On Sat, 2002-09-28 at 16:58, Ralph F De Witt wrote: > > Hi: > I am contemplating building a new system. The two motherboards that I am > looking at are, one a MSI KT3 Ultra2 w/o raid, lan, and video, and two a MSI > KT4 Ultra w/o raid, lan, and video. This will be my primary workstation. I am > wondering will these boards will work with Mandrake 9.0 and how well the > built in audio works on both. And your preferences. > - -- > Yours, > Ralph.
I can see right off that you've been doing your homework. Not bad. There are some concerns with the newer DDR400 based mobos, though. This is evident by looking at the following: http://www17.tomshardware.com/mainboard/02q3/020905/kt400-11.html#opengl_benchmarks And the Directx benchmarks as well. The conclusion of this article is interesting: http://www17.tomshardware.com/mainboard/02q3/020905/kt400-16.html But not truly "conclusive". Because if later day bios upgrades are able to fix the memory standards that as of right now have not been finalized, then the KT4 Ultra may well be the best choice for the future. As you can see right now the KT333's are showing faster benches. A bios upgrade may well fix that, however. Regarding the KT3 Ultra, this pick is perhaps a little confusing. If you are considering a mobo with KT333 architecture, there are many more superior choices available. Here are the benchmarks for a roundup of 18 mobos that includes the KT3 Ultra: http://www17.tomshardware.com/mainboard/02q2/020509/kt333-29.html This in fact was the roundup that I was using to choose my next mobo. As of now tho, the memory architecture has moved onward and I will probably wait for Abit to release a KT400 mobo. The advantage with this set of mobos is that they have been out for awhile and they are better known personalitywise. It is very unlikely that you will see any problems with the top performers in this list. Speaking of performance, the KT3 Ultra is in the bottom half of both the opengl and directx benchmarks. Dis is not good. When I was planning on getting one of these, I was looking at three: 1) Epox EP-8K3A+ -- Pros: Top performer, solid brand, reputation for dependability Cons: Unsure of overclocking virtues compared to Abit AT7 2) Enmic 8TTX2+ -- Pros: German manufacturer, looked solid, top performer; real fast and stable Cons: New company, no history, unsure of overclocking virtues compared to AT7 3) Abit AT7 -- Pros: I have extensive prior experience with this brand and know the overclocking and stability virtues of this brand, the quality has never let me down. Cons: Not a top performer (unless overclocked !) hehe In which case it can theoretically exceed the default performance of any of the 18. Depending on CPU limitations. Let me smash a few myths right off the bat. 1) An overclocking mobo is typically superior stability (and quality) wise to a mobo that is typified as a "server board", AKA Tyan mobos. The overclockers HAVE to be more stable in worse situations than the much overpriced and underperforming "server boards". Anything marketed as a server board is probably going to be a money pipeline waiting for you to give your frogskins away to the manufacturer. Synopsis: The overclockers are better server boards than the server boards. 2) Since they are marketed to hardware hacker types, they are more loaded with features than other boards. Also, just because you buy an overclocker board doesn't mean that it's going to overclock the cpu. You have to TELL it to do that; otherwise it operates the CPU at the design spec for the CPU. In that case it theoretically is more rock solid than the other types. 3). The reason I cite directx and opengl benches is simply because there is no better stress test for the entire mobo and it's subsystems as a team than these tests. They stress the graphics, memory, and all other subsystems better than any business apps ever would in a million years. The business benches are more or less like tits on a boar hog. But, if you are still curious you can follow the other URL's on Dr Tom's site to the business benches. OK. Darn this thing has gotten long... HTH, LX P.S. I probably would have bought the Enmic. And..I was unsure of what level of information to give, so I used the shotgun. -- 같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같� Kernel 2.4.18-6mdk Mandrake Linux 8.2 Enlightenment 0.16.5-11mdk Evolution 1.0.2-5mdk Registered Linux User #268899 http://counter.li.org/ 같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같같�
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