I need your help please!

[KingJim]

Hi

Tom's review of the "ALi's MaGiK1 DDR-chipset" put a STOP on my purchase of the following Gaming machine. However is it that "BAD" a MOBO, did I read Tom's review wrong...any help with this system would be appreciated!

http://www.tomshardware.com/mainboard/01q1/010104/index.html

If they Build it will Work...If I Build it will NOT Boot
King Jim

ps: Falcon NW is too Expensive but they have the New...DDR SDRAM and AMD 761 Motherboard!
pss: I posted this at the MOBO forum but no replies
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Alienware...Total = $ 2157.23

Case: Addtronics Full-Tower Case 6890A (300-watt PS)
Processor: AMD Athlon 1.2GHz Processor 266MHz FSB w/Heatsink & Cooling Fan
Hi-Performance Heatsink/CPU Cooling Fan
***ALi MAGiK1 Motherboard w/1AGP/5PCI for Athlon Processors***
Standard 1.44MB Floppy Drive
Memory: 256MB DDR SDRAM (PC-2100)
Hard Drive: 40GB HD 9.0ms seek time, 7200RPM, UltraATA
Video Cooling: KoolMaxx Video Cooling System $46.00
Video Card : NVIDIA GeForce2 ULTRA w/64MB DDR TV-Out 4X AGP
Sound Card : SoundBlaster LIVE! Value
DVD-ROM : Pioneer 16X DVD 40X w/Software MPEG-2 Decoder
Modems : US Robotics V.90 56K Internal Voice/Fax/Data
Ethernet NIC: PCI Ethernet 10-100 NIC [I have ADSL}
Productivity Software: (None) [For gaming and Surfing ONLY]
Free installation & configuration of favorite games
Microsoft Windows ME Operating System
Performance Benchmarks Documentation
Personalized Technical Support Manual
Latest Drivers

 

[Guest]

Personally I would stay clear of the ALI DDR chipset and any MB sporting it. It's not "bad" per say but it's not good value for the performance. If you're spending that much extra for that fraction of a performance Ali/DDR difference you probably want a MB with a 760 chipset. I take it you're only interested in going the oem route? Is falcon really that much more expensive? The better price/performance option is the KT133A. That would be my choice...Then again, I'd probably go for a 1ghz and OC it to 1.2ghz. With computers there's typically certain things that perform about the same, but cost MUCH less. Not that the extra money is something that many of us couldn't spend, but that last 10% costs as much as the first 90%!

 

[Crashman]

Actually it is a GOOD motherboard. He said it did not take full advantage of DDR performance, but also mentioned that it had better options for overclocking and was probably more STABLE and compatable. I personally would never put a VIA chipset in another one of my computers ever again!

Suicide is painless...........

 

[KingJim]

Hi

Thanks for the input...I can't build a computer!

The price diff between Alienware and Falcon NW:

Falcon NW Total Price: 1.2 Ghz $3,067.00

Case: 3- 51/4" & 5- 31/2" (2 open) bays, 300 Watt PS, 2 extra fans
Asus A7M266 AMD761 5PCI ATA100 2DIMM DDRSDRAM
AMD Thunderbird 1200Mhz, 256k Full Speed L2 Cache, w/ cooler
IBM Deskstar 75GXP 45GB 7200RPM ATA100
256 Megabyte DDR SDRAM PC2100
Toshiba 16x DVD-ROM 48X CD-Rom
Floppy: TEAC 1.44mb 31/2" Drive
Creative Labs Soundblaster Live! - Value
Hercules 3D Prophet II ULTRA 64mb GeForce 2
3Com V.90 Hardware PCI Modem
3 Com 905C-TX 10/100, PCI, NIC
Microsoft Windows ME Millenium Edition w/CD & Cert.
http://www.falcon-nw.com/site.htm
*********************************************************

Alienware...Total = $ 2157.23

Case: Addtronics Full-Tower Case 6890A (300-watt PS)
Processor: AMD Athlon 1.2GHz Processor 266MHz FSB w/Heatsink & Cooling Fan
Hi-Performance Heatsink/CPU Cooling Fan
*ALi MAGiK1 Motherboard w/1AGP/5PCI for Athlon Processors
Standard 1.44MB Floppy Drive
Memory: 256MB DDR SDRAM (PC-2100)
Hard Drive: 40GB HD 9.0ms seek time, 7200RPM, UltraATA
Video Cooling: KoolMaxx Video Cooling System $46.00
Video Card : NVIDIA GeForce2 ULTRA w/64MB DDR TV-Out 4X AGP
Sound Card : SoundBlaster LIVE! Value
DVD-ROM : Pioneer 16X DVD 40X w/Software MPEG-2 Decoder
Modems : US Robotics V.90 56K Internal Voice/Fax/Data
Ethernet NIC: PCI Ethernet 10-100 NIC
Productivity Software: (None)
Free installation & configuration of favorite games
Microsoft Windows ME Operating System
Performance Benchmarks Documentation
Personalized Technical Support Manual
Latest Drivers