Excellent question... traditionally I am a BIG Asus lover & try 2 stick w/
Asus. Unfortunately due 2 my own (heavy) IDE device requirements, I have
chosen the Giga-byte GA-7N400 Pro as the Asus has "back slidden" quite a bit w/
their RAID Controller.
In essence, the only Raid now w/ Asus is SATA only (which is fine had I not
already have so much 2 support) whereas Gigabyte is like my older (but still
very good) Asus A7V333-Raid giving me the Xtra 2 channels.
I personally have PC's running the Asus A7N8X, the Giga-byte GA-7N400 Pro, and
A7V333-Raid of course. U'll find many sites prefer the A7N8X 4 very good
reasons. Asus definately packs alot of features in there. I would say U can't
really go wrong w/ either, just know the IDE limitation of the A7N8X
Memory:
Dual Channel DDR is great, use it when able... spend the Xtra $$$ & get higher
quality stix though. Definately get a nForce2 motherboard or try the new KT600
(prices will drop), it's all good
AMD vs Intel:
Most probs U hear about AMD chips R from Intel only finatics (see also
ignorant). Again, I've got both & prefer AMD only Bcause of the
Price/Performance ratio as U get MUCH more bang 4 the buck w/ AMD. Also AMD is
much better @ keeping their Socket/Chipset combo more stable. ie I can put an
AMD 1400+ Duron or a 3200+ XP in the same motherboard, Intel likes 2 play
games.
P.S.
I missed your Q about AMD sorry... Intel chips run hotter than AMD chips
actually. What U're hearing here is about older motherboards like the KT266
chipsets which didn't support overheating protection (although the CPU's did),
basically the motherboard would shut itself off if the CPU started overheating
4 anyreason. (As in U didn't put Thermal compound between chip & heatsink, or
4got 2 plug in the heatsink, etc.
Have Fun!
- J
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