Abit vs. Asus w/ PC1066

Well, for never o/c'ing, I sure am learning a lot on this forum. Special thanks to all of those with stars below their name , You guys are amazing(especially compared to all the crap on alt. newsgroups). I am building a completely new system, so my usable components and compatibility issues are nil, so I think the logical choice is definitely Rdram if only for the future. My new Mobo should also be PC1066 compatible for the same reason. My first choice was the P4s333(Ddr, I know) because of all the good luck I've heard with it until I decided on Rdram. Then I was leaning towards a Th7II for two reasons:

(1)- Batboy and Mr Natural. Nuff said!

(2)- The article in Tom's Hardware where they teamed up the new P4/533 with PC1066 and a TH7II !!
I like the options that come with an Asus, but this new compatibility had me sold. I could build a 1.6A now with pc800 and upgrade to a new P4-533/pc1066 later! Now that's saving money right? Well, I just read that compatibility is touch&go and that is enough to mortify any newbie (I don't even know how to get into BIOS ) From what I hear now, the P4T-E is a better choice or wait until the P4T533 comes out. Will it be REALLY expensive???? If you got thru this rambling, maybe you can offer some input as I could use some.
I have a couple related questions too:
-Would a G4 4200 be compatible? (where are they?)
-I need usb and firewire. Not sure if these Mobo's come with either, what's the best way to get it done?
-I have to get sound, maybe SB Live Cheap?
-Do I need a controller (scsi), I have no idea what they do. I know what RAID is and think it's a good buy on the Mobo for the future if nothing else.
I know.... I'm never gonna get a hundred posts like this
Thanks,
Jim

Not one reply
boy do I feel like a black sheep.
Jim

1sleeper said:

My first choice was the P4s333(Ddr, I know) because of all the good luck I've heard with it until I decided on Rdram. Then I was leaning towards a Th7II for two reasons:

(1)- Batboy and Mr Natural. Nuff said!

(2)- The article in Tom's Hardware where they teamed up the new P4/533 with PC1066 and a TH7II !!
I like the options that come with an Asus, but this new compatibility had me sold. I could build a 1.6A now with pc800 and upgrade to a new P4-533/pc1066 later! Now that's saving money right? Well, I just read that compatibility is touch&go and that is enough to mortify any newbie (I don't even know how to get into BIOS ) From what I hear now, the P4T-E is a better choice or wait until the P4T533 comes out. Will it be REALLY expensive???? If you got thru this rambling, maybe you can offer some input as I could use some.
I have a couple related questions too:
-Would a G4 4200 be compatible? (where are they?)
-I need usb and firewire. Not sure if these Mobo's come with either, what's the best way to get it done?
-I have to get sound, maybe SB Live Cheap?
-Do I need a controller (scsi), I have no idea what they do. I know what RAID is and think it's a good buy on the Mobo for the future if nothing else.
I know.... I'm never gonna get a hundred posts like this
Thanks,
Jim

Click to expand...

Right now, either DDR or RDRAM would do you well. It's kinda a transition phase. PC1066 coming out soon, DDR400 coming out soon(or just recently out). Because both ram prices are about the same it doesn't really matter which you pick.

If I had my way to pick between the TH7II and the P4T-E, I'd go with the P4T-E. Sure, the Abit is $10 more but since it's *so* much more popular you will be able to get loads of mods for it letting you overclock to the mobo's fullest. The P4T-E is lacking in comparison. Both mobo's have 533FSB support already so you won't have to worry about that. I'm wondering when it comes if you could just flash the board for native 533FSB support as it is the same chipset.

The GF4 4200 should work fine. Both come with USB onboard. The P4T-E has 2 extra USB slots for the back if you need it. Neither have onboard Firewire. You could just buy a PCI card for that though so it's not a big deal. For sound, some like Creative, others like the Turtle Beach Santa Cruz/Game Theater XP(same chipset) or the Philips Acoustic Edge. The P4T-E has onboard sound that is decent. If you plan on overclocking don't plan on using it.

Unless you use SCSI devices don't plan on buying an adaptor for it. If you SCSI go all the way or not at all. Neither of these mobo's have SCSI onboard anyways. As for RAID, the TH7II+ has the IDE RAID option. If you don't use RAID you could just end up using 4 devices on their own channels.

In addition. If you plan on hitting 133FSB @ X4.

Buy only 1 pair of RIMMS. I hear Samsung is the best overclocking ram at the moment. To go a bit higher you would most likely have to a mem volt mod. This far only people using the TH7II know how to do it(see? more popular). Us P4T-E users will be waiting on PC1066 to go any higher.

More info on the P4T-E:
Be prepared to do some modding(nothing serious). In BIOS mode the setting at 133FSB sets your PCI/AGP way outta spec. Infact it's 133FSB/44.5PCI/89.1AGP. To get the correct dividers you'll have to set the dipswitches. Be prepared to do the vidpin wirewrap mod for more voltage because when you switch to dipswitch all your voltage options are gone. Make sure you have adaquete cooling before you attempt the voltage mod.

Past 112FSB you better not be using a USB mouse. It will cause the mouse light to blink like crazy during the Mem check and PnPray initialising. Well, that's not the real problem. The real problem is that it takes FOREVER(nearly 3 mins at 118FSB) to pass that point. I swear I thought my system locked up until I finally pulled the USB MS intellimouse explorer trackball and I booted at whatever speed I wanted. Of course, all other USB devices are unaffected. My printer and UPS work fine.

That about covers it. Just letting you know the whole scoop. Hopefully a TH7II user could chime in and give you details about that mobo and help you decide.

That right there is a great reply . Thanks for taking the time Bro, I need all the help I can get. Like you said, hopefully someone with an Abit will chime in. Thanx again.
Jim

Were you saying that you would go with the TH7-II if you had to do it again? I was reading it that way but you said P4T-E.
Thanks again.

Yea, I would get the TH7II if I could. I'm fine w/ the P4T-E but being a tweaker the TH7II would have been a tad better for me. You really couldn't go wrong w/ either one.

I have an Asus P4T-E, my FSB is 142, and my mouse flashes for about 10 seconds, then it finished booting. I have a USB Microsoft Intellimouse Explorer.

Weird. Mine is the trackball version and at 133FSB it won't even get past the memory check.

What if you let it POST and then plug the mouse in? Only uselful if you turn your computer on only once in a while, but hey, you could always try?

Yea, I've tried that. It turns out that it was also making my mouse, both USB and PS/2, delay in 3D games. Take it out and my PS/2 mouse does fine.

I don't understand it because the rest of my PCI devices run fine(all on the same bus). It's just the mouse.