Need mobo suggestions for Athlon XP
- Thread starter Reverend
- Start date
Well, I'm mostly an Asus-fan myself (have a bad history with Abit, so I wouldn't recommend them at all).
I was on the lookout for a AMD DDR board myself a month ago, and settled on the Asus A7N266-E (nForce 420D based), and have had no problems with it except that the onboard nic isn't too great (Asus went for a separate realtek chip... ugh...). Inbound speeds are good, outbound are not so good at ~3MB/sec. All weird chipset related problem I had on my via old board are gone (AGP problems, IDE weirdness and crackling SB Live!). If I was buying a board now I would go for the 415D based Asus board (A7N266-C) since that is without the interated lan (which sucked) and gfx core (I have a GF3 anyway).
If you already have stuff like a NIC, audiocard etc. and all you want is a board to plug it all into, the A7V266-E (with or without extra ide controller) is a good option. I've used it in some lowcost server rigs and have had little problems with them, although the usual driver magic is required if you want top performance with games.
If you want a less biased source than me I recommend Anands VIA KT266A Motherboard Roundup for january 2002. The Epox came out as one of the best boards in the roundup.
In the category for funkiest MB color I would have to suggest the purple Soltek SL-75DRV4. :smile:
Prices also vary a lot from country to country. What could be a good deal for me might not be so good where you live, so checking local prices is very important.
<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Bogotron on 2002-02-09 03:39 ]</font>
I was on the lookout for a AMD DDR board myself a month ago, and settled on the Asus A7N266-E (nForce 420D based), and have had no problems with it except that the onboard nic isn't too great (Asus went for a separate realtek chip... ugh...). Inbound speeds are good, outbound are not so good at ~3MB/sec. All weird chipset related problem I had on my via old board are gone (AGP problems, IDE weirdness and crackling SB Live!). If I was buying a board now I would go for the 415D based Asus board (A7N266-C) since that is without the interated lan (which sucked) and gfx core (I have a GF3 anyway).
If you already have stuff like a NIC, audiocard etc. and all you want is a board to plug it all into, the A7V266-E (with or without extra ide controller) is a good option. I've used it in some lowcost server rigs and have had little problems with them, although the usual driver magic is required if you want top performance with games.
If you want a less biased source than me I recommend Anands VIA KT266A Motherboard Roundup for january 2002. The Epox came out as one of the best boards in the roundup.
In the category for funkiest MB color I would have to suggest the purple Soltek SL-75DRV4. :smile:
Prices also vary a lot from country to country. What could be a good deal for me might not be so good where you live, so checking local prices is very important.
<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Bogotron on 2002-02-09 03:39 ]</font>
The KT266A chipset is fast, and the MSI board that I had (K7T266 Pro2-RU) was stable when I was using it, but I switched to the MSI K7N420 (nForce), and I like it much better. KT266A is cheaper, and easier to come across.
You could even go with an AMD761/VIA 686B board. I've heard nothing but rave reviews for the Gigabyte 7DXR board. The AMD/VIA board may not be quite as fast, but it is very stable.
You could even go with an AMD761/VIA 686B board. I've heard nothing but rave reviews for the Gigabyte 7DXR board. The AMD/VIA board may not be quite as fast, but it is very stable.
I've heard some good things about the "Soyo Dragon Plus!" motherboard.
It's got RAID, Integrated LAN, 6-channel on-board sound(with an accompanying backplate), and supports UDMA 100. It's also got a AGP Pro slot, if that makes any difference for you.
They also bundle three EIDE cables, a floppy cable, an I/O shield and even a packet of thermal paste. Yet another included accessory is the front panel box. This fits in a 3.5in or 5.25in bay and features two USB ports and a smart card/SIM card reader.
It's supposed to be reasonably fast too.
It's got RAID, Integrated LAN, 6-channel on-board sound(with an accompanying backplate), and supports UDMA 100. It's also got a AGP Pro slot, if that makes any difference for you.
