Gigabyte GA-7DX or Asus A7A266??

[Inferno]

I have been looking at a bunch of different mobo's and my mind is about to explode!! I am looking for a mobo that will support a 1.4ghx AMD tbird, DDR Memory, Preferrably without sound and very stable. I have found 2 mobo's that look and sound good, the Gigabyte GA-7DXR and the Asus A7A266. Please inform me with your wisdom, of the pro's and con's of these 2 mobo's.

Thx Inferno

 

[bdf24]

I myself settled on the A7A 266. I've heard no bad at all about this board. Thats about all the wisdom I can offer you right now. I'll get the board sometime next week.

 

[13oots2]

I'm not too sure about the GA-7DX, but most Gygabyte boards are lousy for overclocking, due to the fact you are unable to change the multiplier. You are only left with the options of FSB or changing the bridges on the CPU.
I know for certain this applies to the GA-7ZX and 7ZM, both earlier boards. Looking at Gigabytes website, the BIOS is the same as the above boards and it comes with a FSB software overclocking utility. The same as I have bundled with my 7ZX. If you're looking to overclock Gygabyte is not really the choice.

 

[Flash]

There is no multiplier adjustment on the 7DX, but there is on the 7DXR (which is probably the best AMD/DDR board currently available).

 

[13oots2]

My apologies to Gigabyte and for misinformations.

 

[bdf24]

From what I've read the Ali magic chipset is a bit more stable then the 761 chipset. I could be wrong though. Plus I like the fact that you can use Sdram on the A7A. Keeps your options open a bit. Although Gigabyte offers this option as well

 

[Nagorak]

I'd suggest the EPoX 8K7A instead.

 

[Inferno]

The Asus A7A266 says that is supports up to 1.2+ghz, Does that mean it will support a 1.4ghz chip?

 

[bdf24]

Yes, all it should need is a bios update.

 

[Drax]

The Ali chipset consistently benchmarks below the AMD one. Furthermore, the GA-7DXR (note the R) does support multipliers, and has been proven to be a very stable and capable board. The DX may not be a better board than the A7A, but the DXR I think is, from the research I've done.