M/B selection for AMD processor!

[eff86]

Am starting to select components to assemble an upgrade to my K6 computer. I know I want a 1700 or 1800XP AMD processor, and think one or two Seagate HD, a LiteOn CD-RW and Crucial DDR mem. Am new at this so most of my ideas so far have come from 1 wk. of reading this forum and others. My main confusion right now is the M/B and it's chipset selection for an AMD proc.!!!
Read one place that VIA is the chief reason that AMD has been able to compete with Intel, and another that VIA is AMD's worst nightmare.
Could you please tell me your thoughts on this??
Thanks:

 

[Arkaine23]

Via

Via kt266a chipset is a good one, though there are some compatability issues, hence the saving grace/worst nightmare. The newer KT333 and eventually KT333a chipsets would be a good bet if you get fast PC2700 memory and plan on upgrading the cpu to an AMD thoroughbred eventually.

 

[eff86]

M/B for AMD processor?

Thnx for reply and the warning about compatability issues. Compatability and stability are important to me. I hope AMD 1700+XP or 1800+XP would be what you reffered to as thoroughbread AMD, I don't think I should try to go any faster due to heat build-up concerns!! I do want speed though, for I intend to try out some games, that's why I want a M/B with RAID.
If anyone knows more about the VIA KT266a compatability problems let me know.
Thanks again:

 

[Bruin]

The amd xp 1900 etc are NOT the amd thoroughbreds. The amd thoroughbreds from what I understand were supposed to be released later this month, except now they won't. Later this month AMD will send some thoroughbreds to the motherboard manufacturers so they can build motherboards that support the thoroughbred. We don't know if any current motherboards will support the amd thoroughbred. In my best estimate, it will be anywhere from 6 weeks to 3 months until there are sufficient tests on the amd thoroughbred and motherboards to warrant running out and buying it...even then they probably would be very expensive.

There are no compatibility issues that I know of with the VIA KT266a motherboard. The VIA KT333 motherboard has been released, but very few manufacturers have it out yet. And of those who do, i like asus the best but have yet to see where to buy there board from. One of the best kt266a motherboards with RAID would probably be the abit KR7-RAID.

If you are very worried about compatibility and stability, it depends on what components you mix and match together, so you'd have to list what you plan your final system to be. Don't underestimate the importance of a good power supply either.

(also, if you want RAID, you would need 2 hard drives)

good luck and welcome to the forums.

 

[Malakai]

aight, heres the lowdown. ive had 3 KT266a boards, and the only compatibility prob is with Creative soundcards, but they can easily be resolved. stick with a board from the major mobo manufacturers: asus, abit, epox, soyo, gigabyte, shuttle, and a few others have great kt266a boards. if u want a great board with tons of features get a soyo dragon+, its stable as a rock, and one of the greatest boards ive ever owned. the epox 8KHA+ is prolly the best o/c'ing board out there right now, and its cheap, 91$ on newegg.com. it just lacks the great onboard sound, lan, and raid that the dragon has.
the KT266a chipset is great, stable, and fast. the only faster chipset out is the KT333, and no boards out there utilise it yet.
for features, i heartily reccomend the soyo dragon+, if u have a sound and lan card and dont need raid, go w/ the epox8KHA+, people w/ 170+fsb's arent at all uncommon on those boards.
DO NOT SKIMP ON THE MOBO! get a notch or 2 in speed down with your cpu than gettin a crap mobo. XP1600+ and 1900+ perform almost negligibly different from eachother. but the diff in a cheap motherboard campared to one of the great enthusiasts boards a lot of us here have is incomprehensible. trust me i had a cheapo biostar board before my dragon+ and i could never get it totally stable and to perform well. a bad mobo kills the performance of your whole system. and even though your not plannin on o/c'ing now, youll change your mind eventually if u hang around here a little. may the o/c'ing bug bite'ya
Heed my words, and i hope all this rambling helps ya. I know quite a bit about chipset's and mobo's as do many other peeps here, so post any other ?'s u have
-Malakai

 

[res0r9lm]

aight, heres the lowdown. ive had 3 KT266a boards, and the only compatibility prob is with Creative soundcards, but they can easily be resolved. stick with a board from the major mobo manufacturers: asus, abit, epox, soyo, gigabyte, shuttle, and a few others have great kt266a boards. if u want a great board with tons of features get a soyo dragon+, its stable as a rock, and one of the greatest boards ive ever owned. the epox 8KHA+ is prolly the best o/c'ing board out there right now, and its cheap, 91$ on newegg.com. it just lacks the great onboard sound, lan, and raid that the dragon has.
the KT266a chipset is great, stable, and fast. the only faster chipset out is the KT333, and no boards out there utilise it yet.
for features, i heartily reccomend the soyo dragon+, if u have a sound and lan card and dont need raid, go w/ the epox8KHA+, people w/ 170+fsb's arent at all uncommon on those boards.
DO NOT SKIMP ON THE MOBO! get a notch or 2 in speed down with your cpu than gettin a crap mobo. XP1600+ and 1900+ perform almost negligibly different from eachother. but the diff in a cheap motherboard campared to one of the great enthusiasts boards a lot of us here have is incomprehensible. trust me i had a cheapo biostar board before my dragon+ and i could never get it totally stable and to perform well. a bad mobo kills the performance of your whole system. and even though your not plannin on o/c'ing now, youll change your mind eventually if u hang around here a little. may the o/c'ing bug bite'ya
Heed my words, and i hope all this rambling helps ya. I know quite a bit about chipset's and mobo's as do many other peeps here, so post any other ?'s u have
-Malakai

I agree that those are good boards but eff86 is looking for a raid verison. I would like to also mention shuttle and abit have some great boards too.

 

[Malakai]

i know, i listed both of them in there
i can only give personal experiences with ones i've owned though.
Search on the net for reviews and find out wich one suits your needs. With any of the major manufacturers u really cant go wrong
-Malakai