help choosing mb!

yo
im building a new system
and i was debating between 5 different mobos
Abit kr7a133-raid
asus a7v266e
asus a7n266e
msi k7tpro2 ru
soyo dragon plus
anyone have any experience and advice?
money is not a big issue...
im just interested in stability with overclocking and ability for voltasge adjustments.
the only reason i am considering the A7N266E is that way i would not have to buy a grphx card or sound...
any help is greatly appreciated.
thanx

mr_kow said:

yo
im building a new system
and i was debating between 5 different mobos
Abit kr7a133-raid
asus a7v266e
asus a7n266e
msi k7tpro2 ru
soyo dragon plus
anyone have any experience and advice?
money is not a big issue...
im just interested in stability with overclocking and ability for voltasge adjustments.
the only reason i am considering the A7N266E is that way i would not have to buy a grphx card or sound...
any help is greatly appreciated.
thanx

Click to expand...

Out of all the motherboards there, the KR7A is the best IMHO. It has a raid feature, it seems the most stable with the high FSB's.

Yodums

any one else have any suggestions?
does the a7n266e have any stability issues with high FSBs?
i also heard that it has problems with different memory configurations?
is that true?
thanx.

if you are really looking for a good board with performance, stability, and some nice overclocking features, i'd suggest looking heavily into the shuttle ak35gtr and the abit kr7a. The shuttle ak35 comes with raid on board and it has vcore options of up to 2.3volts, not that you'd most likely go that high, but you could, and you wouldnt even have to solder. the KR7A is also a nice board, but is a bit more expensive, well with raid it is. The shuttle ak35 will run you around 110 to 120 with shipping. I'm getting the shuttle ak35 in a couple weeks, gonna see how far i can push an unlocked athlon xp with ocz "pc3000" ddr

Without diving into the "multiple post=bad" thing I always do, I'd reccomend the Abit KR7A-RAID. I've been reading and reading for days trying to make up my mind, and what I've seen on the majority of major overclocking related sites (and in quite a few posts here at O/C.com) is that the KR7A is statistically the most stable board at higher FSB speeds (AnandTech got theirs up to 183 with all 4 DIMM slots full!). The fact that it has RAID, 4 DDR SDRAM slots, and RAM voltage adjustment abilities is just icing on the cake.

When my next check rolls around, I'm definately going to buy a KR7A-RAID.

Edit: I think it's worth mentioning that the EPoX 8KHA+ is an fantastic overclocker's board, however the main problem is inconsistency. Sometimes it seems as though there are just as many highly unstable 8KHA+'s as there are phenominally overclocked 8KHA+'s. If it werent for that fact, I would probably go with an 8KHA+, just like a great many members here have done.

Revx said:

if you are really looking for a good board with performance, stability, and some nice overclocking features, i'd suggest looking heavily into the shuttle ak35gtr and the abit kr7a. The shuttle ak35 comes with raid on board and it has vcore options of up to 2.3volts, not that you'd most likely go that high, but you could, and you wouldnt even have to solder. the KR7A is also a nice board, but is a bit more expensive, well with raid it is. The shuttle ak35 will run you around 110 to 120 with shipping. I'm getting the shuttle ak35 in a couple weeks, gonna see how far i can push an unlocked athlon xp with ocz "pc3000" ddr

Click to expand...

Heh... good luck with that OCZ trash. =P

That's another thing I've been reading on, OCZ PC3000 isn't worth the silicon it's pressed on.

the pc3000, while yes ocz has had a shady past, has been pushed up to 200mhz with normal memory settings and 183mhz with aggressive memory settings, with the high quality hynix chips, the pc3000 is worth it, though the name is pretty unprecidented and there still isnt a standard to surpass, i think i'll be happy with the pc3000

The nForce chipset just don't cut the mustard. You should pick form this list, it's the best motherboard for AMD currently:

Shuttle AK35GTR
EPoX 8KHA+
Abit KR7A/Raid(If there's use for it, it's a good option, if not don't get it).

Yodums

Yodums said:

The nForce chipset just don't cut the mustard. You should pick form this list, it's the best motherboard for AMD currently:

Shuttle AK35GTR
EPoX 8KHA+
Abit KR7A/Raid(If there's use for it, it's a good option, if not don't get it).

Yodums

Click to expand...

i have to agree with yodums 100% here. Those are the 3 boards that i finally chose from and as you can see in my sig i got the epox. I don't think you could go wrong with any one of those boards though. All of them have great features.

well i would get the shuttle ak35gtr because of the voltage thing
but ive never heard of shuttle before
how does it compare in stability with the abit kr7a

shuttle is just now establishing itself as a contender in the overclocker arena, it's release two great boards, the ak31 and the ak35, it's in every way as stable as the kr7a

shuttle has more then 2 good boards

the AK11..not DDR, just sdram..great board ( I have 1 of these boards)
the AK31..pretty much same as the AK11..but its DDR (i have 2 of these boards)
The AK32..just saw it today for the first time...I really dont see the need for this board...its a SDR/DDR board...has 2 DDR slots and 2 SDRAM slots...
and the AK35GTR....