|
|
 |
|
|
Pages: 1
Motherboards and processors
(Click here to view the original thread with full colors/images)
Posted by: Sops
My current mother board and processor is getting kind of slow fr me needs (Athlon 1 gig thunderbird and gigabyte motherboard.)
A friend recommended
this motherboard, the only thing i didn't really like was the fact that is only supports up too theXP2200 chip, which i believe is 1.8 gigs. If anything more poweful comes out, i really won't have much room to upgrade.
I've been watching some stuff on techtv and they have been praising the nforce2 chipsets. Does anyone have a board with this chipset? Is it anygood?
I'm open to suggestions, my really one preference in that its athlon. I've had good results with them in the past. And having non-intragrated video is a plus 
Posted by: redwench
nforce boards seem to work quite nicely. whatever chipset you choose, you really want one that will support the latest cpu thats currently available, at the least. the xp2200 is nowhere near that anymore. unless you can get both the 2200 and the mobo for well under $100, its not worth the lack of upgradability.
Posted by: Darky!
Stay away from MSI.
Posted by: Bobaroo
Go for a NForce 2 baord. I am getting the Abit NF7-S, and I have heard great things about the Asus A7N8X/Deluxe
Posted by: taco_fox
The Epox 8RDA+ is a really good Nforce2 board without some extra stuff if you want to go a little cheaper.
Posted by: rexoverbey
I just ordered a Soyo dragon ultra I like the specs. Support the latest ddr, has 8x agp, raid, allows for easy overclocking, supports the latest chipsets for AMD, Digital Audio, Ultra DMA 133, and it got good benchmarks at Toms hardware. Its a lot better than my piece o' crap ECS mainboard.
Posted by: Foogar
 Quote:
Originally posted by rexoverbey
Its a lot better than my piece o' crap ECS mainboard.
|
You have a K7S5A?
Posted by: Null Actor
Quote:
Originally posted by Bobaroo330
Asus A7N8X/Deluxe
|
I'm going to be picking that one up on the weekend.
Posted by: rexoverbey
Yep the k7s5a
Posted by: rexoverbey
Foogar here's my 3dmark2001 score http://service.futuremark.com/compare?2k1=6038280
Posted by: Sops
I'm still out looking for a motherboard. I've been really busy the last month and havn't had time to look at the motherboards suggested untill now.. Are these still considered top of the line boards?
This board looked interesting... What i'm really looking for is a board with raid, 8x agp and a nforce2 chipset. And supports the latest DDR memory...
The Gigabyte GA-7VAXP seemed to look like a good board, although it didn't have a nforce2 chipset...
Posted by: taco_fox
That Chaintech looks good, and comes with a hell of a lot of accessories. Lately, some motherboard manufacturers have been moving toward SATA RAID instead of IDE (PATA). You could still use adaptors on them, but I think using the IDE RAID on the Chaintech would be better.
Posted by: redwench
i dont think there is an nforce out atm that supports ddr400, although i could be wrong. you should probably lurk at asustek, if anyone has it, they will. you might just want to wait until one comes out, shouldnt be long. i really havent heard anyone complain about nforce chipsets, which is rare enough with amd compatible ones 
Posted by: Sops
I think i'm going to go with the Chaintech board, unless someone gives me a reason not to.
Since that is almost decided, i need to pick a good processor. I was thinking about a XP2700 since they arn't quite as expensive as the xp2800. do u think that there will be a big differnce in preformance? I was looking @ this link and saw that the xp2700 was more powerful ghz wise, but the xp2800 and xp3000 had bigger cache.....
Posted by: AtariFX
IS MSI really that bad? I've been buying AZZA boards and I've never had a problem. Built at leat 50 PC's with them. The store I get my stuff from is switching to ASUS now though because they're having trouble getting the AZZA's in stock. I guess the demand is crazy.
Posted by: Sops
???
Posted by: Sarc
If you really want to avoid integrated video, and could wait a few months for the KT400A to start being pushed out of the manufacturers.
Supposedly, it's going to have a edge on the NForce2 chipset, but won't have any options for integrated video.
Another thing to consider, which I'm not posative about, is I think some NForce2 chipset's come without integrated video.
At the same time, I don't see why a BIOS update would allow that MSI KT4 to support more than a 2200+.
In fact, I just check MSI's site, the latest BIOS for that board allows it to support a 3000+ Barton. 
So as-long as AMD maintains the same architecture for a while you should be good.
Posted by: taco_fox
Um, most nForce2 boards I've seen don't come with video. The only two I can think of off the top of my head are the Epox 8RGA and the Abit NF7-M (there's more, but I don't know them).
edit: and yes, nForce2 boards support PC3200 (DDR400) memory..
Posted by: redwench
the chipset can use integrated video, the boards might not use it. and probably dont.
eh, if the prices on the bartons were a bit closer to the tbred, i would suggest the larger cache. but thats one huge price difference.
I just like Asus, but as long as its an nforce, you should be ok.
MSI is known for, shall we say, inconsistent quality control. Some people never have problems, others have to constantly rma motherboards.
Posted by: taco_fox
Quote:
Originally posted by redwench
the chipset can use integrated video, the boards might not use it. and probably dont.
|
Actually, there's two different northbridge chipsets for nForce2 boards. One that has support for onboard video (called IGP) and one that doesn't (called SPP).
Also (this is kinda unrelated), there's also two different southbridge chips. What kind of sound card do you have right now? nVidia has integrated a soundcard into the MCP-T southbridges that rivals Audigy2 soundcards. If you already have an Audigy2 or similar card, then the lower MCP southbridge will be enough (turn off the sound in the BIOS and use your own card).
Posted by: Sops
Can any one recommend a good brand of DDR ram? I figure since i'm getting a new mobo and proccessor, i might as well get some ram for it...
Posted by: taco_fox
Either Corsair CMX or TWINX or Kingston HyperX.
ninja edit:
well actually, these are the good models for overclocking. Any model from Corsair or Kingston will work fine if you're not overclocking.
Posted by: redwench
kingston, samsung, corsair
Posted by: Sops
I decided to order the Chaintech Zenith 7njs board with an athlon XP 2800. I've noticed a few things:
First, the processor type is not recognized by the motherboard. I'm hoping flashing the bios with an updated one will fix this. Although i'm not sure which one to use....
Second the speed of preocessor in not correct. it is only showing up as a 1250 mhz processor. i'm thinking that a bios setting is off... In bios the FSB is set to 166. I'm can't find a multiplier setting, but there is a setting called CPU Interface with options like Optimal, x1 1.5 ....... x13, x13.5 etc. Could this be the mulitplier setting?
Posted by: Sops
Sorry, it actaully says CPU Ratio, not CPU interface....
|
|
|
|
|
