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Tyan nforce solution

H

HO

Senior member
Check it out

Tyan make great boards, top tier stuff IMHO. The Tomcat K8E has been out now for a few months, but no one seems to be using it. Why?

Cost?
Limited overclocking potential?

If these are the only drawbacks, then I think this one's for me... 🙂
 
I am greatly disappointed in ALL the review sites, myself. They either test the high end overclocking boards, or the extreme value ones. They leave out boards such as the ASUS A8N-E, the AOpen boards, and others that are more middle of the road. Agreed that Tyan makes great stuff, but since it is a costlier board with limited OC potential, you will probably never see a review--which is a shame.
 
I'd buy a board like that.

I like Tyan too.
I used some of their combo S370/Slot1 boards back in the day. Work awesome.
 
Anyone notice the lack of a .... for the lack of a better word right now.... "bracket retainer" (sorry) for the CPU socket? (see Newegg link for picture).
 
It's there, you just have to look closely. The cost of this board will keep most people away from it.
 
The CPU retainer is boxed separately, for whatever reason. The user installs it.

The cheapest price I've seen is $184. The highest is $400+ at Zip Zoom Fly (HAHAHA).

This board comes in 3 configurations, but the one with integrated audio and video is by far the most common. Don't have any price info on the other versions.

Did I mention the cost? Yes, again, it is expensive, especially for a non-SLI board.

Now, while I can't say that money is no object, I can say that I will be using this computer for quite awhile if history is any indicator. I am typing this on an Abit BM6, Tualatin powered box... so that should tell you something. In other words, the cost per year for me will be much less than for those who upgrade every time the wind shifts. It only makes sense, therefore, that I want to get this right from the get go.

Since Tyan is well known for their server boards, and since lots of RAM is important to me (semi-pro Photoshop maven and MAC turncoat) I figure that if anyone can get the 32bit OS/4G of RAM thing right, Tyan can.

The only thing that bothers me is the passive cooling on the northbridge chipset. I really want to add a heat pipe or fan. Is that doable?
 
I didn't mean to imply that this would be my first choice for a server board. It is, however, currently my first choice for a workstation board.
 
The only thing that bothers me is the passive cooling on the northbridge chipset. I really want to add a heat pipe or fan. Is that doable?
Click to expand...
It is (the fan, but the heatpipe might be harder), provided you do a bit of modding, but why?
 
*Cough*
Integrated PCI Graphics
? ATI® RAGE? XL PCI graphics controller
? 8MB Frame Buffer of video memory
*Cough*.

(From the specs page). Not very impressive, at all....only positive thing I can say is that it "Gets the job done"
 
Originally posted by: The Pentium Guy
*Cough*
Integrated PCI Graphics
? ATI® RAGE? XL PCI graphics controller
? 8MB Frame Buffer of video memory
*Cough*.

(From the specs page). Not very impressive, at all....only positive thing I can say is that it "Gets the job done"
Click to expand...

For $460, they'd better include an integrated 6800GT 😉
 
Umm, FWIW, the board will sport a Matrox p650 PCIe for my graphic delights, already purchased for <$150.

In reality, we are talking about a board at the $200 price point. I could easily invest nearly that much in an SLI board, and I considered doing so because some of the reviews and user's comments I've read seem to indicate that those "premium" boards have advantages (features, RAM compatibility, stability). But, since I have no need for SLI (now or in the foreseeable future) I would be paying those dollars for the aforementioned advantages only. I'm willing to bet my bux on the Tyan instead, providing I don't uncover a fatal flaw.

Now, back to the passive cooling on the northbridge chip. I am not aware of any other board that uses this arrangement. All the ones I've seen either use the pipe or a fan, IIRC. Since this chip is infamous for running so hot, I have some concern about its longevity.
 
Originally posted by: HO
Umm, FWIW, the board will sport a Matrox p650 PCIe for my graphic delights, already purchased for <$150.

In reality, we are talking about a board at the $200 price point. I could easily invest nearly that much in an SLI board, and I considered doing so because some of the reviews and user's comments I've read seem to indicate that those "premium" boards have advantages (features, RAM compatibility, stability). But, since I have no need for SLI (now or in the foreseeable future) I would be paying those dollars for the aforementioned advantages only. I'm willing to bet my bux on the Tyan instead, providing I don't uncover a fatal flaw.

Now, back to the passive cooling on the northbridge chip. I am not aware of any other board that uses this arrangement. All the ones I've seen either use the pipe or a fan, IIRC. Since this chip is infamous for running so hot, I have some concern about its longevity.
Click to expand...

Why would a company known for their rock solid stability use a heatsink that won't get the job done?
 
Yeah...that passive cooling on the NB is very interesting. If Tyan is using passive cooling, I'm wondering if active cooling is really required for NF4 Ultra?
 
Originally posted by: ClockerXP
Yeah...that passive cooling on the NB is very interesting. If Tyan is using passive cooling, I'm wondering if active cooling is really required for NF4 Ultra?
Click to expand...


Nope. I use the Zalman NB47J on every nForce4 Ultra build, where feasible. There are a couple of Ultra boards where the video card runs right over the MCP HS/Fan, and most SLi mobos where I have to stick with the default active cooler. Otherwise, it gets yanked right off. If you look at the SIZE of that passive cooler, it probably has about the same mass and surface area in total as the NB47J. The NB47J is taller, but the Tyan heatsink is much larger horizontally. The MCP chip itself is no larger than the nail on your index finger.
 
I'll be going with the MCX159R since I got a deal on one. Maybe I'll try to run that passively in my P180...

CxP
 
I emailed Monarch computer and asked them to stock this Tyan board. They replied that it should be available next week. I'm going to order a barebones system from them when it becomes available.

Stay tuned.
 
Originally posted by: HO
Check it out

Tyan make great boards, top tier stuff IMHO. The Tomcat K8E has been out now for a few months, but no one seems to be using it. Why?

Cost?
Limited overclocking potential?

If these are the only drawbacks, then I think this one's for me... 🙂
Click to expand...

You cannot go wrong with Tyan, it will last forever. That's 1 reason for the cost.

Read other posts on the forums about people here trying to save $10.00 bucks on a PSU for example. IMO a stable system is worth a bunch extra.
 
Originally posted by: HO
Since Tyan is well known for their server boards, and since lots of RAM is important to me (semi-pro Photoshop maven and MAC turncoat) I figure that if anyone can get the 32bit OS/4G of RAM thing right, Tyan can.

The only thing that bothers me is the passive cooling on the northbridge chipset. I really want to add a heat pipe or fan. Is that doable?
Click to expand...

1. The 32bit 4G ram problem is a WindowsX problem, it can't be solved with hardware.

2. It probably doesn't need active cooling on the northbridge because its not intended to be overclocked.
 
Why not use it as a server board when paired with an Athlon x2 ? It will have similar stability at greatly reduced cost... am I missing something here?
 
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