Recommendations?
 

I have recently acquired a 700 Duron processor and 128 ram, but my old system (and I mean old - 133 pentium - ouch!)of course cannot handle that. Can anyone recommend a good motherboard to use with the duron processor? I plan to use the new system for design work and gaming, so I'd need some expansion slots. Any recommendations out there?

Thanks!

Asus A7 series or Abit's KT7 series...

Agreed with Lycia, with my emphasis towards the Abit KT7A (RAID or not)

I looked into Abit because I see it recommended alot and I am impressed. So I would go with the Asus or the Abit. What kind of slottage are you looking for? I believe the Abit still has an ISA slot.

the abit has 1 ISA and te asus has a AMR instead. the asus ive found to be the more stabler, and no conflicts with SBlive cards.
the super orb heatsink will not fit on the KT7 first versions ( the A's i don't know about)

The KT7A does not have confilcts with SB Live! card if you set it up correctly!!!! How do I know this??? I have both and no problems!!! As does Cobra and a quite few others here. The KT7A-RAID is rock stable if you set the BIOS correctly and know what the BIOS settings mean. The SB Live! problem is with ANY board that uses the VIA 686A SouthBridge and in certain configurations ONLY.

The Orbs (except the slimline versions) will not fit on the KT7A, but then again there are HSF's out there for less money that do a much better job.

I have an Abit KT7A and am quite happy with it. Either the Asus or the Abit will not let you down.

I would personnaly reccomemd Epox 8KTA2/3 (+or not).. I use alot of epox and they are pretty good... just a personnal opinion.

Both are excellent boards, and you can't go wrong with either one. I got the KT7RAID myself, because I needed an ISA slot at the time I built it (the Asus didn't have one) and I really like the idea of having a RAID array.

As Darren stated, I've also had no problems with the SB Live. The big secret is to reserve IRQ5 for legacy ISA in the BIOS, and make sure you're using the latest VIA chipset drivers and Creative's latest SB drivers. No problems at all, in 3 different operating systems (98SE, 2K, and Red Hat Linux 7.0).

And if you go with a KT7 (any version) stay away from the Orbs. Actually, stay away from the Orbs no matter what motherboard you choose. They're over-rated. Checkout the ThermoSonic ThermoEngine. Much better CPU cooler, IMO. www.thermosonic.com.tw

I've never looked back on my decision to get a KT7, but sometimes I wonder what might've been had I got the Asus A7V... :D

If you're looking at a good value MoBo, go for the Soltek SL-75KAV. Good performance and we've had no stability problems so far in 5 or so months of use. There are the same issues as all the VIA based boards and the Soltek tech support people don't have a very good understanding of English. If you're looking at overclocking it's pretty good though. I'm currently running a Duron 700@980MHz with this board(running UD agent 24/7) and it's rock stable.

I would go with the Asus A7V133.

you can't go wrong with Asus.
it's fast , reliable Asus keeps updating BIOS for future upgrades

and they usually get the boards right in the first PCB version :)

but if you need the ISA slot - the Abit is a great choice too.

If i had to choose between Asus and Abit I'd have to go with ASus but it's a tough call.