New P4 MB with best "upgradability"?

[amheck]

Ok, I've managed to hang onto my old Abit BE6-II board and Celeron long enough. I think it's time for an upgrade. I'm not an over-clocker. I am more concerned with buying a P4 board that will give me the longest life, if that's at all possible.

If you were in my situation, what board/chipset would you buy? I don't mind spending upwards of $150 if its a nice board. I looked into this a while ago and really like the Soyo Fire Dragon (ok, I was going on looks) and the Dragon Ultra looked nice, too, but I think they are probably dated by now. I also haven't paid much attention to the Intel roadmap. I will probably buy a middle of the road CPU now, but again, I'd like to be able to buy a faster CPU down the road that still works with the board, yet will give a performance increase in another year or so.

Thanks!
Aaron

 

[wicktron]

If you're not into overclocking, get a true Intel board. The Intel 845PEBT2 is a great board.

 

[amheck]

Thanks for the recommendation. I checked out the Intel board and it looks really nice. The only thing that caught my eye was that it seems to lag a little in performance. Again, I know I did say I don't really care about OC'ing, and maybe these numbers don't mean too much. Is there any reason to look at any of these other boards, or are the differences small enough that I'm not going to even notice anyway?

http://www.anandtech.com/showdoc.html?i=1725&p=9

THanks!
Aaron

 

[BeaverTooth]

The Asus P4PE is a nice board.

 

[wicktron]

There is a slight performance decrease as compared to other 845PE boards and that's mostly due to BIOS optimizations, but I'd rather have peace of mind with an Intel board (Not to say that other boards won't).

 

[amheck]

Yes, that one caught my eye, too.

So I'm guessing that the Intel 845PE is as good as any chipset out nowadays for the "longevity" that I'm looking for? My Intel BX board has given me 3+ years, so if I can get that out of this new board, I guess I'd be happy. I just hate it when you buy some chipset, Intel changes their architecture, and then you can already see the top of the line CPU out now for your specific board. I like at least a little mystery on the horizon....

Aaron

 

[amheck]

So how do you guys handle this dilema. Maybe I am the only one with this problem. I go and price an Asus P4PE and P4 1.8A CPU from NewEgg, plus 512Meg PC2700 RAM from Crucial, and it comes to around $460. I think I'd need a new PS, too, going from my old system to a new P4.

Then I go to techbargains and see this:

Powerful Desktop deal: Dimension 4550 P4-2.4Ghz (533Mhz bus) 128MB DDR333/30GB CD XP Home MS Works $609 - $50 coupon - $100 rebate = $459 shipped free.

Granted, less memory, but more CPU and FSB. How do you argue with that?

Aaron

 

[wicktron]

You're probably going to be assed out when the 800MHz FSB P4's come out.

 

[touchmyichi]

see but when the new p4's come out something new will come around the corner. Just don't worry about whats coming out if you want speed, get it now. Granite bay is just about to hit retail stores so that might be a wise choice. I am also considering buying a soyo board, very stable and easy to install (thats important for me i don't like to be swearing at silicon junk). Don't get a P4S8X, my god i just got one and i totally regret it. The new gigabyte gb board is a good buy too. Basically any of those is good. For upgradeablity I"d chose and intel chipset.

 

[LouPoir]

Asus P4PE - I845PE chipset - suppport HT. SUper board.

Lou

 

[amheck]

You're probably going to be assed out when the 800MHz FSB P4's come out.

How soon is this? Is this the next step after the 533?

Aaron

 

[wicktron]

The Prescott (800MHz FSB CPU) will be out at or around Q2 2003, the Springdale (Dual DDR333, supports 800MHz bus) will also be out at or around Q2 2003.

Check out Anand's Comdex review where there is information on Intel's chipset roadmap and plans for their CPU's.

 

[orion7144]

Originally posted by: touchmyichi
see but when the new p4's come out something new will come around the corner. Just don't worry about whats coming out if you want speed, get it now. Granite bay is just about to hit retail stores so that might be a wise choice. I am also considering buying a soyo board, very stable and easy to install (thats important for me i don't like to be swearing at silicon junk). Don't get a P4S8X, my god i just got one and i totally regret it. The new gigabyte gb board is a good buy too. Basically any of those is good. For upgradeablity I"d chose and intel chipset.

Just make sure if you go for the Soyo board, that it is not the VIA chipset one.
I like the Gigabyte boards myself.