P4 mobos with 533 FSB, USB2 and DDR333?

[TheSeabass]

I'm thinking about getting new P4 1.6a Northwood system but I'm not sure which motherboard/chipset to get.

My plan is to get a 1.6a now, put it in a 533 MHz FSB motherboard and OC the 1.6 to ~2.1. Then, probably get a 533 MHz FSB P4 when they come down in price. Are there 533MHz FSB motherboards that have both USB2 and PC2700 support, and if not, why? All the 533 boards seem to only support PC2100.

Aside from not being able to upgrade the processor down the road, what kind of realistic performance difference am I looking at between a 533 board with PC2100 RAM vs. a 400 board with PC2100 RAM if the processor is the same? Also, is there a significant performace difference between PC2100 and PC2700?

 

[TheSeabass]

I think I just found the answer to my own question two seconds after I posted.

It sounds like what I'm looking for is the VIA P4X333 chipset, right? I guess the search is on for boards with that chipset....

 

[bwass24]

I'm not a fan of VIA chipset mobo's. I would get an Intel 845G board like the Epox 4G4A or 4G4A+. They support DDR333 and much more. They support the 533FSB CPU's, and they have 6 USB2 ports on board.

 

[oldfart]

As above. You want an Intel 845G based board. The Epox is a real bargain @ mwave.com. $98 for the 4G4A and $120 for the 4G4A+ (RAID).

 

[DevilsAdvocate]

Actually, the P4X333 (after a massive amount of personal research today) looks like a marked improvement over previous Via chipsets.

Wait a week or two and see what the reviewers have to say about Via's new motherboard.

I think that a review can be seen here.

I think the site is down right now, but the review looked very promising.

 

[Vette73]

Originally posted by: DevilsAdvocate
Actually, the P4X333 (after a massive amount of personal research today) looks like a marked improvement over previous Via chipsets.

Wait a week or two and see what the reviewers have to say about Via's new motherboard.

I think that a review can be seen here.

I think the site is down right now, but the review looked very promising.

The P4X333 with the 8235 southbridge will be almost as fast as a 1066 Rambus system and a lot faster the an intel 845 chipset.
Anandtechs benchmarks as least say so, and so do other sites.

The P4X333 will be the King P4 chipset

 

[TheSeabass]

So the P4X333 will be better/faster than the i845G as well?

Will there be any problems with "acceptance" by motherboard manufacturers of VIA's P4X333 chipset?

 

[DevilsAdvocate]

Soyo and Shuttle are both going to make boards based on the P4X333. Via also makes their own boards. They will be available, and should be very inexpensive.

I think I will buy the VIa brand board for myself. I have read that it is remarkably stable

 

[oldfart]

The VIA is ~ = in performance to the 845G in Anands benches. It was faster in some, slower in others. Not worth it to gamble on VIA's well known stability issues IMHO. Here are a few quotes from Anands article:

While the 845G and P4X333 swap positions once again the performance difference between the two is intangible.

Although VIA has had much more experience in producing DDR memory controllers than Intel, the 845G's GMCH is able to offer performance equal to VIA's finest DDR333 memory controller. This is one of those situations where sheer R&D budget can outshine production line experience

Under Quake III Arena we're able to see the largest lead the P4X333 ever holds over the 845G. At 4%, the performance advantage isn't enough to be even remotely noticeable to end users.

Our final two benchmarks paint a similar picture to what we've seen throughout this entire review - the 845G and P4X333 are effectively performance equals

The 845G and P4X333 are the highest performing DDR chipsets for the Pentium 4. The two solutions perform very close to one another however the 845G wins out because of the fact that you'll find it in more motherboards than the P4X333, unless VIA can surprise us with a tier 1 motherboard manufacturer. Since the P4X333 does not have any integrated graphics the price of P4X333 boards should be noticeably lower than 845G boards but given that the 845G GMCH is manufactured on a 0.18-micron process the integrated graphics shouldn't add too much to the price of the chipset.