Intel boards..

[Galvatron001]

Can anyone recommend the best Intel board on the market? If not Intel, then any other brand that makes stable, reliable, and excellent value Pentium 4 boards. Your input will be very helpful. <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0">

[Joe]

just about anything you buy from epox, abit, gigabyte, and any of the other name brand companies out there wilbe stable for you. its all just about what your preferences are. <BR><BR><BR>just try to stay away from non name brand boards..... motherboard layouts are all starting to be about the same as the other. <BR><BR><BR>personally i prefer epox and abit boards. or if i am going towards the server end i like tyan or intel server boards.

[Galvatron001]

Hmmm...how about Soyo? Are they a good company?<BR>I'm looking at the Soyo - P4X400 Dragon Lite Socket 478 ATX board.<BR>Has anyone tried this board or have a review for it that I could look at?

[zaltec]

There is a post somewhere below this one. Best P4 board. It is an Abit IT7 MAX2 REV2, and it oc's like hell! Single channel ddr. Colin used it to get his huge 3d mark scores<img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0">

[Joe]

<br><br><< <i>Hmmm...how about Soyo? Are they a good company?<BR><BR>I'm looking at the Soyo - P4X400 Dragon Lite Socket 478 ATX board.<BR><BR>Has anyone tried this board or have a review for it that I could look at?</i> >><br><br><BR><BR>I would stay away from soyo. especially if you have plans to overclock. the boards are usually pretty stable, but have next to none in the features department.

[Galvatron001]

Oh ok, thanks for the warning. <BR>I would really like an Intel board thats somewhere around $100-$130.<BR>I've found the Intel D845PEBT2 which looks promising. The only problem with Intel boards is that I haven't found one yet that supports ATA/133...<BR><BR>The Abit IT7 MAX2 REV2 definitely looks good, but I don't really plan on overclocking and its a little too pricey for me. Abit has been taking a lot of heat lately about those defective capacitors. I don't want to get screwed again. <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-sad.gif" border="0">

[Joe]

keep in mind .. even if you dont plan on overclocking but would like to have the option available, you will want to stay away from intel motherboards, intel normally does not include a overclocking feature on their boards. (dont know if this has changed or not, but i doubt it has)

[Galvatron001]

Do the Intel boards come with an option to switch the FSB between 400mhz and 533mhz?

[Joe]

not really sure on that one. i would think it would just be a auto detection thing with the intel boards. that or a jumper on the motherboard. colin would be able to tell you how this works. <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0"><BR><BR>also most boards made by intel are often server boards. which if you are only wanting to game these boards are not what you are looking for. <BR><BR>if you are looking for a board with just a intel chipset made by another company, then it should be fine for game. but intel designed and built motherboards are usually server based and arent built to work as gaming machines and often dont even have agp slots. (i have seen some with agp though)

[Galvatron001]

Yeah, the one I mentioned before has an AGP slot.<BR><BR>I guess I'll keep looking. Thanks for the help. <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0">

[Colin]

Galvatron001 there are no overclocking options with Intel motherboards and the 400/533 MHz thingy.<BR><BR>The IT7MAX2 Rev2 is the best overall P4 board IMO, however because of all the built in devices it's also the most expensive by far... If you're looking for a good mobo, get any name brand motherboard like Pimpin Joe suggested with an Intel based chipset on it. You can't go wrong there! <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif" border="0">

[Galvatron001]

Cool. Thanks Colin and Pimpin Joe.<BR><BR>Any other boards besides the IT7 MAX2 Rev2 that are a little cheaper that you might recommend?

[CompSnake]

Bah, intel

[Galvatron001]

Be gone you AMD fiend!! <BR><BR>Hehe, j/k <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0">

[Galvatron001]

Anyone ever try the Gigabyte GA-8PE667 Ultra? <BR><BR>It looks pretty damn good. <BR>Seems to be the best one I have found so far.<BR>Let me know what you think.

[Joe]

tend to stay away from giggabyte ... last time i used one of those boards they where the most powerhungry things around ... not sure if that has changed either.

[Avid6eek]

Gigabyte makes decent boards. I'd consider them to be okay boards. The one I had worked great for me.

[Galvatron001]

Oh...<BR><BR>Eh, I'll probably just get that Intel board. Every review I have read has been great. It's a rock solid board and thats really my top priority. It's also pretty fast too and the new BIOS version allows for some overclocking. <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0">

[Colin]

Galvatron001 what's your budget for a mobo? Oh, please state the currency so we know what we're wworking with! <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif" border="0">

[Galvatron001]

$100 - $130 U.S. <BR><BR>I bought the Intel D845PEBT2 from Newegg.com<BR><img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0"> <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0">

[patrickt]

I am on my second Intel motherboard. I live in Mexico and stability is critical for me. I have not had a lick of trouble. It is not a board for overclocking or even for tweaking the BIOS. It has only one jumper and that's for restoring the BIOS in case of a bad flash. Intel now has a plethora of boards that seem to offer just about every combination someone might want.<BR><BR>For simplicity and stability I think they make great motherboards.

[Galvatron001]

Hehe, you got that right. I just got the 845PEBT2 and its a dream. It doesn't crash and it's a lot faster than my old board. I love Intel..<img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0">

[Colin]

patrickt welcome to PCStats! <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0"><BR><BR>Yay more Intel guys we need more of you guys! <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif" border="0">

[zaltec]

You Intel users...C'mon, you saw what happened to the dark side of the force...it burned up in a big explosion...obviously your superior thermal management sucks or that wouldn't have happened right?<img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-tongue.gif" border="0">