AOpen AX4C MAX II or Asus P4C800-E Deluxe for Matrox RT x.100 ?

[RollinD]

So we couldn't get the Matrox RT.x100 working smoothly on my Tyan Thunder K7X S2468 cuz the 64bit PCI slots share the bus with my onboard SCSI which is my system drive's bus and the video stuttered when it was in the 32bit PCI slots.

Allright so I'm building a P4 system for a Matrox RT.x100 and I was wondering which motherboard most of you suggest to build it around?

I'm pretty sure I have it down to either the AOpen AX4C MAX II or Asus P4C800-E Deluxe.
They both look like great boards and have pretty much the same specs. The only thing pointing me more towards the AOpen is that I've been reading that the Promise controller on the Asus is causing major memory problems when it's enabled. That is if I'm understanding the posts right at AnandTech. With that said, should I go with the AOpen, or would its Promise controller cause probs too?
If both of those boards have probs with there Promise controller and I wouldn't be able to put them to use, would the Intel D865PERL be the next best choice?

I really appreaciate any help as researching this is giving me massive headaches.

Thanks,
Danny Egan

https://www.FIDesigns.com

[Dr Mordrid]

Promise RAID & drive controllers work best when they aren't embedded but are separate cards in a PCI slot. A good sign is that the i875P chipset and both of your board options are on the RT.X100 compatability list.

Is there a specific reason you'd want to turn on the embedded Promise chipset? IME a separate RAID/drive controller card, Promise or otherwise, is far less likely to cause issues than an embedded one. As such I tend to leave a lot of embedded HW disabled and make sure I have lots of slots

Dr. Mordrid

[RollinD]

Dr. Mordid, thank you for your reply. I really don't need the Promise controller card at this moment so yeah disabling it should be no prob. I was just thinking about the future but if I do end up needing more and enabling it causes probs I could just get a PCI controller card correct? I'm pretty sure now that I'm going with the Asus unless someone gives me a really good reason not to.

~Danny

[Dr Mordrid]

As long as you have a free slot using a PCI controller would be the better option. As for the quality of Asus boards; I've had several and never had a problem with 'em. One of the best Intel boards I've ever had was an Asus: the P3B-F.

Dr. Mordrid

[schmosef]

I built a DV system (for a customer) on a P4C800-E DLX with an RT2500 earlier this year. It's been fine.

[schmosef]

Originally posted by Dr Mordrid
As long as you have a free slot using a PCI controller would be the better option. As for the quality of Asus boards; I've had several and never had a problem with 'em. One of the best Intel boards I've ever had was an Asus: the P3B-F.

Dr. Mordrid

I've sold literally hundreds of Asus boards and only had occasional problems, which always came out during initial use (or burn-in). I've never had an Asus board die over time unless it was PS related. Their overall stability is #1 too.

I've had lots of problems with Tyan and will only sell them if a customer self-integrates.

[Elie]

Schmosef, do you work at a computer store or something?

If so let me know where and I'll come a visit, I need an upgrade anyway

Cheers,
Elie

[gt40]

Originally posted by Elie
Schmosef, do you work at a computer store or something?

If so let me know where and I'll come a visit, I need an upgrade anyway

Cheers,
Elie

And don't forget about the special 'MURC' discount

[schmosef]

Originally posted by Elie
Schmosef, do you work at a computer store or something?

If so let me know where and I'll come a visit, I need an upgrade anyway

Cheers,
Elie

I co-own an IT consulting company. We don't really sell to the public. We deal with mainly corporate and industrial customers. Which is not to say that we can't make an exception.

We have an office but not a store so we don't encourage street traffic. We're slowly working on an e-commerce site that we will use to sell to the public.

I don't have to be reminded that Murc members get a discount.

Actually, I've kind of been hesitant to sell anything to Murc'ers. I haven't really cleared it with Sasq or Ant and I don't want to seem like I'm preying on the Murc for business.

[Elie]

Thanks for the info Schmosef

[RollinD]

What do yall suggest for a processor? Intel Prescott vs Northwood? I know I want a 3.2ghz and spec wise the Prescott should be better with a 1mb cache but from what I have been hearing it scores the same on benchmarks amd sometimes even lower. Is this correct?

Thanks,
Danny