Which Processor MOBO Combo do I get?

[Defector]

Its time to upgrade the trusty old BH6/PII400/TNT1 combo to something that will assist in dishing out the odd spanking in UT. I'm already set on getting the AnandTech suggested video card (Creative Labs 3D Blaster Annihilator 2), but need some info on CPU/MOBO comparisons.

Option 1. Abit KT7 Raid and Thunderbird 800
Option 2. Abit BX100 Raid and PIII 833

The price on pricewatch of these combos is within $20 of each other, so that's not a factor. I'm interested in knowing:

1. Which is the fastest (assuming use of PC133 SDRAM, WIN 98 OEM)
2. Which has the best overclocking potential
3. Which is the easiest to set up (least aggrivation with AGP drivers blah.. blah..)
4. Any cool features of either combo that the other doesn't have.

I went with a PII400 originally for ease of setup and reliability reasons (lots of reported problems with AGP and AMD / TNT cards back then). I could be swayed over to AMD, but need some real info other than "AMD rulez" and "death to intel"

Of course when you really need to get your facts straight, AnandTech is the place to come.

Cheers

 

[squirrel dog]

the amd setup will have a longer lfe span as far as upgrades go.The p3 will top out at 933/966/1000.Then its on to p4 with its 400hz bus and different ram simms.The amd is a fine choice,and is very overclockable.You could keep your bh6/flash the bios to ss and get a p3-700/733/800/850+,and save some jack for the p4 boards coming out soon.

 

[Sunner]

I'd ditch the Abit BX100 if I were you, supposedly the KT7 is a fine board, but Abit's Intel boards... shudder....

 

[Hektor25]

After 10 years, I finally had to ditch my original AT case and coughed up for a new ATX; I installed the KT7/Raid with a Duron 700 with few difficulties. It took a week to get the sound working (MX300 sound card) - see posts below.
The soft bios makes this a wonderful board to work with, and as soon as my hedgehog heatsink/fan arrives, I shoould be able to turn this combo up to 950 MHz. I'm quite pleased with the KT7/Raid. Best board I've purchased.

Regards,

 

[Goi]

I agree with Sunner on the BX100. There's really no sense ditching your current BH6 for yet another BX boards. BX boards don't make much sense right now. If you really wanna go intel, get an i815E, otherwise the AMD whips intel's butt in price/performance.

Alternatively, you could do what squirrel dog suggested, which is flash your BIOS to SS(assuming you have BH6 v1.0x) and upgrade to like a P3-700 and then overclock it. It would be cheaper, but your peripherals will also be bus overclocked.

 

[Dan]

I also just upgraded to Abit's KT7 mobo (sans Raid). I combined it with a Duron 600MHz CPU and an AMD Approved MasterCooler heatsink/fan. I'm running at 900MHz.

 

[Defector]

Ok I might be sold on the KT7 RAID and Thunderbird 800 combo. I do have some questions related to bus speeds though.

1. Can the KT7 accept PC100 SDRAM ?(so maybe I can upgrade to PC133 later) It seems to, based on what I read on ABIT's website.
2. If you run the frontbus at 100MHz (as opposed to 133MHz) does this affect the speed of the PCI/AGP bus etc, or are there different multipliers available to keep these bus speeds constant regardless of FSB setting?
3. Any known problems incompatibilities with KT7/Thunderbird and CL Soundblaster Live (PCI)/Creative Labs 3D Blaster Annihilator 2/Linksys Ethernet NIC (PCI)/USR V90 modem (ISA)?

Also, related to high end video cards, any comments on the Creative Labs 3D Blaster Annihilator 2 card? This is available for about $250 on Pricewatch.com

Thx for all help.

 

[office boy]

Hell, keep the Bh6, get a P3 750/800, OC it.
Then spend the extra dough on a sweet video card, and maybe some more ram
the money you save can be Paypal'd to me

 

[Defector]

What's the max clock that the SS BIOS on a Rev1.0 BH6 will support. From ABIT's website, it looks like the max is PIII 600(100) or Celeron 700(66).

That's the reason I would be upgrading the MOBO primarily, as I want 800-900Mhz

If the SS BIOS will let you run a PIII 800(100) , then that would settle it! (and save $$ for later.)

Cheers

 

[office boy]

From Product page.
<<[ Specifications ]
CPU
1.Supports Pentium®III 450~700 MHz processor cartridge.>>

Whoops, that was for 1.1

 

[Defector]

OK, I did what I should have in the first place and flashed to the SS BIOS.

I get 800(100) and 850(100) as options in the BIOS Setup screen now, so I'm assuming if I find an 800Mhz PIII that I can slap it in this ageing (but trusty and paid for) BH6 REV 1.0 and away we go (not to mention welcome mr kick A$$ CL ANNIHILATOR 2 hehe).

My buddy just called (I built and networked 2 PCs for him when I built mine to roughly the same spec except for Ultra TNT2s... we like to play UT a lot) and he's headed over to some new discount computer store as we speak (type?), to check on PIII pricing locally.

I like working from home.