Questions on chipsets and mobos

[SpiffyGuy]

My head is hurting trying to go through all the info on different chipsets and motherboards out there. Here is the situation. Like everyone else around here I am making a new box. Main plan for the box is games and some medium graphic work. I plan on getting a GF4600 as well. So I WAS going to get a Soyo Dragon Ultra with an XP2000+ CPU, But I have been reading a lot of bad things about some of the new KT333 boards. So I started looking around for possible alternatives and basicly confused myself even more. Yeah I am blonde. So with that said I am looking for recomendations on some decent boards that won't have compabilty problems with the GF4. I am not opposed to running with an Intel system since they can get higher clock speeds. Everything I have right now is AMD so that is all I know. I am not an overclocker also, so while the ability to overclock is nice, I would prefer to have something fast and as it becomes out of date, overclock to stretch the life a bit. I also really don't care if it has on board anything but most boards now days at leasst comes with an on board coffee maker it seems.

The biggest thing that is getting me is, Are certain chipsets better at certain things? ie. is Via good for games? Heard alot of not so good things about VIA though, don't know if they are true or not but such is hersay. With all the different chips out I am a tad lost. Also there is the RDRAM or DDR questions as well. (dodges a few throw tomatoes) Yeah it gets kinda deep. Of course I could always go out and by a Compaq and be done with it. I could also climb into my microwave and get a tan too but I don't plan on doing that. My main concern is of course speed and decent graphics, like every true gamer, but stability would be good as well. Thanks for any input you guys can muster.

Oh also opinions on the Visiontek GF4 4600? Heard it is a tad better than the Leadtek but Leadtek kicks if you overclock it. Thanks.

SpiffyGuy

 

[SpiffyGuy]

No one has any thoughts?

 

[onelin]

I too found myself in a similar predicament to you... Intel is great for stability, but there it's nice to stick to Intel chipsets...and right now -- they don't offer anywhere NEAR the kind of features I needed in the longterm... I am a gamer, but I have some other uses for my box either.

I ended up going for an Athlon XP 1900+ with an Asus A7V333-raid (Via KT333 chipset I believe...you can get it without raid...but it includes firewire w/ the raid)
USB 2.0, a firewire port, ATA133 raid capabilities... supposed to have decent onboard sound w/ digital connections even though I'm not a big fan of those I may test it out... It should be here tonight so I'll let you know how it is within a day or so stability wise/etc. May not get to try it out till mid thursday since my AS3 and other stuff arrive a day later. From friends recommendations it seems like it should be really solid.

with firewire an open (IEEE3394 ????? I hate those classifications) standard now, it's a big part of my decision with a limited budget and wanting a board that'l last me a while. I plan on using a nice sony DV camera (vs putting the video in capabilities of my MSI GF4 Ti4400 to the max and wasting too much time) as well as trying an iPod. HTH man, I'll keep you informed. Tough decision these days.

 

[SpiffyGuy]

yeah keep me updated onelin0. I looked at that board as well. It was a toss up between the Soyo Drakon ultra or that as far as the KT333 went. Seems all boards now a days are coming with onboard stuff. I have some cash to blow so I guess I could go an Intel route if I wanted to but I am not much of an over-clocker and everything I have heard is if you don't really over clock then you can save some cash going the AMD route. Cool that you have a DV camera. Mine is S video so I will end up using the S video in on the VisioTek 4600 if I end up getting that one. I plan to mainly play games and do graphic work. Even though about going the dual CPU route to help with rendering animation as I work towards learning how to do that but getting a dual board ups the amount of cash and opens a whole new can of worms hehe. Good luck with the new board.

 

[Mem]

is Via good for games? Heard alot of not so good things about VIA though, don't know if they are true or not but such is hersay

I`ve had Intel,SiS,and at the moment have two VIA boards which I use for gaming and they are both rock solid,there`s no magic to good stability,all you need is a clean install of OS and use quality parts for PSU,ram,heatsink etc,I would also go with a good board brand as well,these factors determine the stability more then the chipset in question.

I`ve yet to have a problem,infact both my VIA boards are boring becasue they are so solid on stabilty.

Remember when building a PC don`t take no short-cuts with the rest of the components.

 

[onelin]

well, not my DV camera but I do all my mini-films with my cousin so it works out. I have a so/so 8mm with composite out which works fine with my MSI GF4... but with the volume I want to be doing it (or at least able to do) it isn't worth it to use the feature for the main films esp with a firewire option available built in btw this board only cost me $135 (this is the with raid option) from Essential PC in NY...reasonable automatic conversion to 2-day fedex and CPU (1900+) was also only $135 (retail...looks like it has a decent heatsink too when paired with AS3) ...not a big deal for me in MA, but may be if you live near California.

I got the board today... mmmm... so good I almost wanna scream. my Corsair memory isn't here yet so I can't test it out! aagh it is the finest board I have seen in a long time...honestly, if stability is something you want then I'd take Asus over this other dragon board any day. They can turn just about any chipset into something very solid... I've had my current P3V4X (not the best chipset, mind you) board for almost 3 years now and it's great. why? 'cuz it's Asus. just too bad I can't pop it into a nice micro-atx for one of my PIII's once I have this new system... but it can be used in a small case at least (I want to be able to tote it very easily if possible) ...or I can just replace a family comp with it as a last resort

memory/AS3/etc arrives in the morning via UPS

*edit* like Mem said, it can be rock solid if you just follow the proper procedures ... which so many inexperienced users can fail to do *end edit*