P4 users and Athlon XP users look inside

[Pabster]

GL wrote:

"I'd love an Athlon XP on an i850 or i845 DDR platform, but that isn't going to happen. I'm basically choosing my CPU after I choose the motherboard instead of the other way around. I don't want to buy VIA only to be screwed over again 3 months down the road when some incompatibilities or problems start showing up. But, I'm happy to hear you aren't having problems NFS4...your setup seems to be very similar to the one I'm running. I'm just curious though...if you run those USB devices off the motherboard USB headers, do you get problems? I noticed you have a USB 2.0 card."

Well, USB problems don't appear prevalent with KT266A. You've always got someone running in to issues, but that happens on any board. That said, I wouldn't let VIA stop you from going the AMD route. There are other solutions out there which don't rely on VIA's core logic. SiS has really turned up the heat the last few months, and you've always got the venerable duallie boards which utilize both AMD north and south bridges. In fact, it is possible to find the Tiger MP (AMD762/766) for but a few dollars more than a high-end board like ASUS or ABIT (or Soyo). It is an unfortunate reality that issues with VIA chipsets have caused people to turn to Intel, sacrificing performance and spending needless extra money in the process. Don't let yourself be a victim

 

[NFS4]

<< I'd love an Athlon XP on an i850 or i845 DDR platform, but that isn't going to happen. I'm basically choosing my CPU after I choose the motherboard instead of the other way around. I don't want to buy VIA only to be screwed over again 3 months down the road when some incompatibilities or problems start showing up. But, I'm happy to hear you aren't having problems NFS4...your setup seems to be very similar to the one I'm running. I'm just curious though...if you run those USB devices off the motherboard USB headers, do you get problems? I noticed you have a USB 2.0 card.

I'm actually willing to put in a weeks worth of wages to cover the cost of an Intel-only solution if it saves me from having to worry about problems that end users like me have very little control over (i.e. the latest VIA/Nvidia issue, SBLive/VIA issue, USB problems, etc.) I'm aiming for Toyota-reliability here NFS4 >>


Well, my Shuttle has been "Toyota Reliable" I just put another 100 miles on our new '02 Highlander Limited. Man is that thing so sweet

In my system, the only two USB devices running off the USB 2.0 card are the Gravis Xterminator and the Epson C60 printer. Everything else is branched off from the two root USB 1.1 hubs on the motherboard.

If you don't like VIA, there's always NVIDIA. They seem to be pretty solid as well, but the VIA boards will certainly do just as good for much less $$$.

I'm quite sure that Intel boards will have the least "issues," but with my current setup I haven't run into any. If you don't want to have to worry about ANYTHING, then by all means go out and get the P4 + Intel Mobo combination, but be prepared to pay extra $$$ for it without any extra performance to justify the difference. Even if you do have an issue with the KT266A, SiS745, or nForce boards, you ALWAYS have us to help you out.

The last time I checked, a 1.9GHz Pentium 4 is $264 and a 2.0GHz Pentium 4 is $408, while an Athlon XP 1800+ is $180 and an Athlon XP 1900+ is $242.

Like I said, it's YOUR money, but I know which decision I would make.

 

[Adul]

GL pick up a tyan tiger if you want an absolutely stable MB. even if you only run a single CPU the stability on it is great.

 

[Pariah]

"GL pick up a tyan tiger if you want an absolutely stable MB. even if you only run a single CPU the stability on it is great."

I have to disagree with this. The Tiger is very touchy about what components you put in it. This board is easily the most finicky I have used, and I've owned multiple ABIT boards, so that's saying something. Check out AMDMB and 2CPU forums and look at the scores of people having configuration and stability nightmares with this board. I'm sure it is possible to get a system using the board stable if used as a file server with tried and true hardware, but as a power user or tweaker's system it can be a real patience tester.

 

[damocles]

Re: This whole debate. I bought my P4 pre the appearance of Athlon XPs. Money not being an issue, i was extremely comfortable with its performance vs regular Athlons.

However the XPs have certainly upped the anti a bit. If I was buying today, i'd be getting an XP, although I still have strong expectations for Northwood.

Re: Via- I'm somewhat with Pabster on this one. Although I don't thinnk they are necessarily as dodgy as some people think, I do believe Via chipsets tend to be a tier down on the better AMD and Intel chipsets, in terms of absolute stability