DDR Motherboards

[Jammrock]

cbman,

I have worked with at least a half dozen different motherboard makers. What it all boils down to is this: what motherboard will allow me to do everything I want and cause the least amount of problems? After dealing with several different boards it boils down to Abit and Asus being the 2 best in overall satisfaction.

So let me ask you this...if you are building a computer for someone you know will call if even the stupidest little thing goes wrong, do you want to put in a cheap $90 blue light special that you've never used before, or pay a little more and put in a board that once you get configured is NEVER going to cause troubles? The answer should be obvious. As long as Asus and Abit put out a quality boards at competative prices, why use anything else. Motherboards aren't like paper towels, most people have limited funds that they can buy equipment with.

I'm not saying all other boards are bad, and I never did. All I said was I work with Asus and Abit, because I know they are good and I get them CHEAP!!! It's called wholesale!!! It's called I can buy the top-of-the-line Asus board for less than an IWill, MSI or any other big name board maker =) My distributors don't sell the other big brands so I can't recommend anything but Asus and Abit.

If you would like to donate some equipment to the "Jammrock needs more toys" fund, I'd be delighted to test out any new board and review them for you.

Jammrock

[isochar]

Jammrock, any way you could hook us up? A P4T sounds mighty good at cost

[This message has been edited by isochar (edited 07 May 2001).]

[cbman]

Hey Jammrock

I set up a fund like that... it didn't work out too well

Someone did donate a Cyrix 266... I think he was trying to be funny

And I wasn't targeting you with my post.. sorry if you thought I was... although I do have to say that the QDI did pretty good all things considered (My little bro is using it now with a Cele 533 (Original) at 600... and its still going strong...

I do like this ASUS though... probably because I have no choice in the matter (I can't afford to try out a new board)

Maybe if we create a foundation called WWTTNH or the Whitteneh Foundation people could be fooled into donating cash so we could research for cancer (by using our new hardware to run UD or G@H...)



I know.. its a bad idea... I wouldn't put it past some people to try it though...

Charles

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Canadian... Hell Ya!!!

[Snake-Eyes]

Are you currently using any USB devices with your motherboard, SCompRacer?

The reason I ask is that my memory scores are just a little off of yours (like 50pts on each column), and I've been attributing it to the USB devices (mouse, Sony memory card reader, printer) that I have hooked up right now (based on topics on the AMDMB forums).

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System specs:
AMD T-Bird 1.33 (o.c. to 1.5Ghz)
Asus A7M266
256MB Crucial PC2100 DDR RAM
Promise Fastrak 100 EIDE Raid controller running
2x IBM DTLA 60GB 7200 RPM UDMA 100 hdd, RAID 0 array

[This message has been edited by Ace (edited 09 May 2001).]

[Targon]

I just picked up an Asus A7M266. Very stable and fast, though the Adaptec U2W SCSI controller doesn't like when I overclock it too much. At 1.2GHz, the system runs flawlessly, no problems with compatability or stability in any applications or games I have tried.

[Snake-Eyes]

That pretty much mirrors my experiences with the A7M266 too. Now if Asus just saw fit to either leave the multiplier dipswitches on the motherboard or to allow the configuration of the multipliers from the bios, or even better, BOTH..

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System specs:
AMD T-Bird 1.33 (o.c. to 1.5Ghz)
Asus A7M266
256MB Crucial PC2100 DDR RAM
Promise Fastrak 100 EIDE Raid controller running
2x IBM DTLA 60GB 7200 RPM UDMA 100 hdd, RAID 0 array

[Taz]

Check out this review over at Thresh's Firing Squad , it may be a bit of a supprise

[DentyCracker]

I like my first Abit board. I am a lazy bastard and last august when looking to upgrade from my Fic VA503+ I couldn't resist the idea of pencil + bios overclocking. No fscking dipswitches and jumpers and only the occasional trip to the bios clear jumper hehe. Mem at turbo, 4 way interleave, AGP4x, all wait states at lowest, and the board runs stable (unless I install IE6, in which case it slowly turns to sh*t, not doing THAT again). People have had problems with theirs but I got a good one

SP2 at 73%

[SCompRacer]

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" size="2">Originally posted by Ace:
Are you currently using any USB devices with your motherboard, SCompRacer?

</font>

I have three USB devices. An Epson 1640SU scanner, HP970Cse Printer and occasionally a Kodak DC265 digital camera.