They also bundle three EIDE cables, a floppy cable, an I/O shield and even a packet of thermal paste. Yet another included accessory is the front panel box. This fits in a 3.5in or 5.25in bay and features two USB ports and a smart card/SIM card reader.
It's supposed to be reasonably fast too.
I just built an Athlon XP 1700+ system around a Soyo Dragon Plus and so far it's been awesome. The on board NIC and sound work just fine (though if you're a gamer or looking for higher quality audio, you'll want a separate sound card of course), it's great having that much IDE expandability (already have all 4 basic devices filled with 2 HD's and a DVD and CD-RW), and it comes with some decent software and a great manual. It's been rock solid stable, driver installation is easy, and drivers and other support are great so far. It also has decent hardware monitoring features. Lastly, the Purple PCI slots are *rad*. 
- JavaJones
- JavaJones
Richard999
Newcomer
Personally, I don't want a flashy motherboard with a lot of bells and whistles. I like a fast/stable motherboard with a lot of PCI slots.
In which case the original recommendation of the Epox 8KHA+ (266A chipset) was not a bad one.
I believe the KT333 version of that motherboard should be for sale this coming week. (8K3A+)
I do believe the extra available memory bandwidth will probably help. (The XP2000+ needs all it can get.)
One other recommendation. Get the largest single DIMM you can. These motherboards (KT266A chipsets) seem to "sometimes" act flakey with multiple DIMMs. That's something that I've read on the forums and dealt with firsthand.
In which case the original recommendation of the Epox 8KHA+ (266A chipset) was not a bad one.
I believe the KT333 version of that motherboard should be for sale this coming week. (8K3A+)
I do believe the extra available memory bandwidth will probably help. (The XP2000+ needs all it can get.)
One other recommendation. Get the largest single DIMM you can. These motherboards (KT266A chipsets) seem to "sometimes" act flakey with multiple DIMMs. That's something that I've read on the forums and dealt with firsthand.
Higher memory bandwith won't help that much, simply because Athlon's 133MHz (266DDR) front side bus has only 2,1GB bandwith, exactly the same amount of bandwith DDR memory at 133MHz produces. Data prefetch burns a bit bandwith, but don't expect wonders by upping the memory bandwith alone. We have to wait for 166MHz/333DDR FSB Athlons (or up the FSB of our old Athlons) to see a bigger improvment.
Richard999
Newcomer
You're right, it won't make a huge difference, but every little bit helps.
Why not overclock the front side bus a little?
Update: I just re-read Rev's post and he's not too interested in overclocking. Which I understand perfectly.
<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Richard999 on 2002-02-10 17:51 ]</font>
Why not overclock the front side bus a little?
Update: I just re-read Rev's post and he's not too interested in overclocking. Which I understand perfectly.
<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Richard999 on 2002-02-10 17:51 ]</font>
PErsonally, i am running two Abit KR7A boards at home, and they are great. Fast, stable, no problems. I also built a system for a friend (semi-comp. literate) with the KR7A in it, and he has had no stability issues/problems at all (win2k). I also built my brother a system using the MSI KT266-Pro2 (kt288A) and he has no problems with it either (he needed the USB 2.0 for some of his photography stuff).
So iw ould recommend either of those boards (Abit KR7A or MSI) because they work damn well, and the Abit boards are fast as heck.
So iw ould recommend either of those boards (Abit KR7A or MSI) because they work damn well, and the Abit boards are fast as heck.
Tygrus_Artesiaoa
Newcomer
Hmm Reverend...while I have taken a look at the soyo flavor of the kt266a promise controllers aint the best...go with HPT preferably.
Abit kr7a, shuttles latest kt266a and epox seem to be killer and the shuttle and epox can be head cheaply with all the performance though the kr7a can oc...as for the msi...I dunno if ya need the usb2.0 really.
Good luck. I personally want a via board for my xp I want to get and unlock it so I can run at 166 fsb...that would be killer...ali's xp solution iwill xp doesnt seem to be the performance killer even at high fsb and mem speeds...plus a lot of them seem to be DOA.
