What's a good socket 370 mobo?

[tuki99]

Looking for feedback on the following socket 370 mobos. All support the PIII Tualatin CPU.

Not looking to O/C, looking for stability and ease of setup.

Here are my choices:

Abit ST6
AOpen AX3S Pro-U
Asus TUSL2-C
Epox EP-3PTA
Gigabyte GA-6OXT
Intel D815EEAL2U (has on-board LAN-good for cable modem)
MSI 815ET Pro (MS 6337)
Soyo SY-TISU
Tyan Tomcat S2080

Anyone with any experience with these boards???

Thanks....

 

[Torghn]

They still make socket 370 stuff?





The only one I've ever used (out of that list) was the TUSL2-C, work fairly well, but over priced IMHO. The inegrated video sucks as usual. TUVX was a much better board for the price.

I hope you have an extra PIII or something, you've got to be nuts to put to gether a P3 system from scrach. Socket 370 is all but dead, but yet it's still over priced.

 

[Vette73]

Originally posted by: Torghn
They still make socket 370 stuff?





The only one I've ever used (out of that list) was the TUSL2-C, work fairly well, but over priced IMHO. The inegrated video sucks as usual. TUVX was a much better board for the price.

I hope you have an extra PIII or something, you've got to be nuts to put to gether a P3 system from scrach. Socket 370 is all but dead, but yet it's still over priced.

Yea what he said.
It would be a lot cheaper and faster to build a Athlon XP system. The Athlon XP 1600+ is at Newegg.com for $55 shipped. You can get a KT333 board for around $70-$80.

 

[DaveSimmons]

Originally posted by: Torghn
They still make socket 370 stuff?
I hope you have an extra PIII or something, you've got to be nuts to put to gether a P3 system from scrach. Socket 370 is all but dead, but yet it's still over priced.

A Celeron 1.3 beats Duron and P4-Cel-1.7 for LAME encoding. It also runs great in an old case & power supply with PC100 RAM.

I've just ordered the Gigabyte + Cel 1.3 for $150 as an upgrade to my W2K development test server / MP3 jukebox server. I chose it over a P4/XP becuase I already have a case and quiet power supply that I like, and the Celly will run cooler/quieter than the XP and is much cheaper than a P4.

So socket 370 is still the best choice sometimes.

 

[tuki99]

Thanks, Dave.

I have a 500 MHz PIII / Abit BE6-II system that I built a couple of years ago, and have had no probs with it. But the mobo and/or CPU got toasted in a lightning storm, so that's all I really need to replace.

I considered an Athlon, until I started reading about how quirky they can be. I'm good, but I'm not THAT good, and building computers isn't even a hobby for me, just something I wanted to do at the time. Right now, I just want to get back up and running with a minimum of fuss and bother.

I can't afford to go P4 right now....too many other parts (case, PS, memory, etc. etc.) would need to be replaced at the same time.

Someone in the forums has an older Asus board with a 733 PIII for just over $100. What are your thoughts on buying a used mobo and CPU? It would save about 1/2 the cost of buying a new setup.

Thanks, guys....I can still use some feedback on the boards I mentioned above.

 

[tuki99]

P.S. I think I remember reading that Athlons were not very friendly to Win98...another reason not to go that route just now.

 

[DaveSimmons]

Someone in the forums has an older Asus board with a 733 PIII for just over $100. What are your thoughts on buying a used mobo and CPU? It would save about 1/2 the cost of buying a new setup

Well, my GigaByte GA-6OXT-A hasn't arrived yet, so I can't say how I like it. My CUSL2-C is a great board and I've heard the TUSL2-C is just as good (though pricey).

Note that at newegg.com a Gigabyte plus Celeron 1.3 will only cost $159 shipped, or $137 with a Celeron 1.0a. Both CPUs are tulatin (256K cache) retail boxed with heatsink/fan and 3-year warranty. So I wouldn't pay $100+ for just 733 MHz with used parts / no warranty.

 

[Torghn]

Originally posted by: tuki99
P.S. I think I remember reading that Athlons were not very friendly to Win98...another reason not to go that route just now.

I dont' know where you do your reading, but I'd stick with more reptutable sorces. I'd sugest www.anandtech.com

 

[Vette73]

Originally posted by: tuki99
P.S. I think I remember reading that Athlons were not very friendly to Win98...another reason not to go that route just now.

I have run windows 98a, 98b, and XP and didn't have any major problems.

Go with a good KT333 board and a Athlon XP 1600+. Will be cheap, fast, and upgradable.

 

[DaveSimmons]

As they say, Athlons do not have any problem with Win98.

Go with a good KT333 board and a Athlon XP 1600+. Will be cheap, fast, and upgradable.

I'd agree with this if you don't mind replacing your RAM with DDR and your power supply if it's an older sub-300-watt. If you're trying to stay under $150 then the socket370 is the better choice in this particular case (already have case/power, RAM).

 

[jiffylube1024]

Originally posted by: DaveSimmons
[ Well, my GigaByte GA-6OXT-A hasn't arrived yet, so I can't say how I like it. My CUSL2-C is a great board and I've heard the TUSL2-C is just as good (though pricey).

