Whick KT133a mobo

[dugite57]

My "other pc" ABIT KT7-Raid has died. I have 512meg of good cas 2 crucial sdram, on 3 sticks so I need 3 slots, and do not want to waste it. Was wondering what KT133a board people think is best. I don't need raid, all I want realy is a good stable board for my reserve pc.

 

[Insane3D]

I personally prefer the Iwill KK266/KK266-R Plus boards. Great boards, overclock well if you are planning on doing any, and have very nice 5.1 onboard sound.

 

[Buz2b]

I got an MSI K7T Turbo2 as a refurb from NewEgg a while back for my wife. It is a KT133A board. It has been a wonderful, stable and fast system for her. 3 X slots for PC100/133 RAM, 5 PCI slots, AGP 4X and full Duron/Athlon support up to an XP2000+ (possibly higher). Installation with WinXP was a breeze. That would be my choice for your "other PC".

 

[Boonesmi]

i really liked the epox 8kta3 (i actually still have one running.. all the others have been upgraded)

 

[Buz2b]

<< i really liked the epox 8kta3 >>

I almost forgot about that one! I built one for my step son and it too was a good performer. I think the MSI was a bit less expensive, but the difference was only about $20 either way.

 

[TooStonedtim]

well, ive owned 3 KT133/a boards and let me tell you, Id recommend NONE !

- the pci bus throughput is questionable at best, do yourself a favour and avoid VIA chipsets !

they are fine until you get a lot of fast components in there, then they start to give all monner of problems....

dont beleive me, doa search on google.com for via problems, and then repeat for other chipsets...- funny huh >!??!?!
ands yeah, i know they are popular, but they still have problems despite via claimming to fix them. the throughput has been tested at 70MB/s as opposed to intels 110MB/s.....

- it aint worth the saving

 

[DieHardware]

The ASUS A7A266-E has three 168pin DIMM slots(I did read the title of the thread, just wanted to make sure you knew you had a choice in chipsets).

 

[Mucker]

Epox 8kta3 was a great, stable board for me...I don't think kt133a boards liked SB Lives very well though. I had alot of problems until I used a Santa Cruz on that board. But that's the past....I now have an Epox 8kha+ and Audigy and ARE loving life!

 

[envisioncs]

I have had good luck with MSI boards running the KT133A chipset. The one I own is the K7T Pro 2-A (I think) and it is super stable.

I think I have to agree with Mucker on the SB Live / KT133a issues. I have an A7V133 (which is known for having it's own issues) with a SB Live. Recently I have had several random lockups and loss of the mouse at bootup. I have tried everything in the book and it is either the mobo or the relation with the sound card. I'm going to pop out the card to see if it helps.

 

[Randskey]

My vote also goes with the Iwill - the layout is similar to the KT7 - it has 3 SDRAM slots as well as an ISA slot for any old legacy devices you may have (like the 56K hardware modem I've got on mine). Also one heck of an overclocker (mine's running at 150FSB) if you're into that thing. Read Anand's KT133a roundup if you haven't had the chance to do so yet.