# What's the best Mainboard for a new Athlon? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 28, 2001, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-mainboard-for-a-new-athlon/78613 "2001-08-28T22:24:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Stupendous\_man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a8b319/32.png) [@Stupendous\_man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stupendous_man)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2001, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-mainboard-for-a-new-athlon/78613/1 "2001-08-28T22:24:16Z")
I’m looking for an ATX mainboard for a new Athlon. It MUST have AGP4X, no onboard audio/video, and be 266 FSB. Oh, and I prefer ASUS, if that helps… Not too picky, am I? Ive been out of the loop for a bit now, and am looking to replace my classic K7M and Athlon 600 with the latest and greatest. ---
**Author:** ![Gozu\_Tashoya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7993a0/32.png) [@Gozu\_Tashoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gozu_Tashoya)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2001, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-mainboard-for-a-new-athlon/78613/2 "2001-08-29T00:03:01Z")
Abit KG7-Raid. 266 using the AMD 760 chipset, jumperless BIOS, onboard RAID support (or 4 IDE channels, depending on how you want to use it), 4 DIMM slots (must use registered memory to use all 4, you can use only 2 otherwise). There’s a few reviews on Athlon DDR mobos at Tom’s Hardware. The KG7 won the AMD 760 chipset (arguably the best Athlon DDR chipset currently available) mobo shootout. ---
**Author:** ![Darwins\_Finch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darwins_finch/32/20304_2.png) [@Darwins\_Finch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darwins_Finch)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2001, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-mainboard-for-a-new-athlon/78613/3 "2001-08-29T01:55:47Z")
If your loyalties lie with ASUS, you’ve got three choices: [A7M266](http://www.asus.com.tw/products/Motherboard/socketa/a7m266/index.html) (AMD 761 chipset) [A7A266](http://www.asus.com.tw/products/Motherboard/socketa/a7a266/index.html) (ALi MAGiK1 M1647 chipset) [A7V266](http://www.asus.com.tw/products/Motherboard/ddr266/a7v266/index.html) (VIA KT266 chipset) ---
**Author:** ![Stupendous\_man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a8b319/32.png) [@Stupendous\_man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stupendous_man)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2001, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-mainboard-for-a-new-athlon/78613/4 "2001-08-29T16:32:21Z")
Thanks folks. ---
**Author:** ![Sofa\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58956e/32.png) [@Sofa\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sofa_King)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2001, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-mainboard-for-a-new-athlon/78613/5 "2001-08-29T21:59:28Z")
Don’t do the A7V266 unless you are willing to do a lot of patching. Up until very recently, the shipping BIOS was torqued and goes ape-shit whenever it has a Soundblaster card in it. I have read that the A7M has problems delivering AGP4X. Don’t know for sure what that’s about. I’m for the [KG7](http://www.hardocp.com/reviews/mainboards/abit/kg7/). Abit seems to have done a particularly nice job on this one. Tweak that puppy up to 150 MHz with some good RAM and you’ll have a system that will make most Pentium 4s look like the overpriced turds they are. ---
**Author:** ![bdgr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a87d85/32.png) [@bdgr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bdgr)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2001, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-mainboard-for-a-new-athlon/78613/6 "2001-08-29T22:02:36Z")
Kinda partial to Tyan myself. I run my studio off a Tyan athlon setup, and all my audio pop and click problems went away when I switched to Tyan. And they now have that nifty Dual athlon board out now. For reviews and info on athlon, check [here](http://www.socketa.com) ---
**Author:** ![panamajack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/47e85d/32.png) [@panamajack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panamajack)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2001, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-mainboard-for-a-new-athlon/78613/7 "2001-08-29T23:17:48Z")
In addition to bdgr’s link (socketa), there’s also [AMDMB.com](http://www.amdmb.com) (stands for what you think it stands for) [motherboards.org](http://www.motherboards.org) [amdzone.com](http://www.amdzone.com) (actually, I think this will end up at socket a anyway) and, of course, [www.amd.com](http://www.amd.com) with its own recommended motherboards. I was just researching this myself. I ended up getting the Shuttle AK31 v2, since it’s got just about everything (no RAID, but 4 DIMM slots ) and it’s cheap ($85 or so at pricewatch). Most reviews have it as the first really good Shuttle/Spacewalker board. If money is an object, then you might want to consider it.