What are the best P3(370) Motherboards?

[acidjazz]

To whom it may concern,

I am attempting to build my own ultimate audio system. I would like your advice on which motherboard you would recommend me purchasing.

Here is what I'm looking for: 1) Pentium III, 2) High Stability, 3) No integrated sound and audio enhancers attached to board, 4) Preferably, excepts DDR RAM, but not required.

According to audio-enthusiast the Pentium III is recommended for professional audio PC's for two major reasons: 1) Many professional audio hardware and software has compatibility issue with some AMD processors, and P4 processors, 2) Processors above 1GHz require more fans thus more noise which is very undesired in an audio PC.

Here are the rest of my PC's Hardware & Software:

1) CoolerMaster ATC-210 Case(Blue)

2) 2 x IBM 40GB Deskstar 60GXP

3) 2 x Plextor 12/10/32 CDRW (quieter than the 16 and 24 speeds)

4) Digital Audio Labs - CardDeluxe 24/96kHz

5) Magic Fleece - Noise control

6) Fans & Power Supply (undecided) "looking for quiet machines, know any?"

7) Sound Forge 5.0, Vegas 2.0, Reason 1.0.1, Cool Edit Pro

8) Windows 98SE (compatibility reasons)

9) 512 MB of SDRAM or DDR RAM

Can you help me make a wise choose?

Thank you,
Steven Andrade

www.coolermaster.com/home.html
www.plextor.com/english/products/12_10_32.html www.stereophile.com/showarchives.cgi?280
www.pc-world.de/produkte/nachruestung.htm www.sonicfoundry.com/
www.propellerheads.se/index.php3 www.syntrillium.com/cep/proinfo.htm

 

[Crashman]

I recommend the Abit BX133-Raid. The BX is the most reliable and compatable chipset ever made. It's also one of the most efficient. This one has a built in RAID controller to speed up your dual drives. It supports Coppermines up to 1GHz.

Problems with AMD systems have historically involved VIA chipsets. Avoid them for your system. The next best motherboard would be the Asus TUSL2-C, available without audio if you look hard enough. It has the i815 chipset and supports Tualatin CPU's.

Back to you Tom...

 

[girish]

yes, the Abit BX-133 RAID is the best fit for your rig, but just one problem that it does not have AGP4X support.

You are working in audio so you may not need all that graphics power, a 2X AGP on a RivaTNT chip is enough for you.

Asus TUSL2-C is a better solution, of sorts. If you get one without onboard audio, its fine. the i815EP B2 supports later P-IIIs if you are looking for a upgrade say a year down the line. The 815 in fact, is a worthy successor to the BX, its a superBX.

the major problem you will face with 815 is that you are limited to 512 MB of memory, but if you stay with win98se you wont need that anyway. win98se works at optimum with 512 MB only. any more RAM and you are likely to loose performance with win98se.

I dont know what boards are those (I never attempted to see the VIA list) but there is Pro266T, a VIA chipset supporting almost everything, Tualatin, DDR, 4X AGP, more than a gig RAM, some boards having RAID ...! but these boards also have the VIA southbridge so I'd stay away from it.

girish

<font color=red>No system is fool-proof. Fools are Ingenious!</font color=red>

 

[charliec2uk]

You could try dual Tulatins if you're sound editing software is SMP capable then try htis board:-
<A HREF="http://www.tyan.com/products/html/tiger230t.html" target="_new"> The data sheets can be found here </A>

Democracy Bernad, it must be stopped!