Best Motherboard

Hope no-body minds me posting here, but I'm in the process of upgrading my lowly P60 system to something a bit faster, and it's come to my attention that many off you know more than a thing or two about PC's! So which board do you recommend for speed/expandability etc. I currently use F1GP2 and Indycar 2, and as you all know, F1 is a tad processor hungry. Thanks in advance.

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> Hope no-body minds me posting here, but I'm in the process of upgrading my > lowly P60 system to something a bit faster, and it's come to my attention > that many off you know more than a thing or two about PC's! > So which board do you recommend for speed/expandability etc. > I currently use F1GP2 and Indycar 2, and as you all know, F1 is a tad > processor hungry. > Thanks in advance.

I was running a p90 and had to upgrade my M Board to get a faster chip . I puchased a G586IPC 512k cache board for like $140 and the change from a 256k board was "Drastic" to say the least .I would say to make sure you get a 512k with pipeline burst anything less will strange your performance . BTW i just droppped in a mmx 200 and i stil have to drop a couple dtails in gp2 at some tracks . You can find info on the board at www.dfiusa.com

>I was running a p90 and had to upgrade my M Board to get a faster chip . >I puchased a G586IPC 512k cache board for like $140 and the change from >a 256k board was "Drastic" to say the least .I would say to make sure >you get a 512k with pipeline burst anything less will strange your >performance . Everything else I've read has lead me to believe that the difference in performance in going from 256K to 512K cache is minimal, at least in the typical Pentium systems when I was researching (P133). Around 5%. Are you sure the change wasn't due from going from perhaps a substandard MB (Neptune?) to a good performer?

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> >I was running a p90 and had to upgrade my M Board to get a faster chip . > >I puchased a G586IPC 512k cache board for like $140 and the change from > >a 256k board was "Drastic" to say the least .I would say to make sure > >you get a 512k with pipeline burst anything less will strange your > >performance . > Everything else I've read has lead me to believe that the difference in > performance in going from 256K to 512K cache is minimal, at least in the > typical Pentium systems when I was researching (P133). Around 5%. Are you > sure the change wasn't due from going from perhaps a substandard MB > (Neptune?) to a good performer?

You know it's interesting. Just about everyone who works computers in general seems to think that adding cache is not a significant gain. They use the latest, greatest benchmark to check it out. However, I have had amazing results with 512K and racing sims, and I think for $10-$15, it's the best boost you can get. Besides, what have you really got to loose? BTW, on my old 486 system, everyone agreed it would do me little good, but I gained something like 20% frame rate. Never compared any of my Pentium systems, because I have never bought a MB with anything but 512K since!!

>You know it's interesting. Just about everyone who works computers in >general seems to think that adding cache is not a significant gain. >They use the latest, greatest benchmark to check it out. However, I >have had amazing results with 512K and racing sims, and I think for >$10-$15, it's the best boost you can get. Besides, what have you really >got to loose? It's not a big gain. But 5% for $20 is quite a deal. Upgrading a Pentium 166 to a Pentium 200, for example, is also worth about 5%, but costs ten times as much. The typical 486 has a 33 MHz, 32-bit path to main memory. The typical Pentium has a 66 mHz, 64-bit path to main memory. More cache helps more on a 486 because cache misses are more painful. To answer the original poster's off-topic question, the best Pentium motherboard right now is probably the Abit IT5H version 1.5. About $140. Check out http://sysdoc.pair.com for a review. 512K cache is standard. :-> --

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>>You know it's interesting. Just about everyone who works computers in >>general seems to think that adding cache is not a significant gain. >>They use the latest, greatest benchmark to check it out. However, I >>have had amazing results with 512K and racing sims, and I think for >>$10-$15, it's the best boost you can get. Besides, what have you really >>got to loose? >It's not a big gain. But 5% for $20 is quite a deal. Upgrading a >Pentium 166 to a Pentium 200, for example, is also worth about 5%, >but costs ten times as much. >>BTW, on my old 486 system, everyone agreed it would do me little good, >>but I gained something like 20% frame rate. >The typical 486 has a 33 MHz, 32-bit path to main memory. The typical >Pentium has a 66 mHz, 64-bit path to main memory. More cache helps more >on a 486 because cache misses are more painful. >> Never compared any of my >>Pentium systems, because I have never bought a MB with anything but 512K >>since!! >To answer the original poster's off-topic question, the best Pentium >motherboard right now is probably the Abit IT5H version 1.5. About >$140. Check out http://sysdoc.pair.com for a review. 512K cache >is standard. :-> >--

