A64 mb choice suggestions

[brentkiosk]

What's a good socket 754 board for a system that needs to be stable, won't be used for gaming, probably won't be overclocked?

I got authorized at work for about $1K (includes OS and monitor) for a new system, but I have to spend the money soon. So, I thought I'd try an A64 3000 or 3200. But, I'm not sure where to go on the motherboard. I don't need many features - will use IDE optical and hard drives, so one of the cheaper boards should be OK. The ECS SIS 755 A2 got a nice review, but they don't seem to be at retailers yet and the 755 A did not. I see the GA-K8VT800 in a micro and full ATX version at a good price. There are other VIA boards too. And NF3 boards.

Our budgets are going to disappear - probably for years, not months - so I will be using whatever I make for 3 years or longer in all probability. So, I think stability is more important than performance.

Oh - mostly the machine could be a PII, but once in a while it's called on for fairly heavy number crunching. So far, my KT266A - 1800 XP system hasn't bogged down too much on this, but things will get bigger, not smaller.

Anyone have any ideas?

 

[Vette73]

I just ordered a Athlon64 and a board from newegg.com

The board I got was the....

Albatron K8X800 ProII

Reviews show it as very stable and fast. Not the best overclocker but a great all round board. Only cost $123 shipped at newegg.com
I like it as it has a TRUE hardware soundcard, the VIA envy. Also has Dual Bios, SATA, firewire, and a FanLess northbridge cooler(copper)

 

[mechBgon]

Originally posted by: Marlin1975
I just ordered a Athlon64 and a board from newegg.com

The board I got was the....

Albatron K8X800 ProII

Reviews show it as very stable and fast. Not the best overclocker but a great all round board. Only cost $123 shipped at newegg.com
I like it as it has a TRUE hardware soundcard, the VIA envy. Also has Dual Bios, SATA, firewire, and a FanLess northbridge cooler(copper)

Not bad! /me will be looking that one over when I get home from work! Got a review link I could check out?

 

[Vette73]

You ask and you shall get......

Early review
Current review


Also forgot to add it comes with a 3com giga ethernet card onboard, and the sound card has digital output AND inputs.

Weakest thing so far is it is not a great overclocker, but the VIA chipset does NOT lock the PCI/AGP bus so most Via boards are not the BEST overclockers.

But for $123 shipped at newegg.com, seems to be the best one for wat I want and will be doing.

 

[mechBgon]

Thanks! I'll read up on it. It would be going into my work system, so the limited overclocking wouldn't be a concern. I do wish I knew for a fact that it has finally shaken off the bad PCI-bus performance that left me bitter towards VIA back with my A7V333-RAID. I guess $123 finds out for sure...

Hmm, $123 board, $227 CPU... you know, groceries are vastly overrated.

 

[Vette73]

Originally posted by: mechBgon
Thanks! I'll read up on it. It would be going into my work system, so the limited overclocking wouldn't be a concern. I do wish I knew for a fact that it has finally shaken off the bad PCI-bus performance that left me bitter towards VIA back with my A7V333-RAID. I guess $123 finds out for sure...

Hmm, $123 board, $227 CPU... you know, groceries are vastly overrated.

The NEW 8237 southbridge offers double speed between the North and south bridge, let alone the HT of the CPU. I built a KM400 board with the SAME 8237 southbridge and it was very fast, had the onboard cmeida sound, ethernet, and V.92 modem on teh pci bus. Much improvemnet over past VIA southbridges.

But my 3000+64, retail, and board shoud be here next week. If you, or anyone else, needs a test of any thing on it just ask.

 

[brentkiosk]

Thanks for the Albatron nudge. I had seen one of the reviews Marlin mentioned, and it has been mentioned in positive ways in the amdmb - A64 forum. Maybe that's my best bet too. But, I wonder about the Gigabyte K8VT800M - the micro version - at Newegg for about $96. I didn't see a review yet. A nice micro case would be OK too.

 

[brentkiosk]

Marlin - don't know if you remember but I posted a question on this forum in about Nov regarding basic all in one boards. You suggested a Biostar M7VIZ. I thought about it for a while and eventually got one. I wanted to thank you for the suggestion. It made a very nice computer for my daughter along with 2500 xp barton and 512M PC 2700.

 

[Vette73]

Originally posted by: brentkiosk
Marlin - don't know if you remember but I posted a question on this forum in about Nov regarding basic all in one boards. You suggested a Biostar M7VIZ. I thought about it for a while and eventually got one. I wanted to thank you for the suggestion. It made a very nice computer for my daughter along with 2500 xp barton and 512M PC 2700.

Thats great, and in fact that is the board I was also talking about above that has the 8237 southbridge. I have used several boards that used the VIA KMxxx chipsets and that one went together the easiest of all of them.
Of course the one you built has a much faster CPU and Ram, so it should even fly better then the one I built for a customer of mine.


I dod not liek the gigabyte board as it has the reltek 655 sound. I liek using onboard sound, saves $$$, and the reltek655 is not soemthing I would use.
The newwer gigabyte boards are using the reltek 658 chip which is much better, but even that can't touch a TRUE hardware sound card. That is why I went with the Alb. board. But that is me, if the 655 is ok for ya, and you want to make a small case system, then the gigabyte mATX board should do that for ya.

