WAY outta touch here guys......

[Shadow ÒÓ]

and wanna build myself a new toy.

I want a nice AMD processor as well as a mobo.......I'm waiting for shipment on a Promise RAID 5 card, so on board RAID is not necessary.

I want between 512 and 1 gig of memory....and I want something more fast than overclockable (but OC'able is definitely a bonus)

I refuse to spend $400 on a new Hammer processor, so the XP2400 will probably be what I buy. DDR (of course) memory and the rest I believe I have covered.

So.....any suggestions on a good board, and should I go with the 2400?

From what I'm reading, Asus A7V8X or ABIT KR7-RAID seem to be the hot choices now.........

 

[Top Hat Theater]

I'd wait on the 2400 if you're planning on overclocking. They just aren't mature enough yet and people are only seeing 200-300MHz OCs (on average). As for a board, I'd get either an EPoX 8K5A or if you can wait, the nForce2 board from EPoX. As for RAM, Crucial is reliable, fast and pretty good about overclocking. You won't pay out the nose the way you would for Mushkin or Corsair.

~THT

 

[none1]

From what I'm reading, Asus A7V8X or ABIT KR7-RAID seem to be the hot choices now.........

QUICK SUMMARY <cause I write a lot>
I vote for the Abit KD7 KT400 chipset, if you need to buy NOW.


***********************************
LONG STUFF WITH MANY POINTS

Well, you got me confused. The A7V8X is KT400, while the KR7 is KT266A. AND either chipset could be a good choice.

1) The abit KD7 (not KR) is a KT400 chipset.

2) The KT400 has:
A) 8x AGP
B) both the abit and the asus KT400 will UNLOCK T-BREDS FOR YOU, so no more bridge work, cool.
LINK ON THIS HERE
http://www.msi.com.tw/program/e_ser...tyleid=1&sid=d0deb4e349bd6f519ac3e73bbee30461

C) At least the abits (I think) have higher voltage ocing on the KT400 than they did on the KT333.

3) Assuming you've read the posts, BUT, know that the KT400 only has a 1/5 divider like the KT333, it does NOT have a 1/6. The most ocing folks still seem to like the KT333, e.g. the abit kx7-333 or the epox.

4) I think most hard core folks are waiting right now, to see if the nforce2 performs as promised (I have doubts) and to see how soon the KT400A (1/6 divider) are released.

5) On the other end .... (your abit kR7 ) I still think the KT266A chipset is faster than the KT333 or the KT400. Although I think the epox would be a better KT266A choice than the abit.

6) I personally just got the MSI KT4VL, HEY, it was only $80, KT400, on board LAN and audio, and gives easy 180 or so overclocks. Haven't seen any at 200+, but it is only $80.

7) IMHO, if you do not need 8x AGP, then its hard to go wrong with many boards, the KT266A and up from MSI, Abit, Asus, and Epox are all pretty good, and will give OK overclocks. The Epox gets the nod for KT266A, and the Epox or the Abit for KT333, and the KT400's are new.

8) If buying a new T-bred is a given, I personally would go with a KT400 for the brainless multi unlock in the bios.

Good luck!

 

[natopotato]

well till i realy fugged up my system i was luven my kt400 kd7 abit board so i recommend it lots of great options and tbreds are unlocked wee

 

[Pinky]

I'd personally avoid the KT400 chipset, it hasn't proven itself any faster then the KT333... but, in same breath, it's no slow poke either! I usually push people towards the 8k3a Epox boards, right now they're the schnitz in that ever important price/performance ratio. (may still find a refurb at newegg relatively cheap) I have personal experience with the 8k3a now (friend owns one) and it's very stable and highly overclockable.

Truisms so far in this thread -- Epox board, 2400+, and crucial DDR (PC2700). If you plan on pushing the upper reaches of the Epox boards, really good Corsair PC3200 XMS will be ideal, crucial, as much as I like it, doesn't always hit 190mhz bus with the most aggressive timings without excessive voltage...

 

[deathstar13]

hey shadow,
try the epox w/kt333. or a abit kt333. the kt400 i dont think is as good. and im not sold on my asus.if i could try it id go epox,or rev1 at7 max2.it has the kt333 chipset and the ps2 and keyboard connections.

 

[{PMS}fishy]

From all the research that I have been doing, and the MB that I would buy would have to be the ABIT KX7-333, now ABIT just released a new version of that called the KD-e which has more voltage options, other than that I don't know too much. I would either go with a KT333 MB or wait for the KT400a. We are still waiting on that 1/6 divider from VIA, so the KT400 only a slight improvment at best over the KT333.

 

[ntpphong]

what happened to our beloved asusa7v333??