motherboard suggestions

T

thehorseshoe

New member
I have an older motherboard slot 1. I want to upgrade to a socket 370 and have be looking at the 815, 815e, and 815ep chipsets. the ep supports DDR RAM. Does anyone have any suggestions? I need something with the strongest USB stability, but I wondered if DDR ram made a difference in the way tracks are handled as well as playback. I am running an 800mhz processor on my current one and would like to keep it and buy the adapter for a socket 370. Any suggestions on a solid P3 motherboard is greatly appreciated!!
 
why do you want to "upgrade" to socket 370? I didnt even know there WAS an adapter for that.

do yourself a favor... get an ASUS p2B-F . Its a slot 1 440BX board... I have it, I love it. It rules. USB is solid... the BX is a better chipset... and I bet you can get them CHEAP.

xoxo
 
thanx- I will look into that. I hope others will have a few thins to input as well. What prorams are you running on your computer by the way?
 
I run w98, word, Photoshop, CEP, SoundForge and Nuendo.

good times.

xoxo

oh, and I wanna know.. is there actually a slot 1 to 370 adapter.. or were you making that up?
 
There is a Slot 1 to Socket 370 Adapter, not too sure about the other way.

Nonetheless, the 440bx is a great board but it very old considering how quickly computer products depreciate.

Personally I would look into AMD, but that is just me. ;)
 
FYI- there is not a socket 370 to slot 1 adapter, only a slot 1 to socket 370. They run about $5 to $15 on pricewatch. I looked on pricewatch.com and they had an LX, a GX and something else, but no BX. Guess I'm out of luck on that board. Any other suggestions?
 
Special order it.. its the bomb. Oh, the p3b-f is just a jumperless version, I think. But knowing new things it probly sux.

OH, yeah.. and there are some even BETTER boards in the ABIT arena... the BE6 annd the BE6-II. I think the latest be6 supports ata100, which the p2bf does NOT. Just make sure you get a 440BX chipset...

xoxo
 
Sorry but I don't see the point in him getting a 440BX mobo. Sure it is a pretty stable board but if it was that great they would still me making them today. They are almost ancient in computer terms.

If I were you I would get something that you can throw some DDR memory in it. DDR is about the same price as the normal SDRam and you get a pretty good performance boost.
 
I use the ASUS CUSL2 socket 370 with 815e chipset and it does a fine job.
But before I bought it, I researched my recording software and hardware proof of performance testing page to determine what worked well with their gear. I built my own system based on the recording hardware and software I use which is {Logic Audio}by emagic. I dont know if other programs such as Cubase,Degidesign,etc... do this type of testing for compatibility issues.
 
Howdy Camn - what's shaking in Seattle?

I would have to agree that at this point in time the 440BX chipset is just too outdated. The only way you will find one is used, and you will be precluded from some of the newer technolgy (133 bus speed, ATA 100 IDE, etc.) Not to say they were not good boards, they were great, it's just that they are too long in the tooth.

Regarding adaptors, they certainly DO make PIII socket to slot adaptors. I am using a socketed PIII-933 chip in a ASUS slot 1 motherboard right now. You can find them almost anywhere CPUs are sold.

As for new motherboards, you might want to check into an ASUS TUSL2-C motherboard. Its for P-III socket, supports DMA-100 drives (no RAID though) and uses the Intel 815EP chipset. It comes in two versions, one with on board C-Media sound and one without. I just returned from a computer show, I would have bought one myself but the only kind for sale there had the on-board audio. While this can be "disabled", my past experiance with motherboards has led me to refuse to buy ANY motherboard with on-board audio, video, or networking. But that's just my paranoia....
 
by my man.. he has a SLOT ONE chip! Im running a 370 in slot one, too... but NOT a slot one in 370!

oh, and im not into debating.. if he had a modern processor.. id say get a modern board.. but the 440BX outperforms anything he can stick that slot one beast in... so I say stick with it.

and FYI.. the BE6-ii v2 supports ata100.. and the abit bx133RAID supports ata100 RAID and 133FSB.. but its socket 370.

THE 440BX RULES.. the reason its discontinued is because its TOO GOOD... no need to upgrade after you get it!! Intel loses money that way!

the 815, however.. being the ONLY intel alternative for the celly and pii/iii.. SUCKS SERIOUS ASS!!! whats with the "i only handle half a gig of ram" biz?? does intel want me to go INSANE??? besides.. it doesnt outperform the 440bx, anyway! cmon.. read up!
http://www4.tomshardware.com/mainboard/00q3/000706/index.html

"Compared to the good old warhorse 440BX, the 815 chipset is technically more advanced, but unable to surpass BX's excellent performance. A 440BX system overclocked to 133 MHz FSB is slightly faster, as lots of readers keep reminding me. However, overclocking a BX-motherboard is a touchy affair ..."

amyhoo.. so if no 440bx, then what? Apollo? SIS? I want to know.. cuz I want a new board, too! Im looking for a bx133RAID...but I would LOVE to have a BETTER option for my socket 370 celly 800.....?

xoxo

ps... you guys are on!;)
 
Ahh, I misread the original email - I thought you were wanting to put a socket chip in your current slot motherboard OR upgrade to a new board. Ooops... well there is indeed no slot chip to socket motherboard adaptor I know of.