I just bought the new ABIT IT5H ver 1.5 and really love it. I used (2) 32meg EDO DIMMS (64 Megs), a 4 gig Barracuda ULTRA WIDE SCSI, an Adaptec 2940 UW controller, Reactor video, 16X CD-ROM, US Robotics 33.6 Modem and the P-200 Classic CPU overclocked to 225 mhz( 3 X 75 mhz ) :) PS; I am building a twin system to this one only I will use a 2 GIG Quantam Atlas Ultra Wide SCSI with a External 1 GIG JAZ Drive instead. Anyone Need a SUPER System? Contact me if interested: also my old P-166, 32 megs EDO, 1.2 gig Hard Dr, ASUS motherboard, Diamond Stealth 3d 4 meg video, 8X CD-Rom, Diamond Mid tower case, Ess 1868 Sound card, keyboard and mouse is FOR SALE. This system runs N-2, N1, GP2, ICR2 and Quake all GREAT! Jim Deane JDeane on hawaii IVGA GOLD Series Racer Nascar Invitational Series Racer Director of SNARL League ( an ACE setup leaque ) Computer Corner Service( We build Premium Custom Systems) Webpage: http://www.mindspring.com/~jdeane

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> Whatever you buy, don't buy VX chipset MB. If you want to use SDRAM, > go with TX MB. HX chipset performs very well if you want to stick with > EDORAM. There are other chipsets that seem to perform very well. > My system is Intel P150 running at 166 (83*2), Asus P/I-P2T4 rev. 3.1, > 32 MB EDORAM, Intergraph Reactor (Intense 3D). > I tried IBM/Cyrix 686 P166+ running at 150 MHz (75*2). I couldn't run > Indyfast with IBM, so the maximum frame rate I got was 18. I usually get > close to 30 fps with Intel. > Hope this helps. > -- > "At the beginning of any project, a high level of e***ment > can be found with a low level of execution." - Trevor Harris

What would you say is wrong with the VX chipset? Tim

It's slower than both the HX and TX. Also it can only cache up to 64MB of RAM (some HX boards go up to 512MB). The TX is limited in this respect as well, but it adds onboard UltraATA/33 (double the peak speed of regular IDE controllers), some pretty cool power features, onboard USB ports, etc. Unlike the HX, both the VX and TX can use SDRAM. Basically the VX is not worth getting anymore. If you want/need more than 64MB of EDO RAM, get an HX. If you'd rather have the ease of use (expecially when over-clocking to higher bus speeds) of SDRAM go for the TX. --

Whatever you buy, don't buy VX chipset MB. If you want to use SDRAM, go with TX MB. HX chipset performs very well if you want to stick with EDORAM. There are other chipsets that seem to perform very well. My system is Intel P150 running at 166 (83*2), Asus P/I-P2T4 rev. 3.1, 32 MB EDORAM, Intergraph Reactor (Intense 3D). I tried IBM/Cyrix 686 P166+ running at 150 MHz (75*2). I couldn't run Indyfast with IBM, so the maximum frame rate I got was 18. I usually get close to 30 fps with Intel. Hope this helps. -- "At the beginning of any project, a high level of e***ment can be found with a low level of execution." - Trevor Harris

You might want to check out this excellent web page on this very subject: Tom's Hardware Page http://sysdoc.pair.com/ -Eric recently upgraded, P5-90 to P5-150 w/ new Tyan motherboard

Thanks Dave. I went to the site as you suggested and this definately looks like the board to buy. Trouble is I can't find a stockist in the UK who sells them! (yet). Any Ideas? Thanks again. > To answer the original poster's off-topic question, the best Pentium > motherboard right now is probably the Abit IT5H version 1.5. About > $140. Check out http://sysdoc.pair.com for a review. 512K cache > is standard. :-> > --