I need the advice of any willing to give it

[encrypt]

I am planning to build my next rig,my third self buit sys btw,and would like opinions on mobos. I am looking at either the MSI K4 ultra, or the SOYO KT400 dragon. I have researched both ,but would like personal experiences with these boards in the real world not on some paper or company web site.

Iam mostly a gamer and internet user.

Thanks in advance.

 

[none1]

Both are OK motherboards. I have the MSI KT4VL, onboard sound and lan, $85. I also have the epox 8k9a. The epox OCs way better than the the MSI. Epox, 200 FSB easily, MSI, about 170 FSB. Epox has no lan or sound, $85.

NOTE, the MSI KT400 currently DO NOT give access to the lower multipliers with the higher speed tbredB chips. The epox, abit, asus DO, don't know about the soyo.

IMHO, the cheaper boards with fewer "on board" stuff are better mobos for high end game systems. E.g. most on board sound uses the CPU for some processing, where a dedicated dolby digital card will do its own decoding, freeing up the proc. Also, dedicated sound cards are <usually> better than on board sound.

I'm also big on the KT400's right now, (A) cause they unlock the high speed tbredb's and (B) they have 8X agp. If your video card is not 8x AGP, and you have a sub 2200+, then a cheap KT333 would also be a good choice (e.g. abit KX7-333).

Good luck.

 

[Wicked Klown]

So far I love my KT400 Dragon Ultra. It does everything I want it to do and more. Right now with my CPU locked I can hit 160 FSB but when I play games I back it down to 158 FSB cause the vid card gets a little hot. However I would have to say wait if you can and get a KT400a when they come out. They will have the 1/6 divider that the KT400 said it had.

 

[none1]

So far I love my KT400 Dragon Ultra. It does everything I want it to do and more. Right now with my CPU locked I can hit 160 FSB but when I play games I back it down to 158 FSB cause the vid card gets a little hot. However I would have to say wait if you can and get a KT400a when they come out. They will have the 1/6 divider that the KT400 said it had.

Most boards don't use the 1/5 divider until FSB =166, so it would seem you have no use for a 1/6 divider with a KT400A, as you are only currently using a 1/4 divider, right?

At 158, your AGP is running close to 80 (158/2), way over the 66 mhz spec. If you bump your FSB to 166, the video would run right at 66. Don't know how the overall game speed would go, slower AGP but faster proc and memory, and certainly COOLER video card.

Now, with a locked 1900, don't know how high you can get the FSB, may need to up your voltage some.

Generally, most kt333 or kt400 boards run MORE stable at 166 than they do at 150 to 165.

Good luck!

 

[encrypt]

Thanks for the info . The rig i plan to build will have at least a 2200+ maybe higher depending on what kind of deal I can find ,and 8x agp video card. the sys in my sig will then be my wife's.