confused, frustrated?Please help!

[mcurphy]

I have been researching mobos for 3 months in anticipation of building a new pc. I am ready to purchase and build, but now I can't decide on a mobo! I waited patiently and got very excited for the Granite Bays. I was determined to get the Gigabyte 8INXP, but I read there are errors particualarly with the AGP 8X and DPS. AGP 8X is a feature that I very much want for the ATI 9700 pro card I am getting. I also want the ATA 133 interface both with the RAID and IDE channels because I already have drives to match.

Would it be wiser to go with a SIS 655 chipset like that in the Gigabyte SINXP1394 board? This is the only other board I have seen that fits all my wants / needs. Does anyone know of any issues with the SIS 655 chipset?? One other thing to mention, this will be the first PC I have built on my own, are these motherboards a smooth setup and install? It appears to be a nice choice at $25 less than the Intel. I'd just like to build-and-go, since its my first time, and not have to worry about tweaking anything right off the bat. At least not until I know everything is stable and running well. I have a lot of experience with installing drives, ram, and cards on already built pc's and I am in my second year of college towards a computer information systems degree, so I am not totally ignorant. I guess I just want some reassurance that I won't have to pull my hair out.

What I plan on putting in this rig:

P4 2.66Ghz
120GB Maxtor ATA 133 (primary IDE)
2 X 30GB Maxtor ATA 133's (for RAID0)
4 X 256MB PC2100 DDR RAM (I already have these so not looking at higher speed right now)
Radeon 9700Pro vid card
Antec 1080 Case
Lite-On dvd and cdrw drives

So what do you guys suggest? Is the SIS 655 SINXP1494 a stable board for a first timer?? Or should I go with the Intel 8INXP?
Is there another board out there with ATA133 RAID and AGP 8X??

One other quick question...someone recommended the VANTEC AeroFlow VP4-C7040 heatsink. Is this a wise purchase to go with my setup or will the included heatsink work well enough with no overclocking?

I really appreciate ANY input on this! I am spending a lot of dough and would like a little security as to what I am getting into.

Cheers,

Mcurphy

 

[mechBgon]

Originally posted by: mcurphy
Is there another board out there with ATA133 RAID and AGP 8X??

It sounds like you are dead-set on both Intel and RAID so I will spare you the suggestion of nForce2. And what's this about being confused and frustrated, you don't even have the board yet!

AGP 8X is of no practical merit for a consumer-level computer, as far as I've seen. Some people have to disable it anyway, on both of the platforms you're considering. You may find this useful in your quest too: Intel board search engine

 

[mcurphy]

I guess I'm frustrated becuase I just want to pick a good stable board. I see great reviews come out, and then a bunch of posts fill the forum with all kinds of issues once its released. Also frustrating in that I finally decide on a board, then a better one comes out, but there are issues, but I don't want to get something outdated, and so on and so on. Its a vicous cycle!

The confusion mostly comes on deciding which board to get. Also with all the tech jargon as a result of board problems and how to fix them as far as BIOS updates and tweaks go.

I have my whole system picked out...but the motherboard!

I guess maybe I should just take the leap and get the SINXP1394, and then go from there.

As far as AGP 8X, I want this because the 9700 pro will utilize it, and for future upgrades. I think AGP speeds will keep increasing just as everything else does. So if I get the 8X support for now, I will be prepared for the near future.

 

[mechBgon]

Remember that Intel is planning to release the 800MHz-fsb CPUs soon. You might be kicking yourself in a couple months... or maybe not, who knows. If you want a perky system, ...oh wait, I think I already did my rant about how fast 15000rpm SCSI drives are.

Really, if you want upper-end stuff, this is not the best of times to buy, IMHO. Intel is about to bring out new flagship CPUs as well as enhanced versions of their mid-line CPUs (equipped with Hyperthreading), AMD is slowly gearing up to launch the Athlon 64 to take over from their SocketA platform... *sigh*

 

[mcurphy]

Thanks again for the helpful insight. I really appreciate your opinion and help you've given me.

I have considered waiting for the 800MHz FSB, but then I'd have to redesign the whole system I'm anticipating, as well as wait at least another two to three? months. And even then it will probably be out of my budget range to acquire the RAM, CPU, and Motherboard.
I don't think I'll be kicking myself because I'll be close enough to the top still as it takes time for the 800MHz to become the standard. I would think the setup I am planning will be addequate for at least two years as far as running new releases of software, games, and digital media manipulation.

So, from what you've read, maybe even experienced, is the SINXP1394 a good solid choice for a first-timer build?

I didn't know Intel had plans for hyperthreading support in midline cpu's! How long before we can see a 2.5 or 2.6 with that capability?

