Which DDR Mainboard?? 1

[FS]

I am looking at upgrading my mainboard and cpu. I am a power freak so I would like the best but also would like to keep in the affordable price range. Could anyone recommend a good website to review or suggest a mainboard. I would like to have a 1.4G AMD cpu in it without onboard sound.
Thank You.

 

[paparazi]

It's all down to the Chipset!!!!!
AliMagic : Very poor with only a 3-5% performance gain over a non DDR board.

Via KT266 : Widly used but not a particularly good performer, 5-8% gain over non DDR

AMD 761 plus Via south bridge : the most widely used solution, good price/performance ratio 10% plus gain.

SIS 845 : the real surprise package, not widely available but a great performer and very cheap!! up to 15% gain.

NEW Via KT266a : not seen any benchmarks yet but rumoured to be capable of taking the crown when it arives in numbers.

Now having said all of this, go for a good brand with a good performing chipset!! Via will probably be the one to go for when it becomes more widely used! NOTE** "a" KT266a

Hope this helped? Martin

 

[FS]

Thank you for your help. I do have another question if I may....... Could you tell me how I would do a search for the chipset rather that the MB manufacturer? Do you know off the top of your head which MB has these chipsets in them? Thanks for your time.
F ;-)

 

[paparazi]

Motherboard reviews are the only way! somewhere like Toms hardware guide.
The quickest boards will all have the same chipset in them.
I must admit I like Abit and Asus, but you wouldn't go far wrong with Gigabyte, FIC, AOpen or MSI.
If you are on a budget then a SIS chipset equipt board is the way to go, you will find this set on the cheaper boards from ECS, but if you want the dogs dangly bits then the latest Via 266a chipset on the Abit or Asus is the one.
Serry I can't be more spacific. Martin

 

[FS]

Thanx a heck of alot guy.
F

 

[Out0fOrder]

Hello,
As was mentioned earlier, Reviews are the way to judge. Based on a recent review of systems boards at Tom's Hardware (

http://www6.tomshardware.com/mainboard/01q3/010806/index.ht),

I designed a new powerhouse AMD system. I've included the specs below and teh approximate prices from

http://www.pricewatch.com

$133 Gigabyte GA-7DXR Mboard
$ 99 1.4ghz T-Bird (AMD) 266mhz FSB
$136 2x 512MB PC2100 DDR-RAM
$278 IBM DeskStar GXP UDMA/100 60gb HDD (x2, for IDE raid)
$ 56 Inno3d Geforce2 MX400
$ 34 FuturePower ACE Midtower Case w/ 400w PS
$ 20 Generic 50x CDROM drive
$ 5 Generic Floppy (1.44mb)

$761 Total Cost, Minus Shipping and handeling

New Chipset Reviews:

http://www6.tomshardware.com/mainboard/01q3/010808/index.html

Hope this NFO helped
-Out0forder

 

[paparazi]

Yes! this site offers good advice and confirms the SIS 735 chipset as the fastest to date DDR chipset.
NOTE*** that the 19 Via 266 boards were just that!! 266 boards and not the new and soon to arrive 266a which as I said earlier is rumoured to be a fair bit quicker.
Also the review is over a month old. Martin.

 

[ceh4702]

Go to

http://www.crucial.com

and see their RAM prices. You may want to shop around. I have never tried to use a Gig of RAM. Some video cards could have an issue with using that much RAM, and you would definitely want to read about the specific RAM cabablilities of the Motherboard and Operating System. I know Win98 didn't like over 512 Meg of RAM. I am getting by with 128 Meg right now. I was thinking about adding another 256 Meg of DDR 2100 and noticed it costs about $33.00.

I am not against a lot of RAM, But I would want to see a chart that shows actually improvement achieved for specific amount of RAM. Example 128/256/512/1 Gig. That way I could see if it is even worth bothering with. Different Chipsets may act differently also. I was thining of looking at a site called Anandtech I saw the link to them from

http://www.homepcnetwork.com/

If you do not like my post feel free to point out your opinion or my errors.