Any truth to this?

**kingtbone** · June 8th, 2001, 10:57 AM

However, in the on-line reviews, the Epox 8KTA3, the IWill KK266 and the AOpen AK73 Pro(A) have all gotten top marks (and perform just as well as the ASUS A7V133).

This is what a computer guy emailed me today. I was asking about the KT-7A RAID board from ABit. I wanted to buy either ASUS or Abit. Turns out the KT-7A is really expensive to get from them though. These are the prices he gave me, American is in brackets. Can you guys tell me if this is a good deal?

Abit KT7A-RAID - $299 [$194.38]
AOpen AK73Pro (A) - $208 [$135.22]
ASUS A7V133 - $254 [$165.13]
ASUS A7V133 (No Audio) - $243 [$157.97]
Epox 8KTA3 - $214 [139.12]
IWill KK266 - $234 [152.12]
IWill KK266-R - $263 [170.98]

So, what do you think? I'm looking for a good board to run a Thunderbird 1.3GHz (probably). If you guys can give other input, feel free.

**Sinister_Minister** · June 8th, 2001, 12:24 PM

I would go with the EPOX 8KTA3+. It has an IDE RAID controller that will allow you to expand your devices to a max of 8, instead of 4. I plan on ordering 3 next week for about $125.00(US) each.

**kingtbone** · June 8th, 2001, 12:34 PM

Ouch, the Epox 8KTA3+ would cost me $294 Canadian which would work out to $191 American. It would be cheaper to ge the 8KTA3 with a PCI Raid controller. Are Epox boards any good though?

**ilovetheusers** · June 8th, 2001, 10:31 PM

I bought the Abit k7a for $180 american at a store that comes no where near the prices that I've seen on line. I've seen it at $150-160 american on line. Methinks you are looking in the wrong place maybe.

**Sorry_I_Win** · June 9th, 2001, 11:48 AM

The Aopen board is awesome. I have one in this machine right now. Check out the motherboards reviews at www.tomshardware.com It is one of the fastest and most reliable boards.

**newbie-tech** · June 9th, 2001, 11:56 AM

Based on what I've seen, the Epox boards are the best athlon boards out there

**kingtbone** · June 9th, 2001, 12:51 PM

Those prices I quoted are from a local supplier, who has a good reputation with one of my techie coworkers. If I can get a price within around 20$ of online stuff, I'll get it local from this guy. I like the reviews of the epox board so far, and I'm leaning towards it.

**Tazdrummer** · June 9th, 2001, 03:32 PM

Originally posted by kingtbone:
Ouch, the Epox 8KTA3+ would cost me $294 Canadian which would work out to $191 American. It would be cheaper to ge the 8KTA3 with a PCI Raid controller. Are Epox boards any good though?

Here is my $2.94 worth (I am feeling more generous that just giving two cents...)

To make a short story long, here goes..
One day I went out to buy a new motherboard so I could use the AGP video card that I accidently ordered (when I didnt have an AGP card slot). I got the cheapest motherboard I could get, a Matsonic 6260S. I was running a Socket 7 chip. That thing had so many problems it was pathetic. I could count how many times it would lock up on one hand in an average of two hours.

I did research and found that the best Super Socket7 motherboard that MANY reviews showed was an Epox. I got it and installed it. And after using it for a year, I can count how many times it has locked up on one hand over a 5 month span.

My word is Epox is DAMN good.

**kingtbone** · June 9th, 2001, 03:59 PM

Originally posted by Tazdrummer:

My word is Epox is DAMN good.

That's really good then. I want to get the Epox 8KTA3 - $214 [139.12] All the things I have heard about it have been really good. The other one I am considering is the AOpen AK73Pro (A) - $208 [$135.22], which got favorable reviews from tomshardware.com

**Tazdrummer** · June 9th, 2001, 04:38 PM

Originally posted by kingtbone:


That's really good then. I want to get the Epox 8KTA3 - $214 [139.12] All the things I have heard about it have been really good. The other one I am considering is the AOpen AK73Pro (A) - $208 [$135.22], which got favorable reviews from tomshardware.com

Where I look for motherboard reviews...
This link has reviews from EVERYWHERE.... Tom's Hardware and others you may never have heard of.

**kingtbone** · June 9th, 2001, 05:34 PM

Thanks, that's a pretty good site. It sounds like there's not much difference between the SocketA 266 FSB boards.

**imd14u** · June 9th, 2001, 11:21 PM

I love the ASUS boards. They've been great to me. MaximumPC gave the Iwill a kick a$$ 10 rating. The most popular ones I've heard and seen around are the Abit KT7's, and ASUS A7V's.
<IMG SRC="smilies/smile.gif" border="0"> <IMG SRC="smilies/biggrin.gif" border="0"> <IMG SRC="smilies/smile.gif" border="0">

**kingtbone** · June 10th, 2001, 12:25 PM

Yeah, from what I gather, people around here will stab you if you don't like ASUS and ABit boards. Still, the reviews for most of the Thunderbird 'C' boards have been pretty equal. I'm really just looking for stability. I don't really care that much about overclocking either. Why bother overclock a 1.33 GHz anyway? So I can run NASA simulations at home?

**lmadsen** · June 10th, 2001, 02:32 PM

Originally posted by kingtbone:
Why bother overclock a 1.33 GHz anyway? So I can run NASA simulations at home?

Yes.. that is EXACTLY what you want to do! <IMG SRC="smilies/biggrin.gif" border="0">

**sdrawkcab** · June 10th, 2001, 11:24 PM

I use Abit whenever I can, if the price is even close. I have had really good luck with Epox though, and would rate them about equal to Asus. I haven't used these particular boards from Iwill and AOpen, but I have had enough junk from them in the past that I won;t give them another chance to cause me headaches. AClosedForBusiness and IWontWork just don't make the final cut in my shop.

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