Slack or somebody M/B question
- Thread starter Shailat
- Start date
AlChuck
Well-known member
Shailat,
Yes to the question about the Intel Seattle. As far as I know, they are not conducive to overclocking, but for a standard setup they are by reputation rock-solid. I almost got one but went for an Abit BE6-II because of the on-board Highpoint UDMA66 controller (the Seattle only has a UDMA33 IDE controller) -- and I regret it, because I subsequently learned that the Highpoint controller is problematic and -- well, I'm having problems and I'm fairly sure that it's the culprit.
The general consensus seems to be that any 440BX-based motherboard from a reputable manufacturer is the right way to go right now; avoid the 820 chipset models for the present.
One point that also was not clear before I made my purchase -- the architecture of these chipsets is such that most of the PCI slots are wired in such a way that they will share IRQs with certain on-board devices if you use them, which, depending on your requirements for peripherals, might cause you some consternation. For example, PCI slot #1 shares an IRQ with the AGP slot; whatever IRQ the BIOS assigns to the device in PCI slot #1 will be shared with whatever's in the AGP slot. Same with slot #4 and the on-board USB controller. If the board has an on-board UDMA controller, this will be in the mix to (on my Abit board, Slot #3 shares an IRQ with this device, and its bus-mastering signals share the bus-mastering signals in Slot #5 as well). Just be aware of this; it will be more or less an issue depending on what all you want to put into the box.
-AlChuck
Yes to the question about the Intel Seattle. As far as I know, they are not conducive to overclocking, but for a standard setup they are by reputation rock-solid. I almost got one but went for an Abit BE6-II because of the on-board Highpoint UDMA66 controller (the Seattle only has a UDMA33 IDE controller) -- and I regret it, because I subsequently learned that the Highpoint controller is problematic and -- well, I'm having problems and I'm fairly sure that it's the culprit.
The general consensus seems to be that any 440BX-based motherboard from a reputable manufacturer is the right way to go right now; avoid the 820 chipset models for the present.
One point that also was not clear before I made my purchase -- the architecture of these chipsets is such that most of the PCI slots are wired in such a way that they will share IRQs with certain on-board devices if you use them, which, depending on your requirements for peripherals, might cause you some consternation. For example, PCI slot #1 shares an IRQ with the AGP slot; whatever IRQ the BIOS assigns to the device in PCI slot #1 will be shared with whatever's in the AGP slot. Same with slot #4 and the on-board USB controller. If the board has an on-board UDMA controller, this will be in the mix to (on my Abit board, Slot #3 shares an IRQ with this device, and its bus-mastering signals share the bus-mastering signals in Slot #5 as well). Just be aware of this; it will be more or less an issue depending on what all you want to put into the box.
-AlChuck
Jon X
New member
Once I got past some initial problems with Win2k and NT4 concering the Highpoint UDMA controller onboard my BP6, I love the thing. It's fast, and doesn't require me adding a card to get UDMA/66. I just had to actually read the manual in order to find the best way to set the controller up to work in all operating systems I've installed on the machine. Once I broke down and did that it's running like a dream. I also downloaded the newest drivers from the highpoint website, which solved a couple of problems with Win2k during the install. I'd recommend this motherboard or the single CPU version.
Slackmaster2K
Gone
Shailat,
There's nothing *wrong* with the Seattle 440BX-2 ... in fact I'm on one right now ... but, I don't like them.
I can't stand the BIOS setup utility, and the bootup time is painfully slow. I also had some lockups and had to decrease my memory timings (I think that was on this board anyway).
The BE6-II is a nice board. The Highpoint controller was really bad to start with....a few BIOS updates and it works a lot better now. There is no speed difference between the highpoint and the standard controller though...but it is nice to stick each IDE device on its own channel. Most Hightpoint issues can be resolved so don't completely give up.
The worst problem I ever had with a BE6-II was when I tried to install an OEM PIII processor with a heatsink that used a metal restraining bracket. There's something the metal bracket and the line of resistors that it sits very close to.....resulting in the temperature being reported about 100C too high!
I know nothing about the Asus board you mention...but I did recently install an Asus P3B-F and really liked it...very nice board.
Slackmaster 2000
There's nothing *wrong* with the Seattle 440BX-2 ... in fact I'm on one right now ... but, I don't like them.
I can't stand the BIOS setup utility, and the bootup time is painfully slow. I also had some lockups and had to decrease my memory timings (I think that was on this board anyway).
The BE6-II is a nice board. The Highpoint controller was really bad to start with....a few BIOS updates and it works a lot better now. There is no speed difference between the highpoint and the standard controller though...but it is nice to stick each IDE device on its own channel. Most Hightpoint issues can be resolved so don't completely give up.
The worst problem I ever had with a BE6-II was when I tried to install an OEM PIII processor with a heatsink that used a metal restraining bracket. There's something the metal bracket and the line of resistors that it sits very close to.....resulting in the temperature being reported about 100C too high!
I know nothing about the Asus board you mention...but I did recently install an Asus P3B-F and really liked it...very nice board.
Slackmaster 2000
Shailat,
You may want to check out the Soyo SY-6BA+IV board as well. It's right up there with the Abit BE6-2 for overclocking and features.
Here's a web site with lots of stuff on the BX boards:
http://www.bxboards.com/
Good Luck,
Fishkid
You may want to check out the Soyo SY-6BA+IV board as well. It's right up there with the Abit BE6-2 for overclocking and features.
Here's a web site with lots of stuff on the BX boards:
http://www.bxboards.com/
Good Luck,
Fishkid