After the roundup evaluation was completed, we were a bit disappointed that no single KT333 motherboard emerged as the consensus choice. It seemed that no matter how well a specific board did in one area, there were inevitable trade-offs in another. For example, the KT333 Dragon Ultra has all the ingredients of a top choice, but its overclocking did not meet expectations. Along the same lines is the ABIT KX7-333R which overclocked exceptionally well, but fell back with a limited feature set. ECS provided a lot of board for the money, but offered no real overclocking options to speak of. ASUS had the gold in hand until layout issues and undocumented jumper settings took it away, and EPoX looked to be a runaway choice, but the absence of USB 2.0 is a definite consideration.
The list goes on and on, and although there are a few superior motherboards, it seems that no one company offers the whole shebang for KT333 buyers. This makes the job of selecting the top KT333 motherboards a far more difficult proposition, but just like an even field at the Olympics, we're still giving out the medals to the top KT333 products. Our evaluation and placing is based upon overall performance, BIOS options, overclocking results, retail price, and onboard hardware.
Here at Sharky Extreme we refer to the A7V333 as "the board that should be King". On paper, ASUS has a real winner with their A7V333, and by all rights it should be standing head and shoulders over the KT333 competition. The board's feature list is virtually unmatched, it has overclocking options to spare, and its performance is good enough for any high-performance system. Layout problems, BIOS and jumper issues, and a basic unpolished feel tend to detract from the overall product, and while it is still a super board worthy of a Top 3 finish, we can't help but feel that it could have been so much more.
The MSI KT3 Ultra-ARU may be the most attractive KT333 motherboard in our roundup, as it combines an excellent feature list with high-end performance and above-average overclocking. Putting the KT3 Ultra-ARU in the second place position was a tough choice, and if MSI had included onboard LAN and a bit more headroom with the BIOS voltage options, it may very well have snuck into first. The MSI KT3 Ultra-ARU is a great board at a great price, and depending on individual requirements, it could easily be your top choice.
As track coaches are fond of saying, you can't teach speed. The EPoX 8K3A+ is the fastest KT333 motherboard in our roundup, sometimes significantly so, and has impressed us from day one. Overclocking is also top-notch, and there is nothing that can touch the 8K3A+ when combining extreme voltage settings, FSB speed options, and real-world overclocking results. Even though its integrated features aren't anything to write home about, after spending some serious benchmarking time with the 8K3A+, the prospect of just buying a USB 2.0 adapter card starts to look a lot more inviting.
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