Asus P4B266 or P4S333 for 1.6A ?

[herbage11]

Hey all. Got it narrowed down to 2 mobos. I like both the Asus P4B266 and the P4S333. I want to know what people think would be better for the P4 1.6A? I plan to overclock some but not a whole lot. I have heard about USB issues on the P4B266 but I like the UBS 2.0 on the regular one (not the C version). The P4S333 is a little cheaper also. I want a reliable mobo. not the better overclocker etc. Let me know what you all think and why please. Thanks a lot.

 

[AndyHui]

Both boards are reliable, but for overclocking, I really suggest the P4B266 instead. The P4S333 does not overclock well, but it performs better than the P4B266 out-of-the-box with PC2700 DDR SDRAM.

 

[herbage11]

OK thanks Andy that is what I have heard. Tuff choice really. What kind do you suggest and where do you find PC2700 DDR Ram? I could not find it on Crucial. Let me know what you think...thanks

 

[newbiepcuser]

If you're not into OC, then look at the Dragon series boards by Soyo. Hit their web page up and check out their p4 series board.
As for good pc 2700, i check out newegg.com for corsair and mushkin. Or go direct to mushkin web site for daily deals.

 

[herbage11]

Cool thanks newbie....I'll have to look at those boards and RAM.

 

[newbiepcuser]

If you live near Fry's, every 10 days, Soyo Dragon mobo sis 645 chipset board with P4 1.7 for 249. Unhappy with it, then return it.

 

[dbwillis]

Im using an Asus P4S333 with a 1.6a with Crucial DDR PC2100.
It booted/ran at 2133 (133 bus) with no problems, stock voltage and cooling.
Ive had it as high as 2410 (150x16) but the DDR had to be underclocked (4:3 ratio/225 instead of 266 and CL2-2-2-2-4 and at 1.6v.
It runs fine but Ive settled with 2300 (144x16) with the DDR at 1:1 ratio (288 instead of 266 but at CL2.5-2-3-3-5) and 1.55v.
It ran SiSoft Sandra overnight (roughtly 200+ times with no problems, at 2410 SiSoft closed to the desktop on the 5th run.

Ive got the screen shots if anyone wants them or can post them

Board is very stable

 

[herbage11]

WOW that is awesome to hear. I was leaning towards the P4B266 at first but this P4S333 sounds like a good board as well. thanks for the info. dbwillis Anyone else have an Asus P4B266 or P4S333 w/ a 1.6A to tell me about?

 

[Daovonnaex]

Be forewarned, overclocking DDR SDRAM doesn't yield the same kind of performance as RDRAM. I'd recommend the P4B266 out of the two you recommend, because it's more stable when overclocking.

 

[dbwillis]

Not sure if these screen shots can be linked form here but here goes:>

1.6a #1

1.6a #2

1.6a #3

 

[herbage11]

thanks for the shots dbwillis...since that mobo is cheaper and I am not really THAT intersted in the little less overclocking of it. Think I may go w/ that P4S333 w/ 512 mb crucial DDR..where you pick yours up at willis?.....any other success stories w/ this set up?....thanks all

 

[dbwillis]

I got mine from mwave.com, there 'order processing' seems to be a day or two ahead of newegg.com's

 

[Link]

<< Not sure if these screen shots can be linked form here but here goes:>

1.6a #1

1.6a #2

1.6a #3 >>





Man....you need a better graphic card. It's totally killing your Northwood.

 

[w9design]

I'd personally go with the P4B266.

I've got one, and I've taken my 1.6A to 2560MHz stably, and booted into Windows at above 2800MHz.

Here's why I'd recommend it over the SiS:
- Intel chipset + Intel chip = top-notch stability. The SiS chipset is more than likely just as good, but there's a certain amount of piece of mind involved.
- The i845 chipset is built on an 0.18u process and is in a flip-chip packaging; the SiS645 is on a 0.25u process in traditional BGA packaging. Why do you care? Well, the i845 chipset generates less heat and transfers that heat to the heatsink more efficiently. 170MHz FSB or higher is not out of the question on this board.

If you're only going to be overclocking to perhaps no higher than 150MHz FSB, the SiS board offers much higher bang for the buck and more flexibility in terms of RAM speed -- the P4B266 will only run ram at a 1:1 ratio at 133MHz or above. But for high-FSB overclocking, the i845 is unbeatable.

 

[herbage11]

Great info w9design thanks. I am really torn on this because as I said I am not going to overclock a whole lot but some. It is a tuff choice and both would be great I am sure but information like you gave will help me decide on one. I do wonder about the USB issue w/ the P4B266 but I would get the one w/ USB 2.0 anyway making this an even harder choice. Thanks again and keep em coming.

 

[Rebels7]

I have a P4B266-C that I have been running a 1.5 ghz willie @ 1800. This system has been very stable, today I got a 1.6A Northwood and wham!!! 2400 mhz @ 150 mhz FSB. System ran stable all night and I do believe that it will clock higher. All of this at default voltage, MBM 5 says that the temp of the chip is around 27-29 degrees.

 

[herbage11]

Alright thanks Rebel. I think I will only run my 1.6A at about 2GHZ and be happy w/ that. I am sure either will work for that and be very stable. Anyone else? Success stories? thanks

 

[rgowen]

These are the 2 boards I am considering as well. I wish I could find a website that has compared the 2 in some benchmarks. It would also be nice to know which seems the better overclocker. I am leaning towards the P4S333 because of the 3 DDR slots, since I already have 3 sticks of Crucial 256 meg PC2100 I would hate to go to waste. But I am worried that I may not hit 133fsb on the CPU with all 3 sticks in. I am looking to get the 1.6a and a Chieftec Server Tower with 420 Watt PSU and reuse all my other stuff from my current rig.

 

[herbage11]

Hey man....through my research I found these reviews. Hope it helps and let me know what you decide on or any more info you have found please.

Asus P4B266 Review

Asus P4S333 Review

those are the best and most detailed that I have found for them head to head.

 

[herbage11]

Like to get a few more opinions on this. Really am not sure yet which one to go.....P4B266 or P4S333? ? thanks

 

[WheelsCSM]

I was torn myself, but had to make a quick decision so I went with the P4S33 for some of the reasons you allready stated (mostly the additional mem bank). It should be here tomorrow, and I'll be putting in my 1.6A and overclocking as soon as I get it up and going. I'll let you know how it goes. After reading those reviews you just posted though I'm starting to wish I had gone with the P4B266-C. Oh well, guess I'll just have to wait and see how she does. Why can't FedEx deliver on Saturdays? Damn them!!!

 

[herbage11]

Great....Let me know how it goes and what you think please Wheels....thanks
later

 

[Possum]

I'm not sure how many people have actually tried or will try both the P4B266 and the P4S333, but it seems that people who bought one or the other are generally happy with their purchase. Maybe you should just pick one?

 

[herbage11]

Thanks Possum I am trying to pick one and this is my first computer to build and I am still saving up the $ so I wanted to get as much advice as possible so I could make the best choice. But yes I will pick one of these 2 eventually.

 

[Acanthus]

only thing i can really add to the pool is dont anyone even consider a BD7 MAJOR MAJOR MAJOR problems, ranging from random rebooting, to BSODs telling me my ACPI BIOS isnt fully ACPI compliant, to a BIOS flash telling me that the bios on the disk isnt for my system (downloaded directly from abits website).