Is it just me, or is there a funk in motherboard land?
Just a few months ago, things were crystal clear in mobo world. If you went intel, you bought a BX board. There were a ton of them, and a number of mans. like asus, soyo, gigabyte, were making extremely stable and feature complete motherboards. There were others, like Abit, who were also pushing outside the lines and designing unique things into their boards (softmenu, dual ppga). The BX proved to be a very solid performer, technically and comercially.
Now if you wanted a SS7 board, things were a little trickier, but none-the-less worked out. VIA was most prevelant, but did have a few quirks (in my experience). Mostly with compatibility (i.e. my g200 on FIC 2013). But a few boards emerged that were stable (ASUS P5-A, for instance), and were also feature complete.
But then things changed. Technologies were announced that were going to change computing. AGP 4X, ATA/66, PC133, RAMBUS, Athlon, coppermine.
But, behold, there were no chipsets. i820 was a disaster, and, IMHO won't make it. I for one will avoid it like the plague, if on prinicple alone. i840 sounds like a neat archetecture, but intel won't push it anywhere but into the high end, which eliminates home users like me. i810 is a micky-mouse chipset, made for people like my mom (will run the same computer for 5+ years, and wonder if it is safe to take the cover off the computer). So intel's offerings have botched the viability of rambus, and most people are running their shiny new coppermines on their old trusty BX boards.
Now we are back to VIA. She of the 59 and counting AGP Gart drivers. They've had a chipset supporting PC133, AGP4X, ATA/66 around for a spell now, and some mobo mans have incorporated them.
Now, they are going to come to the rescue of the athlon with another 133 spec chipset. Like intel's new chips, these have been delayed for quite awhile. Since the Athlon roll out, as a matter of fact.
My fear is this: in a market dominated by the Wintel two headed monster (or is it the beast with two backs? ) can we rely on a via driven product?
The worst part is, I'm not sure where the problem lies. For instance, when win98 came out, it claimed full support for SS7 chipsets like the MVP3. But, I still had to install all these patches so the OS would recognize everything and operate properly. Why? MS always ballyhoos about their complete hardware support. SO why is it that (pre-Athlon) the second most important chip-line in the world (K6-2,3) wasn't getting full platform support in their best selling OS? Already on these forums I'm seeing: help! my g400 wont work on my Athlon(or)133PRO system. Solution:install latest Gart driver. Damn, here we go again.
So, is it MS/Intel's fault? I don't know. Maybe VIA's engineering sucks, thought I doubt it sucks any more than intel's. Even so, there will be no SMP for athlon as yet, which is a shame.
Maybe in time, there will be a clearer picture. In my opinion Intel had better push for a renamed chipset. One that supports ram that people other that bill gates can afford. AMD had better keep a close eye on the chipset development for their athlon platform. If it takes this long for new chipsets which don't have a complete set of features, they are in trouble. Also, they had better convince the mobo people that athlon will make them money.
man, now I'm tired...
Just a few months ago, things were crystal clear in mobo world. If you went intel, you bought a BX board. There were a ton of them, and a number of mans. like asus, soyo, gigabyte, were making extremely stable and feature complete motherboards. There were others, like Abit, who were also pushing outside the lines and designing unique things into their boards (softmenu, dual ppga). The BX proved to be a very solid performer, technically and comercially.
Now if you wanted a SS7 board, things were a little trickier, but none-the-less worked out. VIA was most prevelant, but did have a few quirks (in my experience). Mostly with compatibility (i.e. my g200 on FIC 2013). But a few boards emerged that were stable (ASUS P5-A, for instance), and were also feature complete.
But then things changed. Technologies were announced that were going to change computing. AGP 4X, ATA/66, PC133, RAMBUS, Athlon, coppermine.
But, behold, there were no chipsets. i820 was a disaster, and, IMHO won't make it. I for one will avoid it like the plague, if on prinicple alone. i840 sounds like a neat archetecture, but intel won't push it anywhere but into the high end, which eliminates home users like me. i810 is a micky-mouse chipset, made for people like my mom (will run the same computer for 5+ years, and wonder if it is safe to take the cover off the computer). So intel's offerings have botched the viability of rambus, and most people are running their shiny new coppermines on their old trusty BX boards.
Now we are back to VIA. She of the 59 and counting AGP Gart drivers. They've had a chipset supporting PC133, AGP4X, ATA/66 around for a spell now, and some mobo mans have incorporated them.
Now, they are going to come to the rescue of the athlon with another 133 spec chipset. Like intel's new chips, these have been delayed for quite awhile. Since the Athlon roll out, as a matter of fact.
My fear is this: in a market dominated by the Wintel two headed monster (or is it the beast with two backs? ) can we rely on a via driven product?
The worst part is, I'm not sure where the problem lies. For instance, when win98 came out, it claimed full support for SS7 chipsets like the MVP3. But, I still had to install all these patches so the OS would recognize everything and operate properly. Why? MS always ballyhoos about their complete hardware support. SO why is it that (pre-Athlon) the second most important chip-line in the world (K6-2,3) wasn't getting full platform support in their best selling OS? Already on these forums I'm seeing: help! my g400 wont work on my Athlon(or)133PRO system. Solution:install latest Gart driver. Damn, here we go again.
So, is it MS/Intel's fault? I don't know. Maybe VIA's engineering sucks, thought I doubt it sucks any more than intel's. Even so, there will be no SMP for athlon as yet, which is a shame.
Maybe in time, there will be a clearer picture. In my opinion Intel had better push for a renamed chipset. One that supports ram that people other that bill gates can afford. AMD had better keep a close eye on the chipset development for their athlon platform. If it takes this long for new chipsets which don't have a complete set of features, they are in trouble. Also, they had better convince the mobo people that athlon will make them money.
man, now I'm tired...
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