Posted by Justin Waugh on 6, 2001 at 12:15 PM:
In Reply to: You mean K7S5A! (more) posted by Tiger-Heli on 5, 2001 at 11:08 AM:
: It also is compatible with the Alpha PAL8045, BTW!
: : Via chipsets like the kt266a are nice and fast but seem prone to incompatibility issues. I know I've had issues with them.
: : I suggest the ECS KS75A mobo. It is based on the SiS 735 chipset which was the fastest until via released the kt266a. It supports both DDR and SDRAM (so you CAN use your sdram until you buy some DDR), has onboard lan and sound, 6PCI slots and 1AGP slot. I've put together about 5 computers in the last month using this mobo and I haven't had a single incompatibility or crash. Oh and I forgot to mention that it is only $65. It's an often overlooked mobo but has by far the best feature to price ratio.
: : Onboard sound is nice if it is a dedicated mame machine. Otherwise I would suggest getting the soundblaster live 5.1 oem card for $32. Unless you are getting a via chipset. Then get a turtle beach santa cruz or hercules gametheater which are a bit more expensive but have less incompatibility problems with via chipsets.
: : : I am looking into stepping into the lofty 1.5GHz+ arena of processors, and am trying to figure out which motherboard would be right for my Win98SE machine which will run MAME as well.
: : : The things I am having trouble with are these
: : : Prices range from around 60 bucks to well over 200 for motherboard alone. But does low price generally equal slower performance or is that more to do with chipset, memory, etc.?
: : : What features should I look for? 266FSB, DDR capable,
: : : Anybody having any luck with onboard sound? As in, should I get that or just use a sound card?
: : : If the board uses DDR memory, can I still use the PC133 I already have until I can get some DDR or do I just need to get the DDR with it?
: : : I am not looking for which board to buy, but what features to look for so I can make my own decision.
: : : Anyone have any suggestions about where I can look that is NOT just one of those "This board is great, but some of these others suck" hardware review?
: : : Thanks
: : : K