As for your motherboard Camn, there comes a painful time when we must all let go.... like with pets and old realitives, sooner or later all motherboards must pass to that great silvery case in the sky. Hopefully your's has some good years left, but I fear that time is closing in on you... :D
 
All I can say is that if the 440bx board works for you then stick with it, but I know for myself if I was in the market for a NEW board I would not get a 440bx board.
 
thehorseshoe,
Be warned about ASUS P-2BF board, especially with regards to USB.
I got one of those few years ago not even thinking about USB. Later on I tried to connect two USB cameras and couldn't make any of those work. It turned out to be that there was a flaw in the board design, and some USB devices would not draw enough power and would not work. To fix that ASUS suggested to replace some capacitor or something... Not my cup of tea.
Anyway, I installed a PCI USB controller card and never had problems after that.
Very sad experience with otherwise very good board.

Oh, and BTW, I may be wrong with exact numbers, but the highest procesor you can stick into it without overclocking is 650 mhz. Not very high by todays marks...
 
its true.... its an old board. havent pushed the USB.. it runs my MIDI interface and my scanner just fine, tho'.. BUT you can get LESS old boards with the BX chipset. the be6-II, for instance.

Chris! I know, GOD I KNOW!! I can hardly boot the thing anymore its so old... GOD.. but what can possibly replace it??

Nutdotnet . . . what WOULD you get, then, smarty.. if you wanted an Intel Chipset that you could put your Celly 800 in??(which my p2bf is running right now, thanks, wbstop!:))

would you get the USELESS 815? If I get that, I'd have to actually toss some RAM.. thus DOWNGRADING my overall setup??!! re-diculous.

I THINK the Abit bx133-RAID is the board for me!.. but what do you geniuses think? It supports ata100.. and has built in RAID... and runs @ 133 just fine.. AND uses the WONDERUL BX440!

I just need to find one. Or Intel needs to make a decent chipset. Or somebody needs to say.. "the appolo266a will run with your Soundscape cards just fine, man! I do it a dozen times a day!"
 
Camn,

I have the A-BIT BX 133. And though it's a fine board, I would caution you that only the RAID IDE channels are ATA 100 via the Highpoint 370 controller.The primary and secondary IDE channels are not ATA 100. Also, even though the board supports FSB speeds of 133mhz and beyond, the SDRAM speed is not independantly adjustable from the FSB speed, and there is not a proper divider to supply 66mhz for the AGP port when running at 133mhz FSB. That is simply a function of the BX chipset which was popular before we had PC-133 SDRAM and ATA 100 drives. Still some of the more robust AGP cards should be able to handle the overclocked AGP port. But be forewarned, the system could become unstable depending on your harware config.

Twist
 
Dude, that article is almost useless. For one it was written almost a year ago. Which turns into about 5 "real" years as far as computer hardware goes and how fast it depreciates. The big thing then was RAMBUS, which is now just about dead.

Personally if it was me I would ditch Intel entirely and get a KT266a mobo, and a nice, and cheap! Athlon XP Proc. Stable, fast, what more could you ask for?
 
twist, you are Oh-so-right. But all of that is acceptable in my case.

I do wonder, though.. can I run a non-RAID array on the ata100 channels?

nut-net.. I know its old.. but I already compared the 815.. and we are talking about old stuff here. All the recent articles are about p4 boards... and that is not the discussion at hand. What more could I ask for? I could ask not to buy a new processor. I like the processor I have, and I already have old processors around. Should I have to buy a new one just because intel fails to properly support their hardware? I dont think so. I could also ask for a proven compatable board with a decent upgrade path. I like RAID and ata100 for that (future upgradeability, that is) and the ability to handle more than 512MB of RAM, despite slack's suggestion in another thread that its a waste. The 266a may be that option.. however, I have yet to find a soundscape uses without problems on that chipset. I may have to go for the 815, in spite of my frustration that it is a poor replacement for the old 440bx.

twist: what other hardware do you use with your bx133? and what clocks are you stable at? (though I fully intend to stay under 110)

good times, here, fellas! Still looking for more options!

xoxo
 
camn,

Yes you can operate the board in the "JBOD" mode (just a bunch of drives) and not configured as a RAID. I run mine at 133mhz, but I'm using a PCI video card to avoid the AGP overclocking dilemma. My RAM is also PC133. Works pretty well.
The only other boards I have installed are a modem and a C-Port sound card.

Twist
 
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