Any news on motherboards?

  • Thread starter Thread starter ola
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ola

ola

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Is the ABIT BE6-2 ATX Slot1 motherboard still the one to get or are there any new ones to take into consideration? Any dual processor ones perhaps.

/Ola
 
I hope it is since I bought one about a month ago. I plan on starting with a PII 450MHz CPU due to cost and upgrading in a year or so to a faster PIII (700MHz ??).
 
Why this particular mobo? Is the Abit themobo of choice because of overclocking? Compatibility? Any reports regarding the Asus P3BF? Relative merits?
 
I used to be an advocate for Abit motherboards. I still use a BE6 and like it. However, they're just really sloppy and difficult to setup....kinda like a sports car....you have to keep it well maintained. I've setup two BE6-II motherboards and while overclocking them is a hoot, I ran into some walls. Deja.com is your friend!

So far, the easiest motherboard I've ever worked with is the Asus P3B-F. It just screams QUALITY...a really beautiful board. No hangups whatsoever if you use modern components (older S3 video cards do not work well).

Anyway, just avoid the i8xx chipsets for now and stick with a good BX class board with modern options. The Abit BE6-II is nice, but not a "novice" board. You're bound to hone your detective skills...."why is the temperature alarm going off...and why is my CPU running at 179C???...and why doesn't this card work in slots 3 or 5?" etc, etc. The Asus P3B-F is pretty much a no brainer and the manual is nice.

I might have said this before and I'll say it again...stay away from Intel motherboards. Intel CHIPSETS can be great, but their motherboards are downright annoying! I have an SE440BX-2 in this machine I'm on now and I hate it. No options, goofy BIOS, pain in the ass support.

Slackmaster 2000
 
I buy PCs for my Telecom company as part of my job, and I have been getting ASUS boards for awhile now. Good Stuff. Gigabyte also seems to make good boards. There is a new Apollo VIA 133+ chipset out worth looking at, available in a number of boards, but the classic Intel 440BX is very stable. The Intel i820 is a big, barking dog and actually may be part of a recall soon.

Best advise I can give anyone looking at motherboards is to check out tomshardware.com It is THE best site for hard-core motherboard info.
 
The ASUS boards are excellent, most of the time. I've used many many P3B-F's and F1's. And they are excellent boards. I have run into a few that are made in China instead of Taiwan, which makes me wonder a bit about ASUS... just ABIT.. hehe.. anyway.

An alternative with a mild upgrade path are boards based on the VIA chipset. The ABIT VT6 for example.

Unfortunatly, it has built in sound, and that seems to be the trend these days.

The BX chipset is a safe bet. An ASUS P3BF or F1 will do you fine.

These are confusing times in the computer market.



[This message has been edited by Emeric (edited 05-18-2000).]
 
You know, I've been burned by some of the older VIA chipsets in the past which makes me nervous about the new ones....but then with Intel putting out this absolute GARBAGE.... This are *definately* weird right now :)

Slackmaster 2000
 
I thought the problems with the 820 chipset were related to memory as in Rdram works great forget the rest. Are there other issues?

Layth
 
Maybe I'll just stick with the P3B-F. That's what I have now and I know my gear works on it. If I go for single processor that is...

Thanks for the replies

/Ola
 
Layth,
From what I know the only problem with the 820 is the SDRAM.
I've read that Intel will exchange boards that have SDRAM with RDRAM for free.

[This message has been edited by Shailat (edited 05-19-2000).]
 
Layth and Shailat are correct in that the worst problems reported with the i820 boards are for those equiped with a MTH (Memory Translator Hub) which allows you to plug SDRAM into the board instead of the super expensive and hard to find RDRAM. The MTH picks up electronic noise from the system which causes it to hang or reboot. However even if you pay the huge $$$$ for RDRAM the performance payoff just isn't there, and other problems have been reported. Best to avoid it altogether. If you already have a i820 board, Intel will replace it - provided you complain to the right person.
 
It seems Asus get's the thumbs up overall. I have been eyeing the Asus p3v4x seriously.
The test I've seen so far put it very close in overclocking performance to the BX boards with a lot of extra bells and whistles for adjusting to the changing formats e.g. FSB. It comes with the VIA apollo chipset and allows you to use a Pentium or Celery and also allows for easy overclocking.
I'm thinking about this board and a 550 or higher Celeron and of course SDRAM instead of the still too expensive Rdram. You should check it out and see for yourself if it might be a better choice for these changing times than the BX boards.
 
i just bought the abit bp6 with dual celeron 533's , but due to me being a dummass , i havent gotten any software running yet to do a comparison.. although i hear from my digital video buddies that tyran has a board called the tiger which is a dual piii board.. relatively low cost too , i think like 160 or something...i hope i said that right...

- eddie -
 
Just bought the ASUS P3V4X motherboard today, and it is very, very cool. A few days ago I had bought a Maxtor 40 gig UDM66 hard drive, my first experiance with one of these drives. They are supposed to be backward compatible with 33. So when 2 different systems I had refused to recognise the drive, I took it back and exchanged it. Needless to say the replacement also refused to work. So I went out today, bought and installed the new board, and the hard drive works fine with it. The board comes setup for totally jumperless operation, meaning you can change cpu type/speed/buss speed/overclocking/etc. etc. all through the BIOS without ever having to open the case. Even autodetected my old Celeron 333 cpu and set the correct speeds for it. I would highly recomend it. Now I need to save up just a few more dollars for that Coppermine chip....
 
R White glad to hear the good review of the p3v4x. Have you tried to ovrclock the celery yet? This is supposed to be very easy. anand tech just gave this board the editors choice award as determined with the latest drivers.
 
TAE,

If you're serious about overclocking, you should check out the BE-6 II which allows bus speed selection in increments of 1Mhz! Awesome.

Recall that in order to overclock an Intel processor you have to adjust the bus speed, so the more frequencies you can select from the better. I have my Celeron 400 at 500Mhz via an 83Mhz FSB on a BE6 (revision 1). Of course that also means that the PCI bus is ticking at 41Mhz and the AGP is cruising at 81Mhz....no problems yet though :)

Slackmaster 2000
 
No, I am not planning on overclocking my Celeron. I have played with overclocking a long time (going back to running my 486-66 at 80) and I eventually concluded it is more hassle than it is worth. I am just going to save my pennies for a Coppermine 600 or so, plus 133 SDRAM, and then put my Celeron back in its old board and make another system. Eventually I will get arround to selling the 8 or so old computers I have laying arround....
 
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