Best KT133A MOBO ?

[Jess9]

Hi, what is the best KT133A MOBO around currently?

It will need to run well with:

230W ATX case
256MB PC133 ram
Winfast GF2 32MB
SB Live 5.1 card

Maverick has suggested a Soltek SL75KAV.

Thoughts?

[SilverPriest]

Abit KT7A / KT7ARaid
That has a decent layout, and 3 phase power.
The KAV layout, to be honest, SUCKS.
Ocing is a lot easier on the KT7A
My 2cents

[Hans]

Iwill KK-266 or KK-266+. The 266+ will be a better choice if you have a "high" power VGA, i.e. GF2 Ti and up wards.

[Binky Stunt Cat]

Originally posted by SilverPriest
The KAV layout, to be honest, SUCKS.
I second the motion

[Humantuckshop]

Originally posted by SilverPriest
Abit KT7A / KT7ARaid
That has a decent layout, and 3 phase power.
The KAV layout, to be honest, SUCKS.
Ocing is a lot easier on the KT7A
My 2cents



^^^^^^^
What he said.
My Soltek KAV really was an amazing board, nearly everything on that board was exactly where you didn't want it. :rolleyes:

It was a fairly crap OC'er aswell. It was almost stable tho......

[KingJackal]

Having owned and run both an Abit KT7A and an Iwill KK266+, I can tell you that Iwill's KK266 line and Abit's KT7A line are MILES ahead of the rest of the pack.

The Epox 8KTA3 ( yes, I've run one of those in my rig too ;) ) is a good mobo, but not AS good. Any Soltek/MSI/other that's KT133A isn't worth looking at.

So either Abit or Iwill.

I found the Abit to be less touchy, generally a more solid motherboard. But it was the Iwill that OC'd better - so which is best would depend on what you want it for.

( to give you an idea, my Iwill got me an FSB of 166MHz - which is about the best any KT133A board will give you )

[Jess9]

Thanks for your comments so far but . . .

What about an ASUS A7VL (KL 133A)?

I've seen one of these for about $135 INCL GST at NFC Technology, and it got a stunning review on Tom's Hardware.

Does it compare well to the Abit/Epox/Iwill boards?

[whetu]

you really gotta compare apples with apples. You asked us about kt133a mobos and now you are mentioning a kl133a... different chipsets.

What do you define as best anyway?

Overclockability: what KJ said
Stability: the MSI K7T Turbo-R earnt a reputation for being a VERY stable board, and I can vouch for it :rolleyes:

etc etc

[Jess9]

Sorry,

I didn't even realise it was a different chipset, I assumed that 133A meant it was the same. And also assumed it to be the Asus A7V133?

Is this not so?


Regards,

Jess9

Also, by best I was meaning something stably,fast,good with a XP1800 CPU and that gives no problems when connected to a SB 5.1 live, winfast GF2 GTS cards (a friend bought an abit board and cannot use his SB?? locks,crashes etc apparently it is a widely reported problem, but he still hasn't found a proper fix).

[whetu]

a kt133a and a sb live arent a happy couple. The problem lies in the 686B southbridge that is paired with the kt133a northbridge (also creativelabs and soundblaster lives suck arse)

[mird-OC]

the sblive has problems running on all KT133A mobos, some are worse than others. the problem generates pops and cracks and generally lowers the (already pretty mediocre) sound quality of the sblive.

the problem lies in the chipset, and although there are a few partial workarounds, a proper fix is simply not possible.

to completely avoid the issue your best bet is to swap the sblive for a GTXP or AE.

lol. looks like whetu bet me to it :P...

[Antimatter]

Another thing that is worth looking at is that a 230W power supply is not going to last long with an XP 1800+ CPU...if it starts up at all that is. Check here (http://www.amd.com/us-en/Processors/TechnicalResources/0,,30_182_869_4348^4376,00.html) for AMD recommended PSUs. I'd recommend getting a 300W Enermax PSU at the least.
Edit: Oh yeah, the SL-75KAV is a fast, stable & reliable mainboard. Not the best for overclocking, but it is the best value for money.