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az · 23 July 2002, 05:58

Maybe try a USB PC card reader

AZ

**Dogbert** · 23 July 2002, 06:09

Tyan is a VERY EXPENSIVE option but has everything you need onboard.

Asus a7m266-D has onboard sound, 5 PCI slots (2 of them are 64bit @ 66Mhz) and is much cheaper.

You could buy a nice dual channel SCSI adapter (maybe even a 64bit one) to put on.

**Gurm** · 23 July 2002, 07:46

Asus doesn't make a dual-channel SCSI version of that? I thought they did...

- Gurm

VJ · 23 July 2002, 10:48

az:
USB reader is much slower + I'd like to avoid having a lot of "boxes" on my desktop (firewire does not come in internal versions). (Those readers are quite small, which results in the fact that they are always getting in the way, or being pulled by their cable)

The Syncrotech would also allow me to opt for a wireless lan PCcard (which I consider to be a logical option, once a laptop would come into play). So this leaves out IDE and SCSI PC-card readers (as those don't allow for network cards).

Dogbert:
Any comment on the Asus audio ? (I was considering either a Turtle Beach or an Audigy, any comparison between the asus onboard and one of the other cards ?) I'd still need a scsi-controller (lets say dual channel to save a slot), a network controller and a capture card). This fills up the 32 bit slots, unless I would go for a PCI64 SCSI card... Add the PCI PC-card reader, and all slots are full; so another soundcard would be out of the question...

Guess I'll be checking the Tyan website...

Jörg

**Dogbert** · 23 July 2002, 22:50

The onboard sound isn't bad at all. My only problem is that I can't get the SPDIF bracket here so I'm stuck with Analog. It's bad for me cause I connect my computer to my HT system using SPDIF (optical).

1 question though, why are you going dual ?

**Dogbert** · 23 July 2002, 22:57

Ok, Tyan has the Tyan S2466-4m:

It has 6 PCI slots (4x32 @ 2 x64) with an integrated 3com 3C905 on board to free you another slot.

Good luck !

VJ · 24 July 2002, 01:44

Hmm, the Tyan looks like a possiblity. Funny though that there also is a version without USB (I thought all mainboards now had it).
If I were to put in a dual channel pci 64 bit SCSI-controller, the PC-card reader, a soundcard and a capturecard, I'd still have 1x 64 bit and 1x 32 bit PCI slots left.

Why go dual ? Well, the manipulation of digital photographs can be quite CPU-consuming (and Photoshop supports SMP), but it is also unlikely that one only uses one program. So in order to speed thing up, and to increase responsiveness, I'd like to go dual.

Thanks for the advice!

About the onboard sound on your mainboard: why can't you get the SPDIF bracket ? (no more room in the case?, not imported?)

Jörg

**Dogbert** · 24 July 2002, 02:15

ASUS plays a dirty trick by selling the SPDIF bracket seperately from the mobos (they have 3 flavors: optic, coax and both).
It costs a few $$$ more and it's not imported here anyway.
I'll simply disable the onboard sound and put a Hercules Fortissimo in a spare PCI slot.

VJ · 24 July 2002, 02:18

If the bracket has no electronics (the optical most likely will, but the coax ?), it might be possible to find out the wiring that is needed and thus make your own bracket..?

(perhaps other forums members have tried such things ?)

Jörg

VJ · 24 July 2002, 02:24

o oh...

This is stated in the faq of that Tiger mainboard on
http://www.tyan.com/support/html/f_tg_mpx.html :
-
Why did I receive a USB card with my Tiger MPX (S2466)? Doesn't the
onboard USB work?

Due to an issue regarding USB on the chipset, the USB will not function on the Tiger MPX (S2466). Both the stacked USB ports, and the onboard headers, will not function.

The USB card has been provided in the box for your convenience, in case you would like to use USB devices. In addition, we have given you the I/O shield to help differentiate between onboard USB and the USB card, when plugging in USB devices.
-
There goes another PCI-slot !

I have no experience with PCI64 slots, but are they downward compatible with PCI32 cards ? This is from a review on 2CPU.com http://www.2cpu.com/Hardware/tyantigermpx/ :
-
64bit 66mhz PCI cards run at a different voltage than their older counterparts, and while manufacturers claim backward compatibility with their slots and older PCI cards, it is not always the case. As long as your card is 3.3v capable it should work fine in the 64bit slots on an MPX board, but remember, running a 32bit/33mhz card on this bus will slow the whole thing down to regular PCI speed (AFAIK).
-

Having to offer a PCI slot just for USB seems such a waste....

Jörg

**Dogbert** · 24 July 2002, 02:31

Check the link I posted, the Tyan S2466-4m supports on board USB.

VJ · 24 July 2002, 02:44

Yes, it has onboard USB, but this doesn't work. If you check your link, en then follow the link to the faq, you'll see that this onboard USB does not work. This is also mentioned in the reviews on 2CPU and slotA (both are linked on the Tyan site) :
-
Situated to the right and below the 20 pin connector are two 3 pin fan connectors. Below these are the I/O connectors. Unlike with the Tiger MP the Tiger MPX includes a LAN connector located just above the USB connectors. The USB connectors do not function correctly due to a bug with the AMD 768 Southbridge. Tyan has included a 4 port USB 1.1 add in card as AMD does not yet have a fix.
-

Jörg

**Dogbert** · 24 July 2002, 02:49

VJ, I think you're wrong.

A little table on the page clearly states that the normal model has a USB add on card while the 4m model doesn't.

besides, you have in the features:

Integrated I/O
One floppy connector supports up to two drives
Two 9-pin 16550-based serial ports
One 25-pin SPP/ECP/EPP parallel port
Four USB ports (two via back plate, and two more via optional cable) **
PS/2 keyboard and mouse ports

** Tiger MPX's manufactured prior to April 1st, 2002 feature interface card-based USB ports.

VJ · 24 July 2002, 02:58

Then how do you explain this in the faq:

-
Why did I receive a USB card with my Tiger MPX (S2466)? Doesn't the onboard USB work?

Due to an issue regarding USB on the chipset, the USB will not function on the Tiger MPX (S2466). Both the stacked USB ports, and the onboard headers, will not function.
-

I would think the mainboard that doesn't support USB will not have the stacked USB ports, nor the onboard headers. Besides, if you check the reviews:
http://www.2cpu.com/Hardware/tyantigermpx/ (middle)
http://www.slota.com/reviews/tyan/tigermpx/ (bottom)
http://www.amdmb.com/article-display...D=154&PageID=2 (bottom)

They all make mention of a USB problem in the AMD 760MPX chipset, and Tyan having disabled the onboard USB in order to get things working.

Jörg

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