MSI 915GM-Speedster...

[Sumanji]

Hey,

Currently thinking about buying this board for my HTPC (won't be overclocking). Is it a stable board at stock? Does it support USB Power-On from S3 suspend (with an MCE Remote)? And I see it has an S478 retention module, but does that mean I can use any S478 heatsink with the board, i.e. is it the correct height?

http://www.gandham.f2s.com/msi-915gm-boardbig.jpg

Thanks,

Suman

[NickS]

Look's good. I'm not sure about the USB power on, look at their forum, it is extremely useful & resourceful.

http://forum.msi.com.tw/

Nick

[cirthix]

might as well just get the asus board if you wont be overclocking, at least it's available now. only real benefit of this over the asus is 2 more slots for ram and a standard heatsink. to answer your question, yes, it will take any normal s478 heatsink

[Sloppy]

^
That board is the dothan/banias one. I think you mean the 945GT Speedster which is yonah, cirthix.

[Sumanji]

Yeah I don't think I can afford a Yonah... in the mean time I am just gonna pick up a crappy Celeron M for this setup and upgrade to a full Dothan later! Unless Dothan and Yonah are pin compatible (I don't think so?) in which case I could get the Asus or Speedster Plus.

NickS: Thanks man, I thought the MSI forums might be a bit lame like the Asus ones so I didn't bother checking :D

Cheers,

Suman

[Mats]

Yeah I don't think I can afford a Yonah... in the mean time I am just gonna pick up a crappy Celeron M for this setup and upgrade to a full Dothan later! Unless Dothan and Yonah are pin compatible (I don't think so?) in which case I could get the Asus or Speedster Plus.

Get a CM 420 or 430 instead (http://processorfinder.intel.com/scripts/list.asp?ProcFam=67&NoNav=NO&CorSpd=ALL&SysBusSpd=ALL&MfgTech=7164&step=ALL&cache=ALL&PkgType=ALL&btnFOS=Filter+on+selections) (yeah, this one (http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=97306)), which gives you the possibility to get a CD later, either a Yonah, or a Merom if the mobo can handle it. Use the Asus N4L, or maybe the MSI 945 GT Speedster (http://www.msi.com.tw/program/products/server/svr/pro_svr_detail.php?UID=624) which got a proper heatsink mounting system (cost 20 % more here in Sweden).

Unless you have components for a CM 300/PM/Dothan system I'd say the CM 400/CD/Yonah choice is better. The former can give you double cache:stick: in the future, while the latter gives you dual cores...:toast:
The CD is a fresh one, while PM is three years old, just like Opteron.

[cirthix]

^
That board is the dothan/banias one. I think you mean the 945GT Speedster which is yonah, cirthix.

doh! i thought he was asking about yonah, dumb me.

imo, the asus yonah board+celeron-m 4xx is a better combo, and about the same price too

[Mats]

only real benefit of this over the asus is 2 more slots for ram and a standard heatsink.
Look again, 2 x DDR, and 2 x DDR2. I wouldn't try running with 4 sticks...;)

[cirthix]

Look again, 2 x DDR, and 2 x DDR2. I wouldn't try running with 4 sticks...;)


yeah, i just went by the pic and thought it was the i945 speedster board, sorry for the confusion

[Daytime Dreamer]

Guys maybe you can help me out too. I've been away for a while (3 months serving in the greek army) so I have some questions

Which m-atx boards (HTPC usage) are available for Dothan, and which ones are available for Yonah?

Dothan and Yonah are not pin compatible right?

Thanks

[cirthix]

Guys maybe you can help me out too. I've been away for a while (3 months serving in the greek army) so I have some questions

Which m-atx boards (HTPC usage) are available for Dothan, and which ones are available for Yonah?

Dothan and Yonah are not pin compatible right?

Thanks

no
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.asp?Submit=ENE&N=0&Subcategory=446&description=479&srchInDesc=&minPrice=100&maxPrice=300

[Sumanji]

Wow cool, so the Celeron-M 400 series is pin compatible with Yonah?! Cool :D This means I have to buy some DDR2 as well but it will be more future proof that way I guess?

Mats, any ideas where I can get hold of a CM 420 or 430 in the UK?

Thanks,

Suman

[davvy76]

Wow cool, so the Celeron-M 400 series is pin compatible with Yonah?! Cool :D This means I have to buy some DDR2 as well but it will be more future proof that way I guess?

Mats, any ideas where I can get hold of a CM 420 or 430 in the UK?

Thanks,

Suman

I was thinking about getting a t2300 earlier until I saw how much they wanted for the aopen board:

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=391677

Now that is taking the pee.

[Sumanji]

Davvy does anywhere stock the Asus N4L-VM-DH or the MSI Speedster Plus? And how much is a T2300? I wouldn't mind a Core Solo instead of a Celly-M either...

