WILF

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I'm thinking of buying a P4R800-VM motherboard, with a P4 2.8E 1MB L2 cache CPU.

This is the ATI Radeon chipset, does anyone know if this would be a
good combination for video editing. Good or bad points concerning this
motherboard.

Thanks in Advance Wilf
 

Paul

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In article <60m6c0p8bcaqng5ekqjh3gm1tuvp1jhit5@4ax.com>, Wilf
<wilf@mondenet.com> wrote:

> I'm thinking of buying a P4R800-VM motherboard, with a P4 2.8E 1MB L2
cache CPU.
>
> This is the ATI Radeon chipset, does anyone know if this would be a
> good combination for video editing. Good or bad points concerning this
> motherboard.
>
> Thanks in Advance Wilf

First of all, Google is your friend. Try searching on P4R800 and
see what has been said already.

You've selected a Prescott processor. This is Intel's
latest, but may not be their greatest creation. I'm convinced, in the
fullness of time, better compilers will come out, and this processor
will outperform the Northwood it was designed to replace. But right
now, it performs about the same, and consumes more power. And the
worst part of it, is the power isn't even spent in calculation,
it is something called leakage current, which means it will be
flowing even when you are sitting idle in Windows. Normally,
power dissipated in CMOS is proportional to the toggle rate
of the gates, which means when Windows is idle, your power bill
drops. The tiny 90nm features of the Prescott makes it so that
the transistors can no longer be fully turned off. That isn't a good
thing for your power bill. (Can you tell I'm annoyed at the
concept ?)

As for the -VM motherboard, virtually all Asus microATX boards have
unadjustable BIOS. Some of the adjustments in a full featured BIOS
give you options that can make the computer stop crashing or stalling.
These options are missing from the microATX boards, as these boards
are intended for mass deployment in business, where the IT staff figure
out how to make them work, then outfit them all the same. For a home
user to figure this out, means purchasing and returning parts, until
the recipe is perfect. For example, some microATX boards will only
run well with PC2700 RAM, and no home user in their right mind would
buy dead end PC2700 RAM right now, as there would be no resale market.
But a business is quite happy to buy such RAM, as they throw the old
stuff away when they next upgrade (or go bankrupt).

The next thing to do, is download the manual, and examine it
for issues. For example, the manual for the P4R800-VM says it
can only take a single sided PC3200 DIMM per channel. At lower
speed, any combination is possible. But, if you want the best
performance from your FSB800 processor, what better way to do
it than with two channels full of PC3200 DDR400 ram ? That limitation
would mean you would likely end up with 2x256MB single sided
PC3200, if you wanted performance, and that isn't enough ram
for any practical work.

(Funny thing about that. There are two boards, the P4R800-V
full size board and the P4R800-VM. Both use the same Northbridge,
and the -V can take a double sided DIMM in each channel, which
means you could use 2x512MB on the -V, while on the -VM the
manual says you are limited to single sided at DDR400. Pretty
strange limit - both boards should have the same limit ?)

If you want a board with slightly different characteristics,
there is the P4P800-VM. It has integrated graphics, but from
a gamer perspective, the 3D performance isn't as good as the
P4R800's IGP graphics. For 2D, it should be adequate, and it
sounds like that is what you are interested in. The sweet
part, is the RAM end of things. You can use 4x512MB PC3200
if you want. And, whereas the P4R800 wants the DIMMs to be
matched in pairs (i.e. it is a strict dual channel board),
the P4P800-VM lets you mismatch the DIMMs, and then it
runs in virtual single channel mode. This certainly doesn't
perform as well, but if you are operating on a shoestring,
it means you can open your desk drawer, and pull any DIMMs
out and install them, and the board will work.

Now, when you download the manual for the P4P800-VM, it
has adjustable RAM voltage, manual RAM timing adjustment,
but processor overclocking adjustments are missing. This is
a fair tradeoff. The only other thing I would have liked
to have seen, are AGP settings, for helping a cranky
plugin AGP video card work, but if you are happy with the
non-gamer graphics built-in, this shouldn't be an issue.

For an overclocker, or an enthusiast who likes to tweak
settings, a full sized board gives you more BIOS options,
so if you see that being a future consideration, then shop
around some more.

HTH,
Paul
 

WILF

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On Sun, 06 Jun 2004 14:44:04 -0400, nospam@needed.com (Paul) wrote:

>In article <60m6c0p8bcaqng5ekqjh3gm1tuvp1jhit5@4ax.com>, Wilf
><wilf@mondenet.com> wrote:
>
>> I'm thinking of buying a P4R800-VM motherboard, with a P4 2.8E 1MB L2
>cache CPU.
>>
>> This is the ATI Radeon chipset, does anyone know if this would be a
>> good combination for video editing. Good or bad points concerning this
>> motherboard.
>>
>> Thanks in Advance Wilf
>
>First of all, Google is your friend. Try searching on P4R800 and
>see what has been said already.
>
>You've selected a Prescott processor. This is Intel's
>latest, but may not be their greatest creation. I'm convinced, in the
>fullness of time, better compilers will come out, and this processor
>will outperform the Northwood it was designed to replace. But right
>now, it performs about the same, and consumes more power. And the
>worst part of it, is the power isn't even spent in calculation,
>it is something called leakage current, which means it will be
>flowing even when you are sitting idle in Windows. Normally,
>power dissipated in CMOS is proportional to the toggle rate
>of the gates, which means when Windows is idle, your power bill
>drops. The tiny 90nm features of the Prescott makes it so that
>the transistors can no longer be fully turned off. That isn't a good
>thing for your power bill. (Can you tell I'm annoyed at the
>concept ?)
>
>
>HTH,
> Paul


Thank You Paul, this is the type of information this group is good
for, better then google.
I think I'll take your advice,and shop around.
Thanks Wilf
 
G

Guest

Guest
Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.asus (More info?)

Wilf wrote in message ...
>Thank You Paul, this is the type of information this group is good
>for, better then google.
>I think I'll take your advice,and shop around.
>Thanks Wilf

Not only did this enlighten Wilf but this also teaches me plenty.

Hear me ASUS.
Paul should get a pay check from the company from time to time.
I used to help in the CreativeLabs forums and one day,
The manager (Bill Ball) send me Gfx card for free, just in time for Xmas.
One of these GfxCards used in their labs for testing but still functionning.
(And still is. flawless Ultra stuff)

I Wish ASUS understands the value of someone like Paul.
Stick around.
Regards.