 

[brentkiosk]

I don't need sound at work, so that's not important here. I'm still not sure though. The Albatron board has nice reviews and people who have it like it. All I can find on the Gigabyte board is someone else who is considering it. I'm sure there is a review somewhere, but don't see it yet. I think I have until Wednesday to get the order out, so I'll look more.

I have only built a handful of systems, but that biostar was very easy,and, yes it seems to work well. Sure beats this K7S7A.

 

[mechBgon]

Hmmm, now both Gigabyte and Albatron have disappointed me. Neither one is giving out any information in their owners' manuals about the IRQ-sharing arrangements of the PCI slots. I guess it's gonna be an Asus or Abit for me, if I get a Socket 754 board.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Here's review that gives the pros and cons on a boat load of K8T800 and nF3 boards, plus a performance and overclocking comparison link I know someone with the Albatron and they love it, plus I've yet to see a bad review of it. Besides, for $123 with hardware audio it's a pretty good buy. The Abit appears to be disappointing but I haven't read any other reviews of it yet either. Just get the Asus Mech, you're an Asus whore and you know it

 

[McArra]

Asus K8V deluxe.

 

[Pokey]

Thanks DAPUNISHER for that link.

I thinks there is some A64 reviews right here on Anandtech, but there is also a review here Look Here that seems to like the MSI board "overall" as well.

As for myself, I am still undecided, and about to analyze myself to death. We will probably be into the next generation by the time I decide.

 

[brentkiosk]

Thanks Dapunisher for the link to the 46 page review. I had seen that before, and it seems to be good info. Your comment on the Albatron board is similar to others - people who have it like it and you can't go wrong for $123. I have also seen reviews that like the MSI board overall, and the K8T NEO-FSR is only $99. But those reviews seem to be older, before there were other VIA solutions.

So, maybe I'll flip a three sided coin and see what happens.

 

[TonyHere]

So as far as choices, would you go NForce 3 or Via?... And I'm not a big overclocker so that isn;t really an issue, mostly a gamer.....

 

[QuantumFlux]

Never mind

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Originally posted by: TonyHere
So as far as choices, would you go NForce 3 or Via?... And I'm not a big overclocker so that isn;t really an issue, mostly a gamer.....

I went AMD 8151 but I'm a freakin' weirdo! I recommend the Albatron K8X800 ProII with the VIA K8T800 chipset since it overclocks well, Has VIA VT1720 Envy 24PT Hardware 7.1-Channel Audio, and SATA150/SATA RAID 0/1 for $123 shipped.

 

[McArra]

Originally posted by: DAPUNISHER

Originally posted by: TonyHere
So as far as choices, would you go NForce 3 or Via?... And I'm not a big overclocker so that isn;t really an issue, mostly a gamer.....

I went AMD 8151 but I'm a freakin' weirdo! I recommend the Albatron K8X800 ProII with the VIA K8T800 chipset since it overclocks well, Has VIA VT1720 Envy 24PT Hardware 7.1-Channel Audio, and SATA150/SATA RAID 0/1 for $123 shipped.

That albatron seems incredible! How does it compare to Asus K8V deluxe in o/c'ing? Does clockgen work with it?

 

[Caminetto]

The Albatron is a good choice but probably 3rd on my list. First would be the MSI and second the Asus (coincidence that both the MSI and Asus are currently out of stock at newegg?).

 

[brentkiosk]

Stock on A64 boards is surprisingly low for a lot of brands. One that I have been considering (gigabyte) is also on the sold out list at newegg. That must mean someone has - or will soon have - first hand experience with it.

Concerning the Albatron board, the reviews and various forum comments seem to be largely very positive, so it's probably a good bet. Both MSI boards also get good comments/reviews and the Asus board has a good set of reviews too. Of course, there are those who have been burned and won't touch a particular brand again, but Asus, Albatron, MSI are all probably pretty safe. I was just hoping someone with experience using the gigabyte micro board would show up. It's a little cheaper, I like micro systems, et. etc.

And then there's all the NF3 boards - a lot of which are also sold out.

So. I'm still not sure what I'll get. (I also have a case and a video card decision to make.)

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Originally posted by: McArra

Originally posted by: DAPUNISHER

Originally posted by: TonyHere
So as far as choices, would you go NForce 3 or Via?... And I'm not a big overclocker so that isn;t really an issue, mostly a gamer.....

I went AMD 8151 but I'm a freakin' weirdo! I recommend the Albatron K8X800 ProII with the VIA K8T800 chipset since it overclocks well, Has VIA VT1720 Envy 24PT Hardware 7.1-Channel Audio, and SATA150/SATA RAID 0/1 for $123 shipped.

That albatron seems incredible! How does it compare to Asus K8V deluxe in o/c'ing? Does clockgen work with it?

Yep. clockgen is available for it, and it's as solid as any other K8T800 for overclocking if not a little more so. The hardware auido sets it apart from many others in that price range and offers superior value for those who don't have a good PCI card already. I've seen a post here already of the MSI going belly up in 2 weeks, and having been one of those people burned by MSI I shun them anyhow