Then again there also is the sis 740/5 coming up...good performance as well expected and definitely cheap...just find a trusty manufacturer...leadteks 735 is much better than the ecs and many have said ecs boards are oft DOA
Abit kr7a, shuttles latest kt266a and epox seem to be killer and the shuttle and epox can be head cheaply with all the performance though the kr7a can oc...as for the msi...I dunno if ya need the usb2.0 really.
Good luck. I personally want a via board for my xp I want to get and unlock it so I can run at 166 fsb...that would be killer...ali's xp solution iwill xp doesnt seem to be the performance killer even at high fsb and mem speeds...plus a lot of them seem to be DOA.
Then again there also is the sis 740/5 coming up...good performance as well expected and definitely cheap...just find a trusty manufacturer...leadteks 735 is much better than the ecs and many have said ecs boards are oft DOA
I am currently running 4 systems with the Shuttle AK31v3.1 KT266a motherboard. I have had absolutly no problems whatsoever, including my server, which runs 24/7. All have 2X256 meg Crucial PC2100, and 3 of them have been run o/c, however, only 1 (mine - 10x151) is currently that way. I have used quite a few different power supplies(Antec, Enermax to Codegen!) and, as long as you do not excede AMD's recommendations(or o/c!), there are no problems. And, they are very inexpensive(I paid less that $85.00US delivered!!!). While these have next to no added features - no raid, only AC97 sound(yuk - but fine on the server!) - thats all in really wanted. Less features means less to get in the way, especially if you are also using it to your system to review other equipment!
update on the A7N266-C... I left work last night with it looping 3DMark2001 SE. Having done this with many VIA boards to test stability, I wasn't expecting it to still be running when I came in this morning, but it was! On test 2094, I hit Esc. How much more could I possibly have asked it to do?!
The config was with 512MB of Corsair CAS2 PC2100, an AMD XP 2100+, a GeForce4 Ti 4600 oc'd to 310/700, an Audigy, an Intel NIC, and a HighPoint ATA133 RAID adapter.
I was astounded by this showing of stability in an engineering sample, as many of these are just Bad. Next will be further compatibility tests, but I doubt I'll find anything too serious there, as I didn't find anything with the nForce 420 chipset.
The config was with 512MB of Corsair CAS2 PC2100, an AMD XP 2100+, a GeForce4 Ti 4600 oc'd to 310/700, an Audigy, an Intel NIC, and a HighPoint ATA133 RAID adapter.
I was astounded by this showing of stability in an engineering sample, as many of these are just Bad. Next will be further compatibility tests, but I doubt I'll find anything too serious there, as I didn't find anything with the nForce 420 chipset.
just a note on 333 (either from via or sis or ali)....this is imo kinda tricky, as there's no official pc2700 standard yet as u prolly know (not approved by jedec), so all current pc2700 mems r just oced versions of the older ones and ppl reported some problems with those
just not sure if such mobo would be worth additional money
and any of those u mentioned - asus, msi, soyo, abit will do fine imo, just depends what u want on the board
just not sure if such mobo would be worth additional money
and any of those u mentioned - asus, msi, soyo, abit will do fine imo, just depends what u want on the board
JavaJones said:I just built an Athlon XP 1700+ system around a Soyo Dragon Plus and so far it's been awesome. The on board NIC and sound work just fine (though if you're a gamer or looking for higher quality audio, you'll want a separate sound card of course), it's great having that much IDE expandability (already have all 4 basic devices filled with 2 HD's and a DVD and CD-RW), and it comes with some decent software and a great manual. It's been rock solid stable, driver installation is easy, and drivers and other support are great so far. It also has decent hardware monitoring features. Lastly, the Purple PCI slots are *rad*.
- JavaJones
I've just got my Soyo "Plus Drag"
up and running with an XP2000 running SuSE 7.3 Linux. Apart from the tricks getting the IDE RAID recognised (challenging when it's late at night and you're tired and miss a vital step), it's now running quite nicely. The ethernet and sound stuff installed quite cleanly.