It is (the TUSL2-C being just as good as the CUSL2-C). I have a TUSL2-C, and it's a very stable, solid motherboard, just like my CUSL2 was.

Note that at newegg.com a Gigabyte plus Celeron 1.3 will only cost $159 shipped, or $137 with a Celeron 1.0a. Both CPUs are tulatin (256K cache) retail boxed with heatsink/fan and 3-year warranty. So I wouldn't pay $100+ for just 733 MHz with used parts / no warranty.

If you're buying a Celeron to put into there (the only realistic choice, P3 tualatins are WAY overpriced), buy the 1.0A. You will get BETTER performance (when overclocked) than the 1.3. If you o/c the 1.0A to 1.333 Ghz, you will get much better performance from the 133 MHz FSB and 133MHz RAM than the 1.3 with 100/100 respectively in the same categories.

Right now I have a Celeron 1.0A overclocked to 1.4 GHz, and it's a very speedy machine. Not quite as fast as my P4, but very quick nonetheless. Plus I used my old SDRAM memory, etc.

To give you a quick comparaison, in 3dmark 2001SE I get 8300 3dmarks with my P4 2.25 Ghz and a GF3 Ti200 @ 220/500 ... In the P3 with a GF3 Ti200 @ 220/460 I get 6400 3dmarks. This is only a 23% difference between the two (even less considering one GF3 is a tad faster). That's not bad for a cheap upgrade!

 

[jiffylube1024]

Oh yeah and stay away from the P3 733 - I upgraded from that to the Celeron 1.4 and the difference IS quite noticeable there. The money you save there is not worth it, the Celeron is twice the speed and snappier in Win XP.

 

[tuki99]

Dave,

I was scanning the archives and I came across something you posted back in December. You basically said that if one was going to buy a P4 and use SDRAM, you should just get a PIII. Do you still feel the same?

I found an Abit BL7 for 87.00 and an Abit BD7 for 92.00. (These were about the cheapest I found with an Intel chipset). With a Celeron 1.7 at 88.00, this isn't a whole lot more than getting a TUSL2-C for 94.00 and a Celeron 1.3 for 77.00.

I want to be able to use my P133 memory, 300W PS, and ATX case. Can I do this and still go to a P4? If not, what else would I need to move up to the P4? And would the performance be so much better with a P4?

I've got to make a decision soon, it's driving me buggy, not having my trusty old box humming like it used to. I don't have a small fortune to spend, so I'm trying to keep the costs down. If I go with the P3 (or even the P4), I would get 256MB more memory to go the 128MB I already have. ( I have 64MB of P100 ram, worked with my PIII, won't work with a P4)

If you've got any better ideas, please.......I'd love to hear them.

 

[DaveSimmons]

I was scanning the archives and I came across something you posted back in December. You basically said that if one was going to buy a P4 and use SDRAM, you should just get a PIII. Do you still feel the same?

Yes. If you look at the benches in the Celeron 1.7 CPU article on the main Anantech site with DDR RAM and the lead over a Celeron 1.2 in gaming or media encoding isn't that impressive. (Office benches are tainted by P4 optimizations, and how much CPU do you need for Word anyway?)

Gaming -DDR-

Look at this article to see the slowdown from dropping from DDR to SDRAM:
SDRAM is sloooooow for P4

I want to be able to use my P133 memory, 300W PS, and ATX case. Can I do this and still go to a P4?

Not without crippling it, P4 needs at least DDR. Also unless your power supply has the extra 12v P4 connector it won't work with most mobos (and then your case is likely missing the 4 holes the P4 heatsink retainer has pins for).

On a budget you really need to go (p3) celeron or Athlon XP. The P4 celeron is way overpriced for what you get, especially since it means buying a new case/power.

If you've got the money, P4 is good if you can get at least a "real" P4 1.8 and DDR, though Athlon is still a better value.

 

[noogie]

I found the Gigabyte 6-vtxe-a was fine with the 1.2ghz tualatin celeron I put in with it.

 

[tuki99]

Does anyone have any experience with the Abit ST6? (Not the raid version) Seems I will be able to use my Riva TNT2 Ultra video card, because it appears to support AGP 1X,2X, and 4X. Otherwise I think I'll have to spring for a new video card too.

 

[DaveSimmons]

Originally posted by: tuki99
Does anyone have any experience with the Abit ST6? (Not the raid version) Seems I will be able to use my Riva TNT2 Ultra video card, because it appears to support AGP 1X,2X, and 4X. Otherwise I think I'll have to spring for a new video card too.

all of the socket370 boards will work fine with your TNT, it's just P4 mobos that require 1.5V cards. If the socket370 specs only say "4X" it's just because they're listing the fastest that the AGP can run.

 

[tuki99]

Whew!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks, Dave.......I was getting mighty worried there. Was just about to ask if building a P4 wouldn't have been just as 'cheap'!!

I will sleep better tonight, and that's a fact!!

BTW....how would I PM someone here? I looked in some of the FAQs but couldn't really find anything. The answer is probably staring me right in the face, but I've been staring at this screen for so long, my eyes are about crossed!!