Abit KX7-333 Vs. Asus A7V-333

[Richie]

Hi guys,

I have narrowed my choice of mobo down to the following:

Abit KX7-333
Asus A7V-333

I am planning on using an Athlon XP 1800+ with moderate overclocking.

What I want to know is which one you'd go for, I have heard good and bad things about both so I would really appreciate your opinions.

Also, could I get away with a 300W PSU with this setup?

Cheers

 

[Oni]

I'd take the A7V333 over the KX7333 only because I like onboard ATA/RAID support, and I like onboard sound. That, and I'm already a fan of Asus boards. But I've also heard very good things about the KX7333.

As for PS, about 350 minimum. It's not all that much more for that extra 50 watts, and it does help out. Personally, I use a 431 watt Enermax Whisper, and I love it!

 

[Yodums]

Here it is in my point of view:

I would simply go for the Abit. The performance, stablity, overclocking, and price (Alot!!!), is much better than the Asus. The Abit KX7-333R is cheaper than the Asus A7V333 retail, and it's no little difference, it's by 15-20 bucks. By the way I'm not making the Asus look like it was the worst board ever made, it still has great performance, but my experience with Asus was very buggy.

About the PSU the only way to really find out is to try!

Yodums

 

[Neville]

I had gone thru 2 Gigabyte GA-7VRXP mobos and decided enough was enough so i also settled down for those 2. I finally broke down and bought the A7V333 and all i can say is that it is ROCK STABLE. I have not been able to overclock this 1900 AGKGA stepping to more than 140fsb. The CPU Overheat Protection plan has saved my cpu once or twice already. So that alone is a bonus.

One thing i must point out is that the RAID on board is limited to one drive array even though you have Primary & Secodary. The Promise chip is "Lite" But I have 2 Maxtors ata/133 and Sandra gives me just over 40000 score. So I'm not too bumbed out about it. I had an Audigy in my case but removed it for air flow etc and am running the standard C-Media 6 channel and its not bad at all. Its no Audigy Platinum at all but certainly sounds a lot better than the old days.

Hope this helps.

 

[maxima88]

I must agree w/ neville. I am very satisfied w/ my A7V333. Very stable, haven't had a single BSOD or lockup yet.

Also heard a lot of good things about the ABIT and had also narrowed down my choices to the 2 mobos mentioned. I chose the Asus due to the onboard sound. My old mobo also had onboard sound so I didn't have to buy a separate sound card.

 

[Neville]

I guess the main reason why i chose the Asus was:

1. never had an Asus before
2. good reviews everywhere
3. very good bundled package.

Also, if you play around with the cpu settings (when i first turned it on) and made some wrong choices, it will allow you to reboot back to its "safe" setting..


maximum, you dont have an Asus iPanel do you and if so know where i can buy one ? newegg is out of stock

 

[maxima88]

Neville, Sorry don't have one, much less know what it's used for.

 

[Neville]

The iPanel connects to your motherboard and is actually a 5 1/4 drive bay device used to monitor temps and i think give you access to your sound connectors, usb etc.

Been looking around but everybody is out of stock

 

[Yodums]

Check local stores. They have them here at local stores but a little over priced.

Yodums

 

[Yakbak]

You might be able to pick up iPanels from eBay.

 

[Neville]

Yeah maybe i should look at ebay and the local stores first