i'm gettin' new comp... need advice

[Master of Reality]

I will be getting a new computer soon (which i will be running Linux-Mandrake 8.1 on) and i still haven't decided on the motherboard to use with the AMD Duron 1GHZ (due to cheapness) that i am getting.
I am thinking of just getting a ASUS AV133-C or perhaps a tyan trinity... got any advice?

[Zombie9920]

If you are planning on just using SDRAM the ECS K7VZA v.3 mobo is a good and cheap mobo. If you want to use SDRAM for now and want the option of using DDR down the road go for the ECS K75SA(another good, cheap mobo). I have built a few AMD systems using ECS mobos and they all work great. Like with the ECS K7VZA...ECS actually released a BIOS update to solve Via IDE performance issues(which is something that Via doesn't even do with thier drivers), so the company does stand behind thier products.

[Centurian]

Hey,

This is the board I am using with my 1.6 Gig Athlon.
Giga-Byte MotherBoard

I love it.

Oh yes I am running Mandrake on it.

[ March 04, 2002: Message edited by: Centurian ]

[Bateluer]

Is cost your main concern? I would definitely go DDR, it will eck more speed from your proc.

I put the ECS SiS735 board in my sister's computer in conjunction with a Duron 700 and 256megs of SDRAM (it can take DDR too) . Though the board is rather feature sparse, and the integrated audio sucks, its quite stable and suits her perfectly. Last I checked, it was around 60 bucks at Newegg.com.

If I was going to pick a motherboard, I would go for either the Soyo K7V Dragon+, the Abit KR7A-RAID, or the Asus A7V266-E. I have not had the experience of working with one of Nvidia's nForce based motherboards, tho I hear the boards are quite stable and perform well. The integrated video and the audio is also MUCH better than the AC97 codec based integrated audio in other boards.

[Zombie9920]

I'm under the impression that he wants to use PC-133 SDRAM because the Asus AV133-C is based on the KT133A chipset(I think, I didn't bother looking to see if this is correct). The boards you mentioned are all DDR boards. Of course DDR solutions are gonna be better than the old SDRAM solutions. ;P

[Centurian]

Hey,

 

quote:Originally posted by Zombie9920:
I'm under the impression that he wants to use PC-133 SDRAM because the Asus AV133-C is based on the KT133A chipset(I think, I didn't bother looking to see if this is correct). The boards you mentioned are all DDR boards. Of course DDR solutions are gonna be better than the old SDRAM solutions. ;P

He may be looking to save as much as possible I don't know but he actually said he wants to run Mandrake 8.1. I don't know if the Asus AV133-C is fully supported or not under Mandrake but the Giga-Byte GA-7VTXH is fully supported. I am using it right now and I am running Mandrake 8.1 on it. The onboard sound and ethernet card are also fully supported and work great. As a point of reference I have also installed RedHat 7.2 and Windows 98SE on it and they both work well. So if he decides to change OS's down the road the GA-7VTXH is a solid choice no matter what direction he is going. I am running an Athlon 1600XP with 256 meg of PC2400 DDR (Cas 2) ram (please note this is even faster ram than the board specifies) and it is extremely =f=a=s=t. He said he was planning to use it with a Duron 1 Gig which is also supported by this board as long as his processor supports a 200 or 266MHZ FSB.

You are right DDR memory is more expensive than SDRAM but it is also at least twice as fast. Further DDR is the next generation of RAM so going DDR will keep his system compatible longer.

So I am simply suggesting a quality, known requested OS compatible, motherboard. Of course the chose is his.

[Zombie9920]

Personally, I would recommend that he gets a DDR board and some DDR Ram because DDR is simply better plus DDR chipsets tend to have more features. Right now a 128 meg stick of DDR is only $4 more than a 128MB stick of PC-133, so obviously DDR is the best buy.

[Bateluer]

Zombie, the ECS SiS735 board (I forget the official name) supports both SDR and DDR RAM, tho you cannot use both at the same time.

And 128meg is for pansies, go for 256 if you got the cash.

[Zombie9920]

quote:Originally posted by Bateleur:
Zombie, the ECS SiS735 board (I forget the official name) supports both SDR and DDR RAM, tho you cannot use both at the same time.

And 128meg is for pansies, go for 256 if you got the cash.

Ehhh, I know that already. Read my first post in this topic and you will see this line..."If you want to use SDRAM for now and want the option of using DDR down the road go for the ECS K75SA(another good, cheap mobo)".

As for the 128MB thing, that was just an example of the price differences. I didn't say that 128MB is great(considering I have 1.5gig of PC-2400 DDR in this rig and I have and 768MB of PC-800 RDRAM in my P4 rig). ;P

[ March 06, 2002: Message edited by: Zombie9920 ]