Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.asus (
More info?)
On Sun, 22 May 2005 03:52:23 -0400, nospam@needed.com (Paul) wrote:
>In article <skrv81lbioo3aqc59m7kaufgu72t558gbf@4ax.com>, "_|_|_"
>> Looks like I'd be better off with the existing
>> CPU (1.6ghz, 400Mhz). I hate to swap the motherboard, cause it
>> uses Rambus, and I've got 1.5Gigs in it already.
>>
>> I was hoping to figure some way of incrementally increasing thruput
>> now and reusing parts in a new motherboard later. I guess it's not
>> possible.
>But you already have that solution. The 2.8GHz/FSB400/512KB
>processor. (I checked in Google, and someone has run one of
>those in a P4T-E with BIOS 1008.)
>
>http://groups.google.ca/group/alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.asus/browse_frm/thread/5e9a87aefca1bc36
>
>To a first order approximation, performance is proportional
>to processor core clock rate. You get a smaller improvement,
>from improving memory bandwidth.
>
>I have a P4 1.8GHz running with PC133 SDRAM. Now, that is
>an inadequate memory subsystem, and one I wouldn't consider
>upgrading. Your Rambus board is the equivalent of a DDR
>single channel board with DDR400 RAM in it, which should be
>an adequate platform for a processor upgrade. The 3.2GB/sec
>bandwidth of the processor FSB400 interface, exactly balances
>the 3.2GB/sec of your dual channel PC800 16bit DIMMs.
>
>Another area that limits older boards, is the method of connecting
>the Northbridge and Southbridge. Chipsets that use the PCI bus
>to connect those two chips, are sluggish when it comes to I/O. As
>long as some faster bus is used between those two chips, you avoid
>that limitation. Your hub bus runs at 266MB/sec, so again, the
>board is modern enough to be useful.
>
>Your board isn't any worse than say a P4P800S (848 single channel
>based) or a P4PE (845 single channel based) board. There is still
>life left in it, if you want to use it.
Good points, well presented. In fact, I have been tempted to upgrade
to a faster 400fsb CPU just to give the system some extra snap. The
problem is that, even with 1.5gb Rambus, I'm running short on ram on
this particular machine. It serves primarily for I/O: Upload/
download, email, burning DVD's and CD's, running web browsers,
networked printers, scanners... I also run all the virus, spyware
checkers on this machine. IOW, a zillion mem-hungry apps. I often
push it over the edge and crash it (maybe a thorough memory test is
in order, too, but it seems very stable with just a few apps running).
I run all the I/O on this machine to effectively keep the development
machines isolated. Ironically, the development machines (KVM'd to the
same monitor) don't have such bottlenecks.
Given the number of USB, Firewire, network and other assorted boards,
I'm also out of card slots. A new motherboard would give me most of
those back.
You have a good point about the efficiency of this particular
motherboard, but by the time I buy more Rambus + CPU, it may end up
expensive. I was looking for an interim fix while I'm throwing more
$$ at the development stations. It doesn't look like the prices of
'old' Northwoods or Rambus are dropping much either.
>While the $200 for a new processor doesn't make this the cheapest
>upgrade in the world, that processor is probably a lot less money
>than you've already poured into providing the board with RDRAM
>DIMMs.
I'm trying to remember what I just paid for 2GB of RDRAM. I think it
was $280 for 2GB of DDR400 CAS2.5 Corsair. To even get up to
2GB on my current motherboard I'd probably have to spend more than
that for two 512MB RDRams.
>If you just want to completely upgrade your system, be honest with
>yourself, and admit you've got the upgrade bug
Nothing wrong
>with that.
I wish that were the case, Paul. I'm trying to avoid crashes.
Now, for the development stations, I'll own up to it. <g>
LL