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Which AMD MP motherboard is best?

Tyan just posted a new revision of the Tiger MPX board up. It has the revised chipset with working USB. Tyan has a good history and I like my Tiger MP a lot.
 
Ive had great success with this Rev 1.03 Tiger MP motherboard. Very stable platform. No an overclockers board though. Im getting a Thunder coming this week, just to have the onboard devices to free up a couple PCI slots, and that will be an adventure unto itself. For a good proven mobo I would recommend the Tiger MP, but if you are dead set on overclocking and have a use for 66MHZ PCI slot, might as well go for the MPX updated version. Beware however that the latest XP processors coming out are rigged up to NOT work in SMP by AMD, with the latest bios from Tyan. So for guaranteed success I would count on using MP processors, or older XP processors.

 
You can get the XP processors to work by connecting bridges. I guess it is a similar procedure to what you have to do to unlock the multiplier. Like mastertech said, I would get the Tiger MP unless you are running SCSI RAID or have some other use for the 66/64 PCI slot or are dying to overclock, then pick the MPX board that suits you the best (some have onboard video or LAN, some have more overclocking options)
 
I've been waiting for the Epox board, but the $300+ pre-order price gives me the willies. If that board stays at that price upone release, I'll likely go Asus, MSI, or Tiger MPX as they are just over $200 now. The Tiger has 4 normal PCI slots with an option for onbaord LAN (and the onboard USB works in the new revision). The Asus has only three normal PCI slots with no LAN, but it's USB2 card works in the 64/66 PCI slots. The MSI is somewhere in the middle. All three should now be in stock and show on PriceWatch.

Gigabyte adds RAID and they don't disable the "faulty" onboard USB1.1 ports ... and they still give you a USB2 card.

The Iwill board might actually have PCI-X, but I'm not convinced yet (unless PCI-X = 64-bit/66MHz and that's it). The Abit looks like a "normal" board and I haven't heard anything else about the Chaintech.

-SUO
 
Eeeeek,
I did a search for help with which motherboard to purchase for my first self-built system.... I've dealt with everything except changing the motherboard and processor before.... but, this sounds over my head? Or do I really need to worry less about most things like in the previous posts?
 
You just really need to know what you need.

If you need USB, you should know that the first batch of MPX boards don't have working USB. So, AMD paid mobo makers to add a USB2 PCI card.

However, most of the MPX boards only have 3 *normal* PCI slots. If one goes to USB2, another to sound, and a third goes to the NIC, where will that FIreWire or TV tuner card go?

All MPX boards have two 64-bit, 66MHz PCI slots. Unless you have high-end SCSI or gigabit Ethernet, chances are you won't use these. And your normal PCI cards probably won't work in them either.

So, you really have to know what you want. Tyan gives you a 4th *normal* PCI slot and an option onboard Ethernet port ... but there will be no real overclocking. And tyan gives you an add-on USB 1.1 card, instead of USB 2.0. The Epox has onboard LAN too and should O/C nicely, but only three PCI slots ... with one likely going to USB2. Gigabyte gives you LAN and IDE RAID. Asus gives you sound. You just have to know what you want.

-SUO
 
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