PlanetZ forums - scopeusers.com

Im going to upgrade my old PC and would like to ask which mobo's are to be considered worth buying. Seems that i should go for ASUS og Intel, but is there any mobo that is specially good or that i should avoid?

Thanks in advance
Bosqoue!

Hi there, I've been looking into this myself.

It seems like most people with P4P800's are happy. But there are lots of different sorts - I nearly just bought a P4P800S which has the i848 chipset (=bad I think). Make sure your board has the 865 chipset, and don't get the deluxe model.

On the other hand I haven't heard ANY problems with the Intel i865 PERL so I think for my purposes I'm going to go for this.

It sort of seems to make sense to get all the basic parts (chipset, board and CPU) from the same manufacturer. Maybe that's wrong, but as an amatuer it seems to make some sense !

Anyway good luck and let us know of any developments / issues etc as and when (as will I, of course).

Cheers,

Will.

intel d865perl, good choice and cheap.

(sort of feel like this belongs in this thread, sorry if it doesn't)

Further research: the big difference between the i848 chipset and the 865 (as far as I can work out) is that the 848 is 'single channel' while the 865 is dual channel.

Now, what does that really mean ?

I've been looking at RAM prices (would really like 1gb) ...

It seems that to make use of 'dual channel' you should get 2 x 512mb rams which are 'linked'. But this seems really expensive ! about £160 for kingston - more than getting two 'unlinked' DDRs (about £120 for the same brand)

I guess two questions:

If we get the d865 would we NEED 'linked' ram cards ?

What advantage is it to have this sort of set up, or should we be content with two 'unlinked' 512mb rams in a single channel system ?

Thanks for any replies...

Will.

the difference is simple: with 2 channels you have double speed for RAM, since both channels are simultaneously served by the processor. That's why identical pairs are preferred by the boards and why the manufacturers publish lists of tested pairs. 400 MHz is pretty fast. Anything with anything can work out, but must not. Your risk, if you want to try.

40 pounds for the matching seems cheap if it means sure performance....

Thanks for these replies

Will definitely go for linked cards (if I do end up getting 1gb ...)

Will.

Hi again,

I really don't seem to be able to find 3.0 ghz northwood chips. Would it be better to

a) buy a 2.8 ghz northwood
or
b) the 3.0 ghz prescott.

Bear in mind that I'm getting the latest 'super flower cooler' from zalman so temperature per se is not a problem.

Cheers for any replies

Will.

on this page are 3.4g northwoods!
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductLi ... ode=010408

*edit* as to the either or, i'd say it's not that big a difference. people with prescotts are quite capable if doing what they need to. afaik, the northwood is a better real world design and so is preferred, but not mandatory. i'd take the 2.8, as from 2.8ghz to 3ghz is a very small jump. i don't think that that choice alone, would be the difference between a nice and a cruddy box.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: garyb on 2004-10-07 13:19 ]</font>

yes, and it saves money - to end up getting 1 gb

A bump for this topic.

I'm going to be putting together a new computer for my Scope and PulsarII cards early next year and of course I want to make sure I get the best solution for my soundcards.

I have to admit, there's alot of specs that I just don't understand with this crap. It's not really my thing. But I'm not going into a store and asking some dickhead who doesn't even know what Creamware is.

On the ASUS site for motherboards they have a million P4P800 motherboards with a variety of chipsets - even a variety of Intel 685 chipsets. They even have Intel 875 chipsets - are they even better?

Also what is the difference between the motherboards that have Socket 478 and Socket 775? Is one more advanced and better than the other?

I will be wanting a P4 3.2 or 3.4 processor - probably the fastest I can get. But I may not go for the Prescott though.

I will be wanting at least 1Gb of the best performance RAM (alot of my VSTi work takes alot of memory with samples etc).

And I will be wanting a graphics card that gives rock solid performance in a dual (or more?) monitor setup.

And of course, all must play VERY VERY nicely with my Scope setup.

I just want to make sure I know exactly what I want put together before I go order everything.

Socket 775 mobos have different pins for the CPU and PCI Express instead of AGP. Latest tech. Prescotts can be very hot, so quiet cooling is a problem. Good solution is Thermalright XP-120. Intel boards are not that loaded with features, but fast.

On 2004-12-13 06:15, Micha wrote:
Socket 775 mobos have different pins for the CPU and PCI Express instead of AGP. Latest tech. Prescotts can be very hot, so quiet cooling is a problem. Good solution is Thermalright XP-120. Intel boards are not that loaded with features, but fast.

Thanks for the advice Micha. Of course answers only ever lead to more questions as you know.

Do socket 775 motherboards work well with Scope cards?

I mean I want to stick with something that's proven. Latest tech is all great but not so much when it doesn't exist well with the hardware you want to use it with.

PCI Express instead of AGP. I'm presuming this is a good thing - but does it limit the types of Graphics card I can get?

I think I'll stick to pre-Prescott CPU's for the moment. I don't want the extra hassle of running too hot at this stage.

with northwood cpus, the intel d865perl is stable and cheap.

On 2004-12-13 13:11, garyb wrote:
with northwood cpus, the intel d865perl is stable and cheap.

Thanks for that.
Sounds like a plan to me.