Best motherboard to buy?

[Thor Caron]

Personally I love my Epox 8k3a it supports ddr333 pc2700 ram and will take AMD XP 2200+ cpu and you can tweak it through the bios for those who like to over clock stuff and you can buy it for under 150.00 Ive been using mine for awhile and havent had any problems at all.
But every one has there personal favorites.
I would suggest alot of research to make sure you get all you want out of a main board.

[PacMan]

Can the Gigabyte GA-7VRX run pc-2100 DDR ram? It should be able to right?

[PacMan]

guys, countless thanks to all of you guys for sharing your expertise with me.


Video
XFX GF4 Ti4200 128MB 128 bit TV-OUT & DVI RETAIL Parts # PVT25AMA
Parts # PVT25ANA
Specifications:
GPU: NVIDIA® Geforce4 Ti 4200 256 bit graphics accelerator
MEM: 128MB DDR
GPU Frequency(MHz): 250
Graphics Core: 256-bit
Memory Bandwidth (GB/sec): 8
Fill Rate (texels/sec.): 4 billion
Effective Memory Clock Rate (MHz): 500
RAMDACs (MHz) (each have 2 RAMDAC): 350
Free shipping
http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproduc...ion=14-150-017
$165.00


Processor
Athlon XP 1800+/ 1.53GHz, AX1800BOX. 3-Year Warranty. With Heatsink and Fan. The Ultimate Digital Media Experience in an x86 Platform.Tailored for Microsoft® Windows® XP. Featuring QuantiSpeed™ Architecture for Rapid Execution of Applications. Tomorrow’s Technology Today.The Power of a Reliable Partner.
Specifications:
CPU: 1.53 GHz
Type: 1800 XP
Cache: 256K
BUS: 266MHz
Free shipping
$87.00


Memory
KINGSTON KVR266X64C25/256 256MB 32x64 PC2100 DDR RAM - OEM
CL2.5 Six Layers High Quality Board 184-Pin Unbuffered. Requires DDR supported Motherboard - Lifetime Warranty. Model#: KVR266X64C25/256 -OEM
Free shipping
(Getting just one, think it will be enough)
$63.00


here is the hard part, what board to go with.
I have no sound card right now but later on, will invest in a good recording sound card. For now, something cheap and basic, so I was looking at onboard sound.
But here are the boards I’m looking at.
Motherboards
~ Asus Via A7v33 Chipset ATX with sound $127 (w/raid $165).

Abit Kx7-333R Via KT33 no sound $87.00 (w/Raid $102.00)

Gigabyte GA-7VRXP w/Raid, LAN, sound $100.00
Gigabyte GA-7VRX V.20 w/sound, no RAID $80.00

I think now I am more interested in the Gigabyte than the asus or abit. Now with the Gigabyte boards, will I be able to use the GF4 Ti4200? On the board it says it is “Fully Comaptible with nVIDIA GeForce4 MX4(NV17)”. Now isn’t that an older AGP card than the one I’m getting? Will I be able to put the Ti4200 on it?
Here is a Pic:
http://www.newegg.com/app/Showimage....128-137-05.JPG


Thnx everyone who gave me SOOOO many suggestions and I checked did check up on all the motherboards mentioned. But I think I chose these three brands cause I have heard of them and seems like are reliable companies (no disrespect to any other companies).

If you guys see any incompatibilities with these hardwares, plz give me a Holler . Thnx again guys!!!

Ps: all you students at Universities, APPLY FOR GRANTS AND SCHOLARSHIPS. Nothing like the government paying for your new computer .
lol

[Hippie_Tech]

Go for the ASUS. It might cost a little more, but you're getting quite a lot. USB 2.0, ATA-133 RAID (Promise chip is great), 1394 Fire-wire, and a 6-channel sound chip. Otherwise, you could go with an Abit and a Live! 5.1 OEM sound card for the same price as the ASUS. I don't have enough experience with Gigabyte boards to give you an opinion about them.

"I can only show you the door. You have to walk through it."

edited by Hippie_Tech: Recheck your prices at Newegg. The ASUS w/RAID is now $144.00.

[Bigdog632]

i like asus and all but they use that amr slot which is a waste and it has the integrated stuff which i dont like
other than that asus is a good board