 

[mechBgon]

Because of a sudden outbreak of Gigabytes with Dual-Power-System issues, from both the SiS655 lineup and the E7205, I would be nervous about a Gigabyte that features DPS. If I were choosing an Intel platform, I'm afraid I would do the unthinkable and get an i850E board and some PC1066 RDRAM. It's mature, it gives even Granite Bay and SiS655 a run for their money... no AGP 8X but that doesn't make any difference in performance with consumer-level video cards like the 9700 Pro. You can even buy a genuine Intel-brand i850E desktop board if you want. Run through that Intel board-finder again and look up some RAID-equipped i850E boards.

edit: eeek, I just now looked at the price of PC1066 RDRAM :Q Maybe that isn't such a great idea after all. It's over three times the price of PC2100, at which rate you might as well go back to looking at Granite Bay boards.

I'm sort of a closet AMD fanboy and my all-around workhorse system is an nForce2-based system with 15000rpm SCSI and 1.5Gb of RAM: one of these Mine went together easy as pie, with the worst glitches being an extra-springy I/O shield and a goof on my part with the front-USB connector of my case. If you were contemplating coming over to the green side these are good boards with very nice 5.1 audio, Firewire, USB 2.0, functioning AGP 8X, very good overclocking, and the board is $130 less than the SINXP1394. That's almost enough money saved to buy a pair of 512Mb Crucial PC2700 modules (or an Ultra160 SCSI card ).

Sorry if that isn't a clear "buy" signal. I don't know precisely when, but there are supposedly going to be HT-enabled P4's down to the 2.4GHz-2.6GHz level, or that was the rumor. Maybe when they release the 800Mhz-bus ones?

 

[eclectro]

yeah, I am having a hard time too. I was going to buy an msi sis 655 board until the hyperthreading issue popped up. It looked like it was the best bang for the buck right now.

The problem with waiting for the 800 mhz stuff is that when it does come out it's going to be top dollar.

The best thing I think you can do is buy a mobo with hyperthreading support so that you have an upgrade path when 800 mhz comes out, because then the HT parts will start to be in the affordable range. Also, besides 800 mhz stuff is not only going to be expensive, it really will be bleading edge and there are going to bugs everywhere. Better to wait a year for everything to settle and for prices to be reasonable on it.

 

[rwalterk]

Are you opposed to the Asus P4G8X, other than the fact that it's $279? :Q

If you want a proven, stable board, maybe you should consider taking a slight performance hit and going with a more mature chipset. The ASUS P4PE/R/L/SATA is 845PE based (still supports HyperThreading) and has everything you've mentioned you were looking for, the only thing being you'd have to get Serial ATA to Parallel ATA converters for the RAID setup. However it's only $145 at newegg and has received rave reviews.

On the heatsink/fan issue, I have the Athlon version of the Vantec Aeroflow (VA4). It's incredibly quiet and effective. I guarantee it's better than the bundled HSF, but if you're not overclocking the bigger benefit will noise reduction (but it will still cool the CPU better).

On the timing of buying issue, when is it ever a great time to buy? You can wait forever for the perfect time, but there's always something newer and better on the horizon. Just get the best thing your budget will allow and you'll be fine.

 

[eclectro]

As mentioned in another thread, the asus 845pe has problems with the onboard audio. I'm holding off on it because of it.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Originally posted by: eclectro
As mentioned in another thread, the asus 845pe has problems with the onboard audio. I'm holding off on it because of it.

No disrespect intended but are you going to let a very small percentile issue like that disuade you from purchasing an excellent board? The primary sound issue with the P4PE was the audio coping out above 150fsb but that was easily cured by bumping the PCI/AGP to engage the lock. The issue you are refering to is extremely uncommon among P4PE owners, in fact of the hundreds of posts concerning it the cold boot issue is the only one I would consider significant enough to inspire doubt about it as a personal solution if I did not already own one I wouldn't know about the cold boot issue because I crunch SETI for TeAm Anandtech 24/7/365 and with a 2.4B@3.114ghz@default Vcore (as set in bios actual is 1.583v idle, dips as low as 1.51v under SETI load ) and DDR443 on a 100$ stick of 3200 I'm a happy camper Anyways, I respect your right to decide but don't let a few boards with fubared sound be the reason to shun it

 

[eclectro]

Anyways, I respect your right to decide but don't let a few boards with fubared sound be the reason to shun it

That was the only selling point for me on this board - the supposed high grade "sound max audio." The newsgroup postings didn't say what fsb they were using, but it sounded like that they weren't overclocking and the audio was buzzing on them. It wasn't just one poster either, but several that had problems.

I might as well as go with a higher performance board anyway and put a decent soundcard it. The p4pe is noticably slower than some of the newer offerings.