What mobo with Ahtlon XP?

  • Thread starter Thread starter alonso
  • Start date Start date
hmmmm what can you say about dual AMD? Should I go with Athlon XP or MP? What boards go with dual that support DDR 333? Any good suggestions?
 
oooh... I'd stay away from dual.

Too many compatibility issues, and the performance increase, believe it or not, isn't that great... especially since most (mainstream) apps can't even make use of both the CPU's. Then you gotta take into account that you'll have two HS/F's running (i.e. twice the noise)... you gotta by ECC (more expensive) RAM... etc. etc. etc... over all, I don't think it's worth it.

I use the Soyo Dragon Plus, with an AMD 1900+ and a Delta 44. And I have no probs whatsoever.

WATYF
 
I agree, you are really only going to see MAJOR performance gains with dual processors, if you are focusing on graphics applications. Most of these applications (Lightwave, 3Dmax, etc.), utilize these processors via, application specific Multi-threading, and most programs, such as Adobe Photoshop will actually perform better with single processors unless you utilize an operating system that natively supports Multi-threading (Such as Win2000 or XP Pro).
 
alonso said:
Still Via makes my blood run cold, if you tell me that you have run AMD plus Soyo and Delta 1010 without problems youll make me a happy camper!!!!!!
Click to expand...

I can't speak for the Soyo specifically, but the Abit I'm using is based on the same chipset, and I have no issues with my 1010.
 
and what can you say about getting an XP 2000, or 2100 or 2200, I guess they arent that different, or is the difference in speed noticeable?
 
Hey Watyf, i checked the feedback on resseller.com on the guys selling soyo in pricewatch and all of them completely suck!!!!!Most buyers advice and complaint against them!!!!
 
alonso said:
and what can you say about getting an XP 2000, or 2100 or 2200, I guess they arent that different, or is the difference in speed noticeable?
Click to expand...

I think I heard somewhere that it's not worth the extra money to shell out for the 2200, because the 2100 isn't much slower and can be overclocked to the speed of the 2200 anyway. Apparently there's some issue with o/c'ing the 2200. Check the AMD processors forum at amdmb.com for detailed information.
 
XP2000 vs. XP2200: Yeah.. save your money. The performance gains are marginal. And if you want to, you can get a 2000 and clock it to a 2200's speed. Buy any decent HS/F and you can do this with no problem. Even if you use the stock clock speeds, it's still not really worth it... for (almost) a hundred bucks more, the increased speed of the 2200 just isn't worth it,.. unless budget is of no concern. The 2000+ is prolly at the best price/performance point at the moment.

Pricewatch: Yeah.. you gotta watch some guys on there.. that's why I mentioned Reseller Ratings. Some of them don't show up on RR, but that doesn't mean they're bad. You can also try lookin it up on eBay and making sure you buy from someone with good feedback...



Not to throw a wrench in the gears, but if you're definitely gonna go with a KT333 model, (which I didn't know at first) then I would strongly recommend the Gigabyte GA-7VRXP. (even over the Soyo). When it comes to the KT266A chipset, Soyo reigns supreme (in my estimation)... but that's somewhat because the usual "kings of the hill" dropped the ball. (not to say that the Soyo isn't a great board) For some reason, guys like Asus and Gigabyte just didn't put out very good contenders with the KT266A chipset.

But... now that KT333 is the newest "thing", big names like Gigabyte have gotten back to making the best of the bunch. Check oat this review for full details, including extensive benchmarks on the "who's who" of KT333 boards. If I was in the market for a new mobo right now, I would be getting the GA-7VRXP, hands-down. The last Gigabyte board I owned was a great piece of work,.. unfortuntaley, at the time of my purchase... KT266A was the "latest and greatest" and Soyo had the crown in that race.

WATYF
 
2200+

doesn;t the die shrink on the thoroghbred 2200+ price it competatively vs the 2100? thought it would be cheaper...

one price list for this week says...

Athlon XP 1700+ (1.47GHz) $78

Athlon XP 1800+ (1.53GHz) $86

Athlon XP 1900+ (1.6GHz) $114

Athlon XP 2000+ (1.67GHz) $136

Athlon XP 2100+ (1.73GHz) $173

pricewatch shows...

Athlon XP 2200+ 1.8Hz 3D NOW!(Socket-A) 266FSB Processor Thoroughbred .13 micron $ 213

thats a bit much. 70 MHz for 40$.

but i think since intel is still the fastest, the price of the 2200 will come down soon. hope so

SirRiff
 
As far as finding a reputable online retailer, I recommend www.newegg.com. I built a system about six months ago and I bought almost everything from them. Everything came well packaged and worked out of the box. They are pretty well regarded generally.

You may have some issues getting things shipped internationally from any online retailer though. You'll probably want to inquire about that first thing.
 
The thing is that I will buy all the parts and have them sent to a friend down in Florida, then I would fly up there, put it together with someone´s help and then bring it down to my country, otherwise it will cost me about 35% more if I ordered the stuff from here, and if I plan on spending $1800 35% is like $620, so all in all it is still cheaper for me to fly there. Anyway I would also buy the Delta 1010 and probably a Mackie mixer so I would kill three birds in a shot. What makes me wonder is how to find someone to help me put it all together since I dont have any experience myself in building PCs and dont have more than a couple of days to pull out the stunt once I´m there...
 
Hey WATYF

I went out and did some checking on the Gigabyte GA-7VRXP you mentioned and I saw them touting their "Dual BIOS" feature. Have you ever had a backup BIOS? In any system that you've owned? It seems like it COULD be useful but only in a very very rare situation. Sounds like a way to raise the cost. I noticed on Pricewatch the lowest price being $98 which is about $30 more than the Abit KG7. Just curious...
 
That's because the KG7 uses an AMD 760 (761) chipset.. older (266DDR version) and slower.

and 98 bucks is a great deal on the Gigabyte.. where'd you find that.

P.S. I second the vote for newegg.com. Great place to buy stuff from.

WATYF
 
nevermind.. you were talking before shipping... runs aboot 110 shipped.

WATYF
 
I read the reviews of the Gigabyte GA-7VRXP in newegg and it appears that almost half the people who bought this board are cursing it because of stability problems , crashes and other horrible stuff. Read here:

http://www.newegg.com/app/CustratingReview.asp?item=13-128-136

But they also have some good feedback on the Soyo Ultra, the only thing is that it doesnt like Creative souncards,

http://www.newegg.com/app/CustratingReview.asp?item=13-139-109
So I´m a BIT confused now because I really want to go with DDR 333
 
Like the song says: I´m all made up and nowhere to go........

Got the money but dont know what mobo to buy....what a dilemma.........
 
I have read...

Greetings,

i have read 15 reviews on the soyo ultra and 10 on the gigabyte. the performance diff is ~3% at most in favor on the gigabyte and varies based on each test. the soyo almost always ends up in the middle of the kt333 pack in term of performance (the epox always wins).

but the soyo seems to be far more user friendly in terms of conflicts/behavior then the gigabyte if you read alot of computer forums. (anandtech mentioned how the soyo was stable with all three ram slots occupied)

the best kt333 roundup to date i think..
even has onboard audio cpu usage...

http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.html?i=1636

SirRiff
 
I read the reviews in anandtech and hothardware ant it seems that all of the KT333 have some good points and some bad points, none is an overall winner, none of them was rated as clearly stepping out of the group, all had issues and features that were critisized by the reviewers, I´m much more confused than before, although I´m starting to incline for the Soyo Dragon Ultra.....
 
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