Looking for a lightning fast socket 7 mobo

[ArcusStorm]

A friend of mine has been introduced to the world of GAMING!!! Help me help him, by letting me know what you think is the fastest, friendliest, socket 7 mobo out there... money is no object!!!

Really though, I've read a millio reviews by now, and they all seem to be a year or so old. So if ya could, please let me know your opinion and a place with a review that backs it up...

Thanks!

Arcus

[KillerBug]

Thats because Socket 7 has been phased out, its only real support, AMD and Cyrix, moved on, Cyrix to sell the company, AMD to make Slot A chips. If money is no object, get this setup:

K7M, K7-500, Alpha P-125 w/peltier

Modify the K7 and get it to about 850mhz.

[lost1]

I would have to differ with you KillerBug- I've read where AMD plans to keep S7 chips around as an alternative to the more expensive Slot A's, and by building on the new .18micron architecture, they are looking to increase the speeds as well. It will be interesting to see what the future holds...

ArcusStorm- I would recommend either a top-end Soyo or Epox board, with a minimum of 1Mb L2 and at least 2X AGP, and either a K62-450 or 500, or a K63-450.
I run a K62-450 on a SOYO 5EMA+ with a Voodoo3 3000 and it's a gaming monster.
Put as much money as possible into the graphics card- your games will love you for it... /forum/wink.gif

[Ygor]

The AOpen AX59 Pro is a great board too! The only disadvantage I've found to this board is that it's hard to find it with the 1 meg cache onboard. Mine's 512.

[DougM]

How about the Tyan S1592S or S1598

S1598
1MB cache (2MB optional)
UltraDMA33/66 http://www.anandtech.com/html/articledisplay.cfm?document=1021

[Dave2]

If money is no object and your friend wants to buy now then get a PIII 700 and one of those new Abit PIII motherboards that support UDMA 66. I wouldn't go for a 733 because only the Via Pro 133 motherboards supports it and I hear that an Intel 440BX motherboard with a PIII 700 is faster than a PIII 733 on a Via Pro 133 motherboard.

[KillerBug]

If money is no object, try an Alpha CPU, they have been 64 bit for a while and sell at higher speeds than Intel or AMD offer non-overclocked, infact, AMD is actualy using an outdated Alpha architecture in SLOT A.