Where is PCI Express? need advice too, thx!

[Serpentor]

After 3 years, my tried and true Epox 8K7A died last night (I guess storing the computer in my bedroom closet with no airflow to block the fan noise was not a good idea for when UT2004 came out...)

I haven't been motherboard shopping at all since 2001 so I had to do some serious research, though my initial findings indicate the nForce 2 Ultra as the best bet for an AMD board.

However, ~9 months ago I read about this PCI-Express standard coming out that will replace AGP and my assumption was that by now this would be on the market. But I haven't found anything yet. Is this worth waiting for? Anyone have any ideas how long this is from coming to market? I'd hate to invest $120-150 on a nice Abit or Asus board now and have PCI-Express come out in a few months and miss a big upgrade cycle.

If it's worth the wait, I could just take a trip over to MicroCenter and pick up a POS-brand RMA'd AMD board for ~$39 to tide me over until PCI-Express. Any suggestions/recommendations appreciated!

(btw, I'm running a 1.4ghz non-XP Athlon. I'd probably also pick up a 2800-3200 XP down the road, is AMD still the best price/performance overclocking king that it was 3 years ago? I see lots of people with P4s these days..) thanks for the help!

 

[MDE]

PCI-X is already out. You're talking about PCI-Express (PCI-E). There's some pictures of two Intel-based boards with PCI-E. It'll be coming, but don't expect it to be a quick transition, just look at how long it took ISA to disappear.

 

[Serpentor]

Thanks for the correction mate! I made the edits.

So would you still recommend an AMD solution for a new setup today (as opposed to starting anew with a P4)? And I'd be fine with AGP for the foreseeable future?

 

[MDE]

If you want to hold onto your current video card and upgrade slowly, I'd get an nForce2 board, otherwise if you're gaming I'd try to save my pennies for an Athlon64 system. If you want to keep your current CPU and RAM (assuming they're still good and you have DDR RAM) I'd get an Abit NF7-S or DFI Infinity NFII Ultra. If you have PC2100 memory, you'll need to upgrade that if you get an XP 2600 or higher. So factor that into your decision on whether to save for an A64 or just get a new motherboard.

 

[Serpentor]

MDE, thanks for the advice, I appreciate it.

"If you want to hold onto your current video card and upgrade slowly, I'd get an nForce2 board, otherwise if you're gaming I'd try to save my pennies for an Athlon64 system. "

I'm in both categories. My system is now 100% gaming (use laptop for everything else). However, my TI4200 128MB runs UT2004 fine and everything else I've thrown at it, so I don't see the need to upgrade that for about a year.

My RAM is PC2100. I like the idea of getting nforce 2 now to get rolling again, then upgrade the CPU, RAM, and video down the road (1 year).

Since I'm not doing an all-out upgrade, I'm fine with going mid-range on the mobo for now. I noticed the cheapest nforce 2 ultra board is the ECS N2U400-A (for $59 shipped on pricewatch), though I've never heard of this brand before? Any ideas if they're reliable?

Also, I'm just finding out about the P4 developments the past 2 years (800mhz FSB, dual channel DDR, etc). AMD doesn't seem to have similar advantages in these areas, is it still worthwhile it to begin a new system investment path along the XP line of Athlons? thanks

 

[MDE]

Intel has improved the P4s greatly, but for pure gaming, the Athlon64 is the way to go right now if you have the cash. If you just want to do a motherboard upgrade right now nForce2 is right up your alley, plus you'll be able to buy behind the curve, making your upgrades cheaper later on.
ECS is actually the number two motherboard maker in the world, but they make no-frills stuff and mostly sell it to OEMs (HP, etc). They tend to have a higher number of DOA boards, but the ones that work do their jobs. If you're going to overclock, or may do it down the road, stay away from ECS though and stick with either the Abit or DFI nForce2 boards. My Abit NF7-S has been rock solid, and people are having very good luck overclocking with the DFI boards.