478 (northwood) PCIe mobo?

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g00n

Member
Mar 16, 2004
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I have a feeling this is an amazingly stupid question. Is there a Intel 478 mobo w/ PCIe thats actually available? I think Albatron made one but I havent actually seen it anywhere. I have a P4 (northwood) 3.0 and 1gb DDR400. I NEED to upgrade my video card very badly. Im thinking 6800gs/7800gs AGP but I would really like to get a 7800GT PCIe and a new mobo if it was possible. Then at least I could hold onto my video card a little longer after I update my CPU/Ram. Dumping $300 into another AGP card sucks...

And no, I dont have the cash to do a full system upgrade right now. Just figuring out my best options. I have an extremely dated ti4600 so i REALLY need to do something.
 
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Conky

Lifer
May 9, 2001
10,709
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I looked into the PCIe mobo deal for my Northwood too and the results were minimal and the choices limited. There are a couple boards that do Northwood and PCIe but they are not full featured motherboards and lack numerous features.

I gave up and went with an X850XT as my last AGP upgrade and I will redo my whole system at some point down the road... A2 socket? Or Intel's next thing?

Who knows? I have moved beyond the "replace the mobo, cpu, videocard and ram every 3 months" stage. I need reasons to justify upgrades beyond having the latest crap... which will be old crap in a month, lol. I require bang for the buck these days for my measly bucks. :laugh:

 
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ChonChon

Banned
Dec 3, 2005
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i never upgrade less then 1.5 - 2 years apart, not worth it!

video card MAYBE if its NECESSARY.....like now....!!!
 
Paratus

Paratus

Lifer
Jun 4, 2004
17,561
15,674
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Asus makes a full featured skt 478 board w/PCIe but good luck finding it.


posted via Palm Life Drive
 
apoppin

apoppin

Lifer
Mar 9, 2000
34,890
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alienbabeltech.com
since you have a ti4600 . . . an AGP 6800GS or 7800GS would be an excellent upgrade for $165-~$300. . . . that way you could hold on to your system a little longer . . . it is still pretty capable [and it will play ALL the latest games}

What resolution do yougame at? [crt or lcd?]

i was in an identical position [P4 2.80c @3.31Ghz/Abit IC7] and got the x850xt last month for $200 to replace my 9800xt. . . . even FEAR runs well at 11x8 with 4xAA/8xAF. Games will have all the eye-candy you now lack and you can add massive amounts of AA/AF to the older ones. . . .

relatively cheap upgrade that will tide me over till i do the complete makover ;)

i am saving my money NOW.
 
nitromullet

nitromullet

Diamond Member
Jan 7, 2004
9,031
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This is somewhat obscure IMO, but there apparently is a company that makes a i915 chipset mobo that supports socket 478 and PCI-e and a retailer in the UK that sells them:

http://econline.co.uk/shop/product_info.php?cPath=21_24&products_id=61

EQS, the motherboard manufacturer also appears to make a socket 478/PCI-e motherboard based on the ATI Radeon Xpress 200 chipset which has an onboard graphics chip to boot, but this is in a Micro ATX form factor.

http://www.eqscomputers.com/products/mobo/motherboard.php?model=M54P8-MLF
 
nitromullet

nitromullet

Diamond Member
Jan 7, 2004
9,031
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That Asus board will most likely never come back in stock at ZZF. There was someone on here talking about that board and getting in on some group purchase deal where they import the boards from somewhere overseas in bulk. They weren't overly forthcoming with details if I recall, and the supply sounded really limited. I don't blame you for not being wanting to order that mobo from the UK, I have never heard of that brand before. Then again, it is an Intel chipset - I'm certainly more leary of SiS and VIA chips in cheap/obscure manufacturers to be honest.

Good luck with this endevour...
 
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g00n

Member
Mar 16, 2004
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I dont get it, it seems to me a decent amount of ppl would buy a $60 478 skt PCIe mobo right now... a P4 w/ 1gig DDR400 is a decent system even for the coming year. It's by no means totally outdated. Matched up w/ a good GPU its just fine. I guess there is literally NO market for it. I either dump $300 into a 7800 GS I cant use once I upgrade or spend 3x that for a full system upgrade. Its horseshit...
 
RussianSensation

RussianSensation

Elite Member
Sep 5, 2003
19,458
765
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In all honesty, even 6600GT is a great upgrade for your system. However, given that a 6800GS costs just $50 more, I'd get that and do a full overhaul when you save up money for a new system.

