Help choosing a new MB...

[wolvereen]

I need some help if you guys don't mind, as I am ready to buy my new PC, but the only thing stopping me is indecision!

First off, I want to go Intel because I do a LOT of video work (editing, encoding, etc) that is work related at home. SO far all benchmarks I have seen for MPEG processing, for example, are much higher on equivalent Intel platforms. Also, some prog's I have (Avid for one) tend not to play friendly with AMD. Most of my time on the PC is split on Avid/Web/Games. I also want a system that is going to last me for at least a year.

That said, I really like the overall specs of the Asus P4PE line overall. However, the only thing stopping me is the 4X AGP. I would love to have a Radeon 9700 when the prie drops just a little bit, but will the boards 4X AGP be the bottleneck in performance of games? How much of a limitation is this?

Also, I have looked at the Asus P4G8X, but most of the bench's I have seen place it behind the P4PE. So too with the gigabyte 8INXP. Is this just exampletory (sp?) of the whole i850 chipset? seems to be below the i845 in terms of game performance & video apps.

Anything coming around the corner (next month or so) that I should wait and see for?

Some help and DEFINATELY suggestions would be GREATLY appreciated as I would like to purchase soon! 🙂

 

[Guest]

First off, you wont see any performance gain in 8x AGP over 4x AGP. No card/game can actually use that much bandwidth. Maximum PC actually did a test on this and 8x AGP cards had lower performance than x4 AGP (although it was only like 2%-5%). So when it comes to gaming, dont worry about that.

I think that the major problem with the granite bay chipset, or at least what puts it at a disadvantage in relation to the i845 chipset, is the memory. The i845 runs faster when it uses PC1066 Rambus. That's because if your using a p4 cpu 2.4ghz or higher, the PC1066 would be inline with the cpu bandwith cuz they have a bandwith of 4.2gb/s. DDR333, on the other hand, isn't exactly cutting edge. If you want to use the Dual DDR feature, you will need DDR266, which is even slower. The new SiS 655 chipset can support DDR400 though. Perpahs you should look into that.

I would definatly go with the Sis655 or the Granite Bay over the i845 though. They are both alot more stable, and that dual ddr might come in handy for you work

 

[TKH]

Since you are doing video work, I would recommend Gigabyte SINXP1394, a SiS655 with the support of SATA RAID or PATA RAID; Dual-ch DDR333 (you can use 2 sticks of 512MB Corsair XMS2700 for both performance and memory capacity); 8X AGP supported if you really want to use this features on Radeon 9700; IEEE1394 which makes a great feature on video capture. If you run a HT supported CPU on it you'll be shocked!!!

My PC has gone to hell... because it's a killing machine...

 

[wolvereen]

Thanks TKH.

I am not worried about RAID IDE currently as I have 2 Medea 150 SCSI array drives to capture analog content to and 2 Maxtor 160 GB IDE for pure storage. Tell you the truth, those 5800 RPM IDE's work jsut fine for capturing DV content (most of my stuff I aguire via my XL1 through Avid) as the content is simple copied in DV and not actually captured.

The 655 Chipset DOES really intrigue me, but the layout of gigabytes board is somewhat questionable. THeir power is place very awkwardly it looks liek for one. What about the MSI and (more importatnly for me as I liek their boards) Asus? Any clue when the Asus P4SDX will be for sale? Its not even listed on their site?

Lastly I am sticking with a 2.4 GHz P4 for now, but want to upgrade to the P4 3.06 HT in the very near future which is why I need a HT enabled board.

Thanks again!

 

[wolvereen]

Anybody else with a thought?

 

[Crashman]

Well, other than the fact that the backflash001 d00d got the i845E and i850E mixed up?

OK, the best performing board on the market right now is the MSI 655 Max-FISR. You can read a full review at Anandtech.

<font color=blue>Watts mean squat if you don't have quality!</font color=blue>

 

[bob_dn]

As for anything coming in a month - Intel Canterwood chipset is due in mid-April if you want to wait.

 

[xeenrecoil]

I own a Asus p4g8x Deluxe, and let me tell you if you put high quality ram in it that bad boy will scream, i have my CPU OCed by 400Mhz and it doesnt even get to the minimum thermal shut off you can set. Another thing is its rock solid stable you can run a graphics intense demo all night long and it wont even breath hard, for added stability you can add a chipset fan, or even liquid cool the CPU, toms hardware OCed a 3.1Ghz p4 to 4.1Ghz yeah thats right 4.1Ghz...its a wicked machine, its the fastest thing out there just short of rambus 1066, and it isnt short by much, just buy some DDR 3200 CL2, and goto town. not to mention all the killer onboard features like Raid 0, i drool every time i think of it...dual channel DDR, SATA, 8xAGP, GLan, IEEE1394, 6 channel audio...i mean omg its a geeks wet dream, im a hard core gamer and this is the most impressive machine i have ever played on and i have played on alot of machines, its wicked sick.

Xeen

 

[wolvereen]

First off, thanks everyone for your input! This decision has been driving me batty!

The only thing holding me back about SIS655 are the motherboards. I don't like the arrangement on the MSI at all, it just looks like it would be a pain to get to everything (esp. the power connector). The Gigabyte variant has been getting mixed reviews on its performance, and the Asus seems to be MIA (not even listed on their homepage though I found a review at Anandtech...)

Crashman - Do you have the MSI? How is it in terms of setup and installation? Does your power connection get in the way of your CPU cooling?

Anyone knwo whats up with the Asus version of this board?

Anyone actually have the Gigabyte version that can comment on performance?

Thanks again...

 

[Crashman]

No, I'm still waiting on my purchase because I simply...don't need a faster computer ATM. Strange but true. In fact, I LIKE my old computer. Hmmm.

Was considering the SINXP1394 because I liked it's layout, especially with the two extra IDE ports (MSI only has one). But the sticker price is a real shocker! Also considering the 8SQ800, which is that same board without the fancy features. The MSI board falls in the middle, it's nearly an ideal solution.

I've been through the whole weird power connector placement thing dozens of times with other boards. Other than being a pain in the arse to work around, it doesn't seem to hinder performance. What I'm saying is that unless you plan on pulling the CPU frequently, it shouldn't be a problem. ATX power cables are usually quite long, so that clearing the top of the cooler shouldn't be a problem on most systems.

<font color=blue>Watts mean squat if you don't have quality!</font color=blue>