finalgt
09-26-2002, 06:05 PM
After 2 years on a Celeron 733 with a Riva TNT2 PCI (eeeeck...) vid card, I've finally decided to throw in the towel on this computer.
After countless changes of mind, I've decided that I'll definitely go with AMD, just to be with the under dog -- certainly not for their wonderful business ethic. ("Launch" is a 2 month process in AMD terminology, apparently.)
Obviously, the TNT2 PCI card has caused me to want something that...say, *can* run games. As a result of this, I already have a Gigabyte Maya II R9700 PRO and a 512 stick of Corsair XMS3200 C2 v1.1 ram. I'll be getting a 2600+ when it comes out, and I'm also working on an Innovatek water cooling setup (with the dual radiator, of course. :D )
Now, that just leaves the motherboard. Memory bandwidth is huge to me, and I want at least DDR400 spec -- 3200MB. I know my RAM can easily pull this at agressive timings, but I hear the 9700 PRO won't be liking anything above a 205 FSB, if it even allows that. But even so, I'd still like to hit 3.2GB.
With this in mind, I've read an innumerable amount of reviews, both professional and first-hand from the people here and at [H], and...I still have no idea what motherboard to get. I've read a bad review about every single motherboard I thought about getting. Asus A7V8X, heard it sucks. AT7-MAX2, heard it sucks, and the PCI 1/6 divider doesn't even work because of the KT400 chipset. So, on top of not knowing what motherboard to get, I'm not even sure what chipset I should be aiming for. I'd break down and get an 8K3A+ (mainly because I've seen the absofrigginlutely INSANE stuff Mr Icee can do with 'em), but I'd much rather a newer motherboard, with not-so-much Legacy on it. The problem with this, of course, is that most of the non-Legacy motherboards are KT400, a chipset I haven't been hearing too much about.
So, I'm probably just going to give in and buy either a KD7, or wait for Epox's nForce2 motherboard. I'm a sucker for cool terminology like "Dual DDR." Mmmm. Dual Double Data Rate. Redundant.
So, what do you guys think?
After countless changes of mind, I've decided that I'll definitely go with AMD, just to be with the under dog -- certainly not for their wonderful business ethic. ("Launch" is a 2 month process in AMD terminology, apparently.)
Obviously, the TNT2 PCI card has caused me to want something that...say, *can* run games. As a result of this, I already have a Gigabyte Maya II R9700 PRO and a 512 stick of Corsair XMS3200 C2 v1.1 ram. I'll be getting a 2600+ when it comes out, and I'm also working on an Innovatek water cooling setup (with the dual radiator, of course. :D )
Now, that just leaves the motherboard. Memory bandwidth is huge to me, and I want at least DDR400 spec -- 3200MB. I know my RAM can easily pull this at agressive timings, but I hear the 9700 PRO won't be liking anything above a 205 FSB, if it even allows that. But even so, I'd still like to hit 3.2GB.
With this in mind, I've read an innumerable amount of reviews, both professional and first-hand from the people here and at [H], and...I still have no idea what motherboard to get. I've read a bad review about every single motherboard I thought about getting. Asus A7V8X, heard it sucks. AT7-MAX2, heard it sucks, and the PCI 1/6 divider doesn't even work because of the KT400 chipset. So, on top of not knowing what motherboard to get, I'm not even sure what chipset I should be aiming for. I'd break down and get an 8K3A+ (mainly because I've seen the absofrigginlutely INSANE stuff Mr Icee can do with 'em), but I'd much rather a newer motherboard, with not-so-much Legacy on it. The problem with this, of course, is that most of the non-Legacy motherboards are KT400, a chipset I haven't been hearing too much about.
So, I'm probably just going to give in and buy either a KD7, or wait for Epox's nForce2 motherboard. I'm a sucker for cool terminology like "Dual DDR." Mmmm. Dual Double Data Rate. Redundant.
So, what do you guys think?