New System

[weazel]

Well, got a request for a 2 gig P4...since I haven't built one yet and haven't been in the down and dirty with all the info I need some advice on a motherboard, I've looked at the shuttle and msi but haven't decided...either way with the ram as the client doesn't care rambus, sdram, or ddr....? Chipsets? which do you all prefer? and could somebody explain the power supply thing to me? Normally I'd read up on all this but between work and school I'm short on time. Any input would be appreciated...thanx

[JungleMan1]

Kinda hard since we don't really know the client's uses.

But chances are since they're going for a 2Ghz I'd go with either the Rambus (i850) or the VIA DDR chipset. The DDR is the best bang-for-the-buck factor but I'm not sure of the stability factor of the P4X266 as it's pretty new. But it's all up to you...

Oh yeah and if you go Rambus, I keep hearing nothing but good news about the Asus P4T.

P4 uses 2 extra power connectors so you need a P4 compatible PSU.

But anyone getting a 2ghz probably isn't looking for low-end so I wouldn't recommend SDRAM.

[computron99]

If your looking at MSI - check here: <a href="http://www.msi.com.tw/products/mainboard/mainboard.php?model=MS-6545" target="_blank">http://www.msi.com.tw/products/mainboard/mainboard.php?model=MS-6545</a>
The MS-6545 has been a reliable board so far. I will keep using these boards until the P4 S478 with DDR memory comes out. It does have Rambus memory, I would at least install 256MB.

[weazel]

Thanks guys...I appreciate the input

[Stalemate]

If you are looking for performance, go for a Rambus solution. It may be more expensive, but the performance gain is impressive.

The P4 will excel with rambus. DDR will make it slightly less efficient as a comparable AMD chip, as far as I know.

I'm *not* looking to turn this into an AMD VS Intel thread - This is just my opinion.

[Fubarian]

[quote]Originally posted by adept:
<strong>(see above)</strong><hr></blockquote>

Na, yer right. Rambus and a p4 work really, REALLY well together. The DDR isn't AS good with an equivaliant AMD, since they're made to run with DDRs.

[VCTech]

Built two systems with Asus P4T-E mobo's and Corsair Rambus PC800 and they are absolutely rock solid.

[DSTech]

I have just recently upgraded my system to P4-1.7GHz with a Shuttle AV40 Mobo using PC2100DDR RAM. It's one of the first P4X266 boards released, but so far has proven quite stable. As others have stated, Rambus will provide more bandwith but from benchmarks I've seen, it isn't really that much of an difference, especially with PC2700 DDR RAM coming out. Any case, you asked about Shuttle's boards, and from what I've read, they've done some pretty good work with the new VIA chipsets and besides good reviews, appear to be pretty stable as well as the higher end of performance among other boards with the same chipset. Also, VIA themselves have just recently started producing boards through their new VPSD division and I think I read reviews on their first boards on the P4X266A and it's outperforming Shuttle. Link the thier VPSD is <a href="http://www.viavpsd.com/" target="_blank">http://www.viavpsd.com/</a> which as links to reviews.

As for your power supply, you will need an ATX12V power supply (has 3 power connectors from PSU to Motherbard). The P4 boards aparently need the 4pin plug for the extra 5V power. I'm using Antec's PP-352X PSU (350W) at the moment, and it's a nice little unit with a second fan on the side that blows air over the CPU for extra cooling, and it has a pretty good price just over $40. I had a 300W PSU in the case when I originally installed the new Mobo, but it was an older PSU with only the one 20-pin power connector to the Mobo and the system didn't like that. I got the new PSU after a bunch of research on P4's and PSU requirements and now haven't had any problems since installing it.

If the user wants any performance at all, stay away from the SDRAM. The DDR solution is pretty good and has advancements on the horizon making it a serious competitor in the recent future vs. Rambus. Intel's i845 chipset, as expected, isn't performing near as well as VIA's, but SiS's new chipset is aparently even beating VIA. Intel's might be more stable, but it's really too early to tell. As for SiS, I really know nothing about them, but have heard many downplay them overall.

