Best P4 (478) northbridge chipset

Last edited by David on Sat Jan 08, 2005 9:47 pm; edited 1 time in total

I was going to ask this on HWA but i thought id give it a try on here first.

Im in the market for a new mobo in the next few weeks and ive narrowed it down to 2 MSI boards (yep im a MSI fanboy).

Both have just about identical features and nearly the same price but ones based on the intel 865PE and the other has the VIA PT880 chipset

Ive read heaps of reviews for both boards and they both came out dancing. So which one would you lot say is the better chipset?

If anyone wants to try and sway me to another board feel free but keep it around the ?50 mark.

David.

Abit AA8-XE Fatal1ty? That's a good choice. But I would go with the Intel chipset. The Fatal1ty uses 925XE Alderwood chipset.

Id love a fata1ity but i cant afford to upgrade cpu and mobo at same time (hence staying with socket 478) and if i could id be going the athlon 64 route anyway.

Im still undecided on what to do realy, if i do upgrade mobo now im going to be limmited to a 3.4 P4 in future upgrades. I still might just save up for an athlon 64 based system or one based on the new AOpen socket 479 pentium M board.

David.

Ohhh I didn't see the Socket 478 part. Then, I recommend the Abit IC7MAX3. This board kicks butt!

http://www.abit-usa.com/products/mb/produc...ies=1&model=130

Awesome features and awesome OCing.

Edit: The only reason I ever wished to be an Intel fan was due to this motherboard.
Edit: Abit is coming out with a Socket 939 Athlon 64 Fatal1ty AN8 motherboard. You could wait for that and get yourself a S939 Winchester A64 like me and then OC it.

Last edited by David on Sun Jan 09, 2005 9:10 pm; edited 1 time in total

It doesnt matter now, ive found an MSI 865PE Neo2-PFISR in a clearance sale for ?35!!!!! (normally ?80 - ?90), im gunna dash to the bank in the morning take some money out of my savings and hope for god they still have it.

David.

I would go for the VIA PT880 chipset.
But if you found the MSI for cheaper, then by all means that is a good choice.

Or you can get yourself a Athlon 64 3000+ 90nm with a MSI K8N Neo 2 Platinum S 939.

My opinion, but the S 939 has a future.

Yah i know theres no future in skt 478, but like i said, i cant afford to upgrade my cpu and my mobo at the same time, id love to go the 939 route but i might as well get a fairly decent P4 system going that will last untill we get a real 64bit os.

I cant stick with this setup either cos i wanna get some overclocking done and my pc is an OEM built one with a real shabby BIOS, infact i think the only thing i can change is the clock settings and the bootable device order, id risk a BIOS flash from the msi site but you never know with OEM mobos, with ttheir slight changes and stuff.

David.

Last edited by Super XP on Wed Jan 19, 2005 8:54 am; edited 1 time in total

I hear there is a P4 nForce 5 mobo coming out in Q2 2005.

So, I guess NVIDIA is sided with Intel & AMD.
Well, that is how you make the money.

nForce 4 for AMD
nForce 5 for Intel

They are both the same chipset, except for little differences.
This should give Intel CPU's a good performance boost.
Good Luck

Dave, is your P4 3.06 have a 533FSB or 800FSB ?

Because a friend of mine is looking for a P4 3.06 533FSB, but can't find it anymore. B)

Last edited by David on Wed Jan 19, 2005 10:00 am; edited 1 time in total

Yes its 533fsb. I dont think there is a 800 fsb (do the math). Am not selling either, i spent my upgrade money on my grand prix ticket so am keepin this setup till i can afford a skt 939 rig.

If your after a 533 try the 2.4 prescott, a friend of mine has one over 3.0ghz on air with decent temps.

David.

my kids P4 3.0c is the 800 MHz FSB 512 cash

My friends not into OC'ing.
He currently has a 2.40GHz 533FSB which I hear can OC very well. I'll tell him about the 2.40GHz Prescott, but he may just go & upgrade his mobo & CPU.

Thanks. :)
Take Care,

lots of cool stuff coming out for intel and AMD this year.

Yes,
Both companies seem to be contributing to this flawless PC industry.
It?s great news for us.

Yes, good you took MSI. Very reliable company