If you've been playing with 4600, you dont need 7800GS to hold you over for a year. With Vista coming out, you'll want 64-bit capable processor, 2 gigs of ram and PCIe graphics card. So eventually you'll have to make the jump to PCIe and a 64 bit processor. Investing into 2 gigs of DDR1 ram isnt good imo either since you wont be able to reuse that and having 4x512mb impedes overclocking and forces 2T timings. If you can try to find a used 6600GT/6800nu/6800GT/X800 or X850 series. Otherwise, I wouldn't get anything faster than 6800GS AGP. That card is a huge upgrade from yours. Put $100 savings from not getting 7800GS and consider that your next "free" motherboard upgrade.
 
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g00n

Member
Mar 16, 2004
52
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All true, but I want to play BF2, q4, CS:source, now at glossy frames. A 6800GT or GS could do this but what about Quake Wars? I would really like to have _playable_ frames in Quake Wars with a p4 3.0, 1gig ddr400. Having a 7800GS could really help me stretch this system. I probably wont be able to do a full system upgrade for another year or two :(. IMO the extra $50-75 for a 7800GS over 6800GS would be worth it when Quake Wars comes out (among other games). This system will run Vista fine. I wont be cutting edge, but thats how it is when you are a broke college student. Gaming really shouldnt be a priority anyway. ;)

It really annoys me that the 7800GT is actually cheaper than the GS. I would like to snag a PCIe mobo to limp along with but it doesnt even look like thats an option.
 
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kyparrish

Diamond Member
Nov 6, 2003
5,935
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What about getting an agp 6800gs now, and buy an AMD asrock agp/pci-e mobo one day when you want to upgrade your cpu?
 
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Nextman916

Golden Member
Aug 2, 2005
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no offense but wouldnt a P4 at 3.0ghz be a bottleneck to a 7800gt pci-e anyways? So even then if you plan on buying a gpu thats cheaper, like the 6800gs in pci-e, wouldnt it be cheaper just to buy it in agp?
 
StrangerGuy

StrangerGuy

Diamond Member
May 9, 2004
8,443
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Originally posted by: Nextman916
no offense but wouldnt a P4 at 3.0ghz be a bottleneck to a 7800gt pci-e anyways? So even then if you plan on buying a gpu thats cheaper, like the 6800gs in pci-e, wouldnt it be cheaper just to buy it in agp?
Click to expand...

A 3.0C is not as slow as you think, and almost all intensive games are GPU-limited to the point where a decent CPU is almost as good as a high-end one.
 
RussianSensation

RussianSensation

Elite Member
Sep 5, 2003
19,458
765
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Originally posted by: Nextman916
no offense but wouldnt a P4 at 3.0ghz be a bottleneck to a 7800gt pci-e anyways? So even then if you plan on buying a gpu thats cheaper, like the 6800gs in pci-e, wouldnt it be cheaper just to buy it in agp?
Click to expand...

CPU scaling

As you can see a faster graphics card with A64 1.8ghz (3000+) beats out a system with A64 2.4ghz (4000+) and just 1 lower grade graphics card. Unfortunately (or fortunately for some?) today's game just don't benefit as much from a cpu upgrade as a gpu upgrade. Although it is important to note that as games become more demanding and one is forced to drop AA and lower resolution settings, more pronounced difference between 3000+ and a 4000+ processors will be evident.
 
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shabby

Diamond Member
Oct 9, 1999
5,782
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91
I will be ordering the albatron mobo most likely tomorrow, i might get an extra one if someone wants one real badly. Shipping is kinda pricey since its from overseas so buying 2 makes sense.
I still dont know the final price but if anyone is serious about it let me know. Im not sure if i'll have to pay any local taxes, so i wont know the final price till i recieve them.
 
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NoStateofMind

Diamond Member
Oct 14, 2005
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Why would you get an albatron over an Asus? Just curious:)

EDIT: Also what's that asterisk "*" next to the PCIe designation? Maybe only certain ones supported? I know the CPU list doesnt support my processor. Oh well.
 
DeathReborn

DeathReborn

Platinum Member
Oct 11, 2005
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I've had 2 Albatron boards & 1 ASUS board in my lifetime & not one has given me issues. Albatron may be cheap but they make fairly sturdy products.
 
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shabby

Diamond Member
Oct 9, 1999
5,782
45
91
Originally posted by: PC Surgeon
Why would you get an albatron over an Asus? Just curious:)

EDIT: Also what's that asterisk "*" next to the PCIe designation? Maybe only certain ones supported? I know the CPU list doesnt support my processor. Oh well.
Click to expand...

The asus p4gd1 is impossible to find, believe me i've looked. The p4rd1 mini atx is available in some places but it only has 2 memory slots and i need 4.

The asterisk doesnt mean anything, you get true pcie slots in this mobo unlike in the asrock.
 
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