This is a follow-up to a request for guidance I posted last week. (Thanks to those who answered me.)
I am replacing a failed MSI Mobo, and I am re-using the CPU (1.4GB AMD Thunderbird) and RAM (512MB
DDR). I have narrowed my search to three boards:
Asus A7N8X Deluxe
Gigabyte 7VAXP Ultra
Soyo KT-400 Dragon Ultra (Platinum)
The Asus board has the nForce2 chipset. The other two use the VIA KT-400 chips. The Gigabyte has the Dual BIOS system which seems good protection against Murphy's Law and BIOS disasters. The Soyo board is a distant third in this race. I'm not into gaming, so all I need is a good STABLE machine for general use at home.
My primary choice is between the Asus and Gigabyte boards. Yes, I know that Asus has a long-standing good reputation for quality, but a number of posts on this Forum have put that reputation in quetion. There has apparently been a drop in reliability over the past year on Asus boards in general, and several problems specifically with the A7N8X. The nForce2 chipset is touted as the best one currently to support DDR and the higher-speed FSB settings. The Gigabyte board has the Dual BIOS system and runs the KT-400 chipset. Other than those differences, the two boards have pretty similar capabilities.
I'm looking for comments/advice concerning these two boards specifically and the two manufacturers in general.
Thanks in advance for your help.
Kennelmaster
I am replacing a failed MSI Mobo, and I am re-using the CPU (1.4GB AMD Thunderbird) and RAM (512MB
DDR). I have narrowed my search to three boards:
Asus A7N8X Deluxe
Gigabyte 7VAXP Ultra
Soyo KT-400 Dragon Ultra (Platinum)
The Asus board has the nForce2 chipset. The other two use the VIA KT-400 chips. The Gigabyte has the Dual BIOS system which seems good protection against Murphy's Law and BIOS disasters. The Soyo board is a distant third in this race. I'm not into gaming, so all I need is a good STABLE machine for general use at home.
My primary choice is between the Asus and Gigabyte boards. Yes, I know that Asus has a long-standing good reputation for quality, but a number of posts on this Forum have put that reputation in quetion. There has apparently been a drop in reliability over the past year on Asus boards in general, and several problems specifically with the A7N8X. The nForce2 chipset is touted as the best one currently to support DDR and the higher-speed FSB settings. The Gigabyte board has the Dual BIOS system and runs the KT-400 chipset. Other than those differences, the two boards have pretty similar capabilities.
I'm looking for comments/advice concerning these two boards specifically and the two manufacturers in general.
Thanks in advance for your help.
Kennelmaster