I ran a bench today and it was within a 10 points of my first. All my background apps are cut to the minimum. My memory is set to user define, 2/2/2.

I have a 2940U2W SCSI card too so I can only get to 1500 before it won't go anymore. Not inspired enough to play with jumpers for voltage, happy the way it is for now.

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ASUS A7M266, 1333MHz/266FSB, 256MB Crucial PC2100 DDR, Two RAID 0's, Win2000/Win98SE
The Rest

[This message has been edited by SCompRacer (edited 12 May 2001).]

[Indiana]

You might want to wait a little longer. SiS' new DDR chip beats the KT266, the ALi and even the AMD760 hands down in nearly all tests - and it will be cheaper and better featurewise than the AMD760 (only two DIMM slots ?!?).

I know SiS is not known for HQ products but it really looks they might have a winner this time with the 735.

Just have a look at the Thresh's firing squad review: http://firingsquad.gamers.com/hardwa...ew/default.asp

And even if you still plan to get an AMD760 based system after reading this article, those will get cheaper after the SIS is out.

EDIT: Sorry Taz, didn't see your post earlier

[This message has been edited by Indiana (edited 12 May 2001).]

[Snake-Eyes]

Thanks SCompRacer. Maybe USB isn't totally to blame for the (mostly minor) inconsistencies in memory benchmarks between similar systems then.

As far as the new SiS DDR chipsets go:
If you're really serious about upgrading to DDR now, I don't think that the VERY close results between the review's scores (SiS vs. 760) justify waiting for one of the companies to actually release something based on the chip. If I'd done that, I still wouldn't have my system yet. I wanted an Abit DDR mobo, but I took a chance and went with one of the better boards on the market (based on the then-current reviews and also on users' feedback in forums on the net..). Glad to say I don't regret the choice, even if the SiS chipset turns out really nice. That'll just be something to look forward to later.

BTW Indiana, from what I could see of the results, the SiS wasn't winning much of anything hands down. In fact, most results were very close between it and the 760, with each leading in some and trailing in some. I'd say that at the current state in the SiS development of the chipset that it's on par with the 760. Whether that means it can only get better or not, I refuse to guess. Things usually work out that way, but not always. Plus, if you do decide to wait, and things don't work out that way, you may miss out on the 760 anyhow. I tend to think that 760 boards are normally of higher quality anyway (have to be to support the chipset, 6 layer PCB, etc., even if it does run the cost up a bit.).

[SCompRacer]

Talk about pricing, I paid $180 for the A7M, and now it's up to $225 at the same place. Usually everything goes down in price after I buy it.

[Marshmallowman]

yes the SIS mobo's are going to be excellent.

integrated north/south bridge allows them to have 2.1Gb/s link betwwen them (makes AMD's and via's 266 link look pretty lame)

.18 process doesn't even get hot, should Overclock well.

and since it is .18 single chip chipset, it should be very cheap to produce, Its going to be a winner

[Indiana]

The SiS winning "hands down" was meant more compared to the VIA/ALI chipsets than to the AMD760.
But the SiS is faster than the AMD as well in the majority of the tests (SiS735 won 35, AMD760 8, VIA 3 and ALI 1 of the tests), only by a slight margin, but still a bit faster. Besides the tests won by the 760 are the not so important low-res ones with the SiS catching/overtaking the AMD at higher resolutions, except maybe for the Sandra throughput scores. The Quake3-scores (Q3 is very sensitive to mem/bus-speeds) are also in favour of the SiS.

Then take into account:
1. The SiS is cheaper even than the KT266
2. This was only a prerelease board that operated the memory in CAS2.5 while the contenders ran in CAS2. With CAS2 the SiS will surely beat the AMD760's Sandra ALU/FPU scores.
3. The SiS supports sync and asny FSB/CPU operaton and allows to change bus-speeds and multipliers. Which AMD760 board can do this? IMHO this is a MAJOR drawback of at least ASUS' board.
4. I'll have to mention it again: only two DIMM slots with the AMD760 - this has to be a joke...


[This message has been edited by Indiana (edited 13 May 2001).]

[Novdid]

The 760 is one magnificent chipset, but remember that it was meant just to be a guideline for ALI, VIA and SIS.

I remember a couple of months ago when many were saying, even AMD, that "better performing chipsets from VIA and ALI are coming soon". Now that is one way to say that it is possible to make a better DDR chipset than 760.(maybe very hard to accomplish though )

I personally think SIS has a winner in the 735. The one chip design is very interesting.