics is OK if you aren't a hardcore gamer. If you are hardcore, you can plug in your own video card.

You might also want to look @ the Epox board if you want to keep costs down.

Agree with Boo... you want a KT266A board. Much better performer and not a big difference in cost.

 

[VINMAN]

I believe the MSI one is the VIA 266 chipset and the Shuttle is the 266A chipset, I have to choose between these 2 at this point , i am being given the board so i just need to pick which one i want.

thanks
Vince

 

[tazdevl]

XP would run much faster on the KT266A board. KT266A's are much faster... it's a revised KT266 chipset. I hope you have better luck with the Shuttle than I did. Be sure to get good memory for the board. You will need PC2100 to take advantage. DDR is nearly the same price as regular SDRAM (PC133). Go to Crucial to buy if you haven't already. Good prices and they make the best memory on the market.

If the MSI is a KT266A... I'd take the MSI over the Shuttle.