Cheers,

Suman

[Mats]

Core Solo seems like the worst choice if you look at the prices, you pay twice the price for double cache and lower multiplier. Yeah CM is the budget choice with less cache, but on the other hand it gives you a higher multiplier and a lower stock FSB. Besides, you can pinmod a CM to 666 MHz. I'd go for either CD or CM, not CS (http://www.geizhals.at/deutschland/?cat=cpumobi). Or, CM now, Merom later.

CM 420: 12 x 133 = 1600 MHz, €104 (12 x 166 = 2000 MHz)
CM 430: 13 x 133 = 1733 MHz, €129 (13 x 166 = 2266 MHz)

CS T1300: 10 x 166 = 1666 MHz, €192

CD T2300: 10 x 166 = 1666 MHz, €229

I think the extra 333 MHz compensates the CM for having less cache pretty good, save the money for Merom instead.

[Sumanji]

Core Solo seems like the worst choice if you look at the prices...

Ah ok, good point Mats! Sorry, I haven't really done much reading around the new "Socket-480" chips :slapass:

I'll probably get a Celly-M 420 or maybe ask my sister for a Core Duo T2300 if she comes over here from America. One question though, will the 945GT chipset support Merom or not? Merom will also be "Socket 480" iirc? With Intel's track record they will probably just introduce a new chipset and kill the upgrade path :(

Also Conroe/Merom/Woodcrest have very specific power requirements and the mosfets on the 945GT Speedster Plus look pretty rubbish (only 2-phase power it seems?!).

Thanks,

Suman

[Mats]

One question though, will the 945GT chipset support Merom or not? Merom will also be "Socket 480 iirc? With Intel's track record they will probably just introduce a new chipset and kill the upgrade path :(

Also Conroe/Merom/Woodcrest have very specific power requirements and the mosfets on the 945GT Speedster Plus look pretty rubbish (only 2-phase power it seems?!).


- Nobody knows for sure about the compatibility between Yonah and Merom for now, but some Merom CPU's have been used in laptops and mobos. It seems like it's a matter of a BIOS upgrade, but you can never be sure.

- The power requirements for the CPU's have been changed, yes. But remember that socket 775 and the current "480"/Yonah are of different age. The 775 showed up two years ago for P4, while the "480" came this year, which means that the latter is already prepared for the new CPU's. That's the reason why people are having more success with Merom than Conroe in the mobos that are available right now, I think. In other words, Yonah mobos are more "modern" than most 775 boards. It's not about having a board that can give more power, both Yonah and Merom are low power. And since it's a 945GT mobo you won't do any heavy OC anyway, it can give Merom enough power I'm sure. But we'll see if it will support Merom, that's another story.

[davvy76]

Davvy does anywhere stock the Asus N4L-VM-DH or the MSI Speedster Plus? And how much is a T2300? I wouldn't mind a Core Solo instead of a Celly-M either...

Cheers,

Suman

T2300 is about £165 and you can get the asus here for about £100:
http://digitalkind.co.uk/Inu_products/INU_ProdDetailsL3.asp?ref=88814347

I've not seen the msi anywhere yet though.

[Sumanji]

Hmm I don't like the layout of the Asus board (graphics cooler will block the PCI-E 1x slot for future use, and crappy little custom cooler), and I have to get an mATX board to fit my HTPC case so that rules out the AOpen. Pretty much only leaves the MSI option open to me!

Scan have the 915GM Speedster for about £130 now, so hopefully they'll get the 945GT in stock too for a decent price... will try and pair that up with a Core Duo T2300, although I have to say from the GamePC benchies it isn't too impressive in games (on par with a Pentium-D 3Ghz dual core). Need a T2500 to equal low end A64 X2 performance at stock.

Cheers,

Suman

[cirthix]

or you could get the biostar tforce board for 70 bucks and an opteron. available now, decent overclocking, lto sof features, comparatively cheap, known good performance, and a much better supported platform.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813138264
and
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103600
or
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103588

[Sumanji]

As stated before I will not be overclocking, the TForce has a lot less features (no firewire, no Azalia, no Matrix RAID, no GigaE). It also has a pretty dead upgrade path with respect to DDR2.

Thanks for your input, but I kinda wanted advice on Intel kit, hence posting in the Intel section :p: hehe.

Suman

[cirthix]

As stated before I will not be overclocking, the TForce has a lot less features (no firewire, no Azalia, no Matrix RAID, no GigaE). It also has a pretty dead upgrade path with respect to DDR2.

Thanks for your input, but I kinda wanted advice on Intel kit, hence posting in the Intel section :p: hehe.

Suman

i gave my advice on both sides of the coin

[Sumanji]

lol I know dude, I was only joking :p: I know Skt-479 is like super-niche, but a ViiV setup just seems like the right thing to go for...

Cheers,

Suman