Give in to the dark side?

[mookydooky]

This post won't delete for some reason.

[mookydooky]

Originally posted by dimmreaper
I'm running a Duron 1GHz @ 1.32GHz on an EPoX 8KHA+ 256MB of DDR memory right now, what you running mook?

I have about 6 machines right now. The fastest one, and my personal machine at home, would be an XP at 1600Mhz. That one is on an Epox 8KHA+ with 512Mb. I also have another XP on an nForce board running at 1540Mhz for work. I'll probably be needing another machine in about a month at work. I figure if I can get a P4 running at 2.5Ghz, that should be faster than the XP at 1600.

[mookydooky]

Something bizarre is going on and my posts are showing up on the top of the thread instead of the bottom. Anyone know why?

[dimmreaper]

This very well might make the dark side worthwhile:

http://www.epox.com/html/english/pro...rd/ep-4bea.htm

[mookydooky]

"Supports Asynchronous Transfer Mode between PCI & FSB "

What exactly does this mean? Does this mean that the PCI clock is independent of the FSB? In other words, would you be able to increase FSB speed without the PCI bus also speeding up? I doubt that this the case, but if it is, it makes this mobo much more exciting.

[dimmreaper]

No it means the FSB and PCI clocks are different, technically, every motherboard on the market has this "feature".

The realy nice thing about the board is the i845E chipset, which will officially support 533MHz FSB, and is also rumored to feature improved memory bandwidth over the origional i845D DDR chipset. It also has USB 2.0 built in the the southbridge. Not a revolutionary chipset, but nice. A good motherboard implementation, like those that EPoX is famed for, will make this an attractive platform for some overclockers.

Basically, K7 is dead ending(I don't expect Thoroughbred to scale very well), and for some it's worth considering filling the void between K7 and K8 with an Intel system.

[surlyjoe]

the p-4's are great with the 845 chipset, and they are carving a niche as small servers. ya just gotta remember its Intel, and you will pay a premium price for the name.... but then again, its Intel and theres millions of people out there that will buy nothing else... I prefer the speedier AMD's for less myself, but to each his own

[dimmreaper]

Sometimes doing things the hard way is much more fun, and much more rewarding

[mookydooky]

I'm considering a P4 for my next machine. I think with the 512KB cache, their real performance should approach that of Athlon. Furthermore, I think most are able to get it up to 2.5 Ghz with normal cooling. Even with the reduced IPC, an 800 Mhz bump in speed should be able to makeup for most of the P4's shortcomings.

[Allan]

I'm strongly considering a Northwood as my next upgrade..

[dimmreaper]

I'm running a Duron 1GHz @ 1.32GHz on an EPoX 8KHA+ 256MB of DDR memory right now, what you running mook?

[dimmreaper]

Originally posted by mookydooky
Something bizarre is going on and my posts are showing up on the top of the thread instead of the bottom. Anyone know why?

This is bizarre, I'm going to report this to the A-team . . .

[mrpcman]

what about the whole 8k l1 cache the p4 has?

[Holst]

Originally posted by mookydooky


I have about 6 machines right now. The fastest one, and my personal machine at home, would be an XP at 1600Mhz. That one is on an Epox 8KHA+ with 512Mb. I also have another XP on an nForce board running at 1540Mhz for work. I'll probably be needing another machine in about a month at work. I figure if I can get a P4 running at 2.5Ghz, that should be faster than the XP at 1600.

This is the post in reply to Dim .. forum time screwed up when the servers swapped over.

Buying now is awquard.
AMD is essentially a dead end road, although im allways suspicous that intel would change there arcitecture to reduce my future upgrade path.

I think a P4 would be more rewarding overclocking wise. The XP I have hasnt been particually good, and I doubt the thoroughbread will be much better. Still damned fast but no big overclocks.

As my current system is still faster than it needs to be I wont be upgrading for some time, although if i where to buy something new I think the P4 northwood would be more fun than going for another AMD system.

[mookydooky]

Originally posted by Holst


I think the P4 northwood would be more fun than going for another AMD system.

Exactly! Especially since with summer coming up, the heat thing is much less of an issue with P4.

[dimmreaper]

Personaly, I'm liking the sound of the i845G chipset. Integrated graphics are about the same as a GF2MX400, or slightly better than nForce. Plus AFAIK it's gonna be cheaper than nForce boards too . . .

[mookydooky]

Originally posted by dimmreaper
Personaly, I'm liking the sound of the i845G chipset. Integrated graphics are about the same as a GF2MX400, or slightly better than nForce. Plus AFAIK it's gonna be cheaper than nForce boards too . . .

Hey, I got the nForce board, it was brand spanking new! Back then the 8KHA+ was also 105, the nForce only cost 35 more. Now it's much less. I don't know what kind of sound the i845 is going to have, but it's probably not going to be as good...although I don't really take advantage of it as I use it for work. The big advantage in the nForce is the all in one driver set. One driver for EVERYTHING. No driver issues to deal with makes life easier.

[dimmreaper]

Yeah, the i845G should have great driver support too. But the audio isn't going to be integrated in to the chipset, it will use an AC'97 codec . . .

Audio quality will depend largely on what codec the motherboard manufacture decides to utilize. I'd bet that most will just be a bog standard stereo part, which is fine by me. The stereo codec on the 8KHA+ is plenty good enough for Jeff . . .

The 8KHA+ is pretty darn cheap now too, in case you hadn't noticed . . .

[mookydooky]

Originally posted by dimmreaper


The 8KHA+ is pretty darn cheap now too, in case you hadn't noticed . . .

I did notice. I think 85 lately. Which is very cheap for a great board. I use integrated audio on all my stuff. I have a bunch of old sound cards in storage because there's no driver support for them, not to mention, they're not any better than the integrated sound unless you have awesome speakers.

[The Spyder]

Im even thinkin of it! Thats if i can get rid of all my junk around here........
Spyder