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AWE64, VIA cipset, DMA, Marvel Syndrome

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  • #1

    AWE64, VIA cipset, DMA, Marvel Syndrome

    Hi,

    I am curently using the following:

    Windows98 SE, PIII 500, 128Mb RAM
    Shuttle HOT-661 VIA Pro Motherboard.
    Latest VIA cipset BIOS upgrade.
    IBM 30 gig. 5400.
    Fujitsu 8.?? gig. ????
    Creative AWE64 Sound card.(ISA)
    Matrox Marvel G400 TV
    Ulead MSP 6.0, TMPGEnc, iFilmEdit

    When I activate the DMA the sound quality is very poor and a considerable ammount of dropped frames during capture.

    This will not happen on both drives. On the drive that clocks the lesser speed (Fujitsu with DMA on 7.2Mb/sec.) things appear to be OK.

    Removing the DMA will put things right on the other drive but benchmaking will drop from 19Mb/sec. to 5.22 Mb/sec. I have been reading about a similar broblem with the Creative Live SB.

    It appears that somthing is not happy with a high speed rate.

    Do I have the same problem or can something be done in my case. What can I try, I am out of tweaking solutions.

    Happy Easter to All, Regards,

    Debbie


    We pass this way only once. Make the most of it !
    Tags: None
  • #2
    The best thing is to get rid of that VIA chipped mainboard. The increased bandwidth of DMA is causing it to hit the wall. Disabling DMA reduces disk performance enough to give the bus some breathing room.

    Such is life with that #$%^@*( chipset.

    Dr. Mordrid

    Comment

    • #3
      Hi again,

      Thanks for your 1GHz (speed) reply.
      I have been thinking about that for some time now.

      What bugs me is that at the lab where I work and on the computer where this e-mail is coming from, I have a VIA cipset-based motherboard and a Creative 128 SB with a 15 gig. HD, topped with the Marvel and everything is OK. DMA on or not.

      Can you figure that ?

      Debbie
      We pass this way only once. Make the most of it !

      Comment

      • #4
        Sure.

        IF the system has a different 4-in-1 driver version it makes a difference.

        VIA based mainboards behave very differently due to a large variation in their quality, and you never know who is going to make a ringer and who is going to make a dud. Some have poor voltage regulation on the AGP which affects things. Also some have much better buffering and larger capacitors attached to the bus. This helps keep bus noise down and make things run more reliably. These are big items.

        Then there are the different driver builds with the audio cards. Creative is not very consistant in producing low latency drivers, which adds to system stability. In fact most all their PCI cards have had high latency drivers, which takes bandwidth away from other devices and affects their performance.

        Even such things as what kind of memory in the system can have an effect. Put very high quality memory in there and you get better performance. Use lower quality and you get problems. The BIOS memory settings then become critical. If the BIOS autoconfigures, fine. If not then the system can be weird.

        These kinds of sensitivity and variability are caused by the "on the highwire" nature of how the VIA's run. Their inherent problems make it easy for one devices bus latency to tip the balance one bit in the wrong direction. When this happens system stability and/or performance falls on its ***.

        Again, the signpost warning of these problems is the need for VIA to issue 4-in-1 drivers at all. A stable, well constructed chipset would not need software patches every time the wind shifted direction.

        Dr. Mordrid


        [This message has been edited by Dr Mordrid (edited 11 April 2001).]

        Comment

        • #5
          Hi again,

          Can you advice me on a good motherboard that
          is relyable.

          I'm thinking of upgrading and considering changing the CPU from Pentium to ????. Your
          opinion ?
          We pass this way only once. Make the most of it !

          Comment

          • #6
            Asus CUBX (BX's are still the most compatable/stable boards) or a Soyo SY-71S2, assuming you have an FCPGA chip. If you have a slot1 chip then try to find an Asus P3B-F (also BX).

            Dr. Mordrid

            Comment

            • #7
              Asus CUBX-L 440BX ATX Slot1 Lm 62.00
              DFI P2DFBX 440BX Slot1 ATX Lm 57.00
              Intel SE/2 440BX Slot1 ATX Lm 66.00
              SuperMicro SMSBA 440BX Slot1 ATX Lm 67.00
              Chaintech 6BTML Slot1 440BX ATX Lm 47.00

              NB
              x3=$

              Can you please advice on best board for Marvel G400-TV.

              Regards,

              Debbie
              We pass this way only once. Make the most of it !

              Comment

              • #8
                Asus CUBX, which is not slot 1 but has Socket 370.

                http://www.asus.com/products/Motherb...Cubx/spec.html

                Dr. Mordrid

                Comment

                • #9
                  Doc, what about the CUBX-E (with promise ATA100 controller)?

                  See http://www.asus.com/products/Motherb...bx-e/spec.html

                  Any experience?

                  Comment

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