Hope this info helps. Then I won't be the only one to benefit from all the research I've done lately

P.S.-For my DDR RAM I'm using two Crucial PC2100 256MB DIMMS

[Larommi]

Personal experience says dont run P4 with anything less then Rambus. Read what happened with the 820 chipset when Intel first tried to ram Rambus down our throats. Don't trust Intel. I am not saying to not use them but they dropped the ball big time and cost the company I worked for a lot of money and is partially responsible for me losing my job.

[scutterboy]

If you're spending loads of money on a 2G P4 then you've got to go for RAMBUS. i850 or bust.

It's an old tale but go to <a href="http://www.tomshardware.com" target="_blank">www.tomshardware.com</a> for i850 reviews. Asus and Abit are top.

REMEMBER... buy socket 478 socket 423 is going and 478 should let you upgrade to 3G in future.

This is another reason to stick with RAMBUS, Intel are respected for solid chipsets. It'll let you carry on for longer.

[weazel]

Well, just to wrap this up...the client I was building this one for had a few gigs of sdram not willing to give up....decided, for now to put it to use and went with an Asus P4B, geforce mx400 64, a gig or so of ram 2 40 gig 7200 maxtors, dvd, and a burner...apparently its his rendering box for ripping dvds...anyway, he loves it, rock stable at 2 gigs and says it cut his rendering time by a 1/3 from his athlon 1 gigger. Anyway, hes happy and its a nice rig if i do say so myself...I wonder how much better it would be with either the DDR or Rambus...ah well, maybe he'll upgrade it in the future. Thanks for the input folks...as always I appreciate it

[Lips2001Ad]

Hi guys While we are on the subject of ram, dose any body know if there will ever be any SDRAM faster than 133, or will there be P3 motherboards with DDR ram slots or RAMBUS slots?
I know you all think I must be some kind of crazy fool for wanting such things but I am on a low budget and really cant afford to upgrade to a P4 or Athlon for about 9 months (I am saving to get married ). so please dont poke fun at me but tell me what you all know, thanks.

[Silverman]

[quote]Originally posted by Lips2001Ad:
<strong>Hi guys While we are on the subject of ram, dose any body know if there will ever be any SDRAM faster than 133, or will there be P3 motherboards with DDR ram slots or RAMBUS slots?
I know you all think I must be some kind of crazy fool for wanting such things but I am on a low budget and really cant afford to upgrade to a P4 or Athlon for about 9 months (I am saving to get married ). so please dont poke fun at me but tell me what you all know, thanks.</strong><hr></blockquote>
The ASUS CUV266 Socket-370 Apollo Pro 266 ATX comes to mind but the P3 architecture doesn't benefit much from DDR support. Don't know about Tualatins.

[Radical Dreamer]

actually there is a pc 150 also

[TrackMan]

[quote]Originally posted by Weazel:
<strong>Well, just to wrap this up...the client I was building this one for had a few gigs of sdram not willing to give up....decided, for now to put it to use and went with an Asus P4B, geforce mx400 64, a gig or so of ram 2 40 gig 7200 maxtors, dvd, and a burner...apparently its his rendering box for ripping dvds...anyway, he loves it, rock stable at 2 gigs and says it cut his rendering time by a 1/3 from his athlon 1 gigger. Anyway, hes happy and its a nice rig if i do say so myself...I wonder how much better it would be with either the DDR or Rambus...ah well, maybe he'll upgrade it in the future. Thanks for the input folks...as always I appreciate it</strong><hr></blockquote>

assumming it was pc133 dimms you were using, the pentium 4 chip was getting only a little more than a quarter or the bandwith it needed. also, DVD ripping is _VERY_ and i can't stress it enough _VERY_ bandwith intensive, which is the main reason pentium 4 is the top choice for doing this.

so basically, using rambus would speed the system up an incredible amount. usually, on non memory bandwith intensive business apps like word just using pc133 instead of rambus slows down the equivalant speed of the chip a few hundred MHZ (1.8 ghz and rambus is as fast as 2 ghz and pc 133) i imagine ripping dvd's would widen the performance gap.

Tom's hardware loves DVD ripping, they had all this in an article a while back