If it's your cash?..IWILL kk226r, Asus a7a226, or Abit kt7a R

[Shands]

Its crunch time, putting the parts together for new sys. but still unsure about the board. Everything I have ever read makes me more sure that a system is only as good as its foundation/motherboard. I know this is a
huge topic with so many factors...cost not being one of them...factors I am considering though are...How high can this board go(ie.)where is AMD going with current k7(266) cpu line. 1.4 now, but in 6-8 months?
easy bios upgrades? Area around socket for large HS? Yes overclocking later...better graphics card now. Good monitoring program for temps, volts etc...In short am interested in what knowledgeable above average home enthusiast would put on his wish list for a
motherboard and do any of these 3 above fit that list. Thanks gents ..look forward to some good reading.

[HomeYield]

Well I can tell you about the A7A266 because I own one. I too am going to try to overclock, haven't yet, but going too soo. I bought a fan to go on my 1GHz Athlon and its a tight fit. I really don't remember the specs for the fan right off hand but I don't think on this board that you will be able to get a too large of heat sink on it.

It does support DDR or SDR RAM so if you don't have DDR already then you can upgrade to it later. After unlocking the multiplier on the CPU its rather easy to up the multiplier if you read the manual for the specific jumper settings. You can also increase the CPU/RAM ratio from the BIOS if you are in jumper-free mode. Just some things to think about for overclocking.

I really like it so far, and it looks to be able to handle anything coming out in the next several months. It has a temperature monitor on it called PC Probe but I don't really trust it. For some reason it tends to run 5°C-8°C than what the BIOS is reporting. I guess it gives you a little bit more warning but its not always accurate as far as temps go.

Keep looking to find the right one for you. Hopefully some other members will post and let you know about their boards or what they would like to have. This is just my 2¢.

[wedor]

I have both the Abit and the IWill boards, I prefer the IWill, seems more stable, cranks the FSB higher than the Abit, and the RAID will run a RAID 10( striped and mirrored) array, the Abit will only do RAID 0(striped).

[Kuasimodem]

The Abit KT7A-RAID will do RAID0 (striped),RAID1(mirror), and RAID0+1(striped and mirrored), it also will do dual-boot, if you have two drives. The Highpoint controller is very easy to set up too.

As to stability, I have a KT7-RAID and the only system instability that I have encountered has been caused by the OS and added software. The big thing with the Abit boards, is don't go cheap on peripherals. Only go with quality RAM, PCI cards, drives, etc. It will save you headaches in the long run.

If it's my cash, I'd go with the Abit KT7-RAID. You'll love the Softmenu III, NO JUMPERS!!! http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif

[This message has been edited by Kuasimodem (edited 07-27-2001).]

[John Prophet]

The IWILL is one of the best oc'ing boards around but so is this "new" Asus A7V266 http://hardocp.com/reviews/mainboards/asus/a7v266/

[wedor]

Kuasimodem, I think you are correct, it's the Promise controller boards that won't do the RAID 10, my mistake. I still think the IWill OC's better and is more stable.