Like those few(?) others I've decided on a Pentium4 based computer for my next setup, even though I'm aware that Athlon processors yield more bang for the buck. I'm doing this mainly for "safety" reasons (that video on Tom's Hardware Guide did the rest 
, but that is more or less beside the point and for info only.
I've already decided on almost all other components, so the question is now more or less down to chosing the right motherboard, which has to be i845D-based. Both the Gigabyte and the MSI i845D-boards sound good, but since I've always been quite fond of ASUS, the P4B266 would seem the natural choice. There's just one *tiny* problem. As of quite a while ago ASUS seem to "forget" the ECC feature on their boards (where the chipset supports it, of course). Just take a look at recent boards, both for AMD and Intel processors, like the A7M266, A7V266, P4T, P4B et al. I know for sure that the AMD760, i850, i845 and i845D support the ECC option (just take a look at the specs on AMD's and Intel's websites), so why doesn't ASUS support it any longer. Can it be so hard if companies like Gigabyte, MSI and Epox are able, as ASUS used to be?
So, why am I looking at the P4B266 then? The reason is a) I'd really like my next board be an ASUS again, and b) something strange is written on ASUS' website regarding the specs for the board. It says (quote): "Max. 2GB unbuffered PC2100/PC1600 ECC/non-ECC DDR SDRAM Memory". Wow, I thought, finally they've seen the light! So I rushed to download the PDF version of the user manual (as I always do), and still no option for ECC in the BIOS, although the aforementioned statement is also present in the manual!
So it all comes down to this. Since I'm one of "those" users, who is concerned with data integrity and "wastes" money on ECC (parity) RAM, I'd really like to know, preferably by first-hand experience if the P4B266 is capable of using the ECC feature of the i845D or if the statement merely reflects the P4B266's capability to boot with ECC RAM installed without crashing (seems to be a problem). Or does it mean that ECC RAM is autodetected, and the boards enables the feature if ECC RAM is installed? Or could it be (unlikely) that this BIOS option isn't mentioned in the manual since so few users would actually see it (and those that do would know what it is there for)?
Please enlighten me, because ASUS hasn't been able to (an email to them hasn't resulted in any usable information)! I'm really itching to start building my new computer!!!
Thanks in advance!
, but that is more or less beside the point and for info only.I've already decided on almost all other components, so the question is now more or less down to chosing the right motherboard, which has to be i845D-based. Both the Gigabyte and the MSI i845D-boards sound good, but since I've always been quite fond of ASUS, the P4B266 would seem the natural choice. There's just one *tiny* problem. As of quite a while ago ASUS seem to "forget" the ECC feature on their boards (where the chipset supports it, of course). Just take a look at recent boards, both for AMD and Intel processors, like the A7M266, A7V266, P4T, P4B et al. I know for sure that the AMD760, i850, i845 and i845D support the ECC option (just take a look at the specs on AMD's and Intel's websites), so why doesn't ASUS support it any longer. Can it be so hard if companies like Gigabyte, MSI and Epox are able, as ASUS used to be?
So, why am I looking at the P4B266 then? The reason is a) I'd really like my next board be an ASUS again, and b) something strange is written on ASUS' website regarding the specs for the board. It says (quote): "Max. 2GB unbuffered PC2100/PC1600 ECC/non-ECC DDR SDRAM Memory". Wow, I thought, finally they've seen the light! So I rushed to download the PDF version of the user manual (as I always do), and still no option for ECC in the BIOS, although the aforementioned statement is also present in the manual!
So it all comes down to this. Since I'm one of "those" users, who is concerned with data integrity and "wastes" money on ECC (parity) RAM, I'd really like to know, preferably by first-hand experience if the P4B266 is capable of using the ECC feature of the i845D or if the statement merely reflects the P4B266's capability to boot with ECC RAM installed without crashing (seems to be a problem). Or does it mean that ECC RAM is autodetected, and the boards enables the feature if ECC RAM is installed? Or could it be (unlikely) that this BIOS option isn't mentioned in the manual since so few users would actually see it (and those that do would know what it is there for)?
Please enlighten me, because ASUS hasn't been able to (an email to them hasn't resulted in any usable information)! I'm really itching to start building my new computer!!!
Thanks in advance!
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