Athlon M/B recommendation?

[mschuch]

1. From info I have gathered, which has been a lot over the past two months, the ASUS and MSI boards are the two best. However, there have been some problems with the ASUS board using a CPU over 700mhz. Specifically what they are, I don't know, and may have been fixed. The MSI, from what I can tell, has had problems with USB devices in previous versions of the board and don't know for sure whether this problem has been fixed or not.

2. Currently only PC100 memory, not PC133 is running properly on AMD Athlon boards. AMD's website states what memory to use, but I will assume any major brand will be sufficient. I think generic off-brands will be a problem, though.

3. AMD's website also states what power supply and case to use. A 250w PS will work if it is ATX 2.01 compliant.

The rest of your hardware should work, but of course, with Athlon boards so new, it's pretty much learn-as-you-go.

Best of Luck!

[sugrdade]

I have seen the price of the Athlon 550 drop to $180 today so this has prompted me to upgrade to it within the next 2 weeks.

I currently have an FIC 2013 for my K62 450 right now and am disappointed with the poor USB drivers. (So an FIC SlotA MB is not an option to me.)

I will have the following: SB Live sound card, ATI Rage Fury AGP 32MB video, 128MB PC100 8ns memory (non ECC), 2 10/100 LAN cards for my DSL/Network setup, IBM 20.4GB HDD, Sony CDRW, and HP 40x CDROM)


Questions:
1. With the above info in mind, what is the best motherboard for the Athlon and why?

2. I see some sites say that certain PC100 memory will not work with the Athlon and MB setups...why is this?

3. What is the minimum power supply I should get...300W?

Thank you in advance for your replies!

[thekingofpain]

ALSO...have a look at the Gigabyte GA7ix...highly recommended by STEP thermodynamics, cost is about 130$

[sugrdade]

When are the second gen M/Bs for the Athlon coming out and who is making them? I see nothing on some of the manufacturers' websites...

[pcmedic]

What is Microstars website I have been reading lately and there seem to be many people upset with the lack of service.

[sugrdade]

Thanks for the input...I went ahead and bought the Asus K7M (2nd revision) and the Athlon 600....still loading programs on, but am pleased with it so far! <grin>