Next generations of Athlons in today's 266 FSB MB?

[Guest]

Once and for all:

Will the upcoming Palomino and at least another future generation fit and be compatable with the current generation of motherboards? In other words, if I had a 1.33 Ghz Athlon-C (266 FSB) right now, would I be able to pop in a a new 1.9 Ghz Palomino into my same, old Asus A7M266 motherboard?

I know this has been discussed, but I'm thinking of buying a 1.33 Ghz Athlon-C with the A7M266, but with the new results of driver enhancements for the PIV, I'm wondering what I should do. I need something for the future.

While you're here, what do you think is the best Athlon-C Motherboard available right now? The A7M266? Or, should I wait since they will be getting much better?

Thanks!

 

[Kelledin]

The Palomino will work on most current motherboards; it's only a matter of whether or not the motherboard provides the correct voltage. Motherboards built to AMD guidelines do provide the correct voltage. If you want to be sure you're getting a Palomino-ready motherboard, the best thing to do is get a motherboard that's listed on the "AMD Approved" list.

As for which Athlon-C motherboard is best, it's debatable. ALi-based motherboards seem to be the most stable and support both DDR and SDR RAM. AMD761-based motherboards are the fastest, but they usually include a VIA 686B southbridge (which is a rather buggy part) and only support DDR. Both can be made rock-solid, but AMD761 motherboards need a little more coddling.

Right now, I would say wait about getting a motherboard. In just a little time, you will have a lot more choice for Socket A-based motherboards. In four days, nVidia should release a Socket A chipset (the Crush chipset), and SiS should soon be releasing a Socket A chipset as well.

Kelledin

"/join #hackerz. See the Web. DoS interesting people."

 

[Guest]

Thanks so much for the quick reply:

FYI, I am looking into that Asus A7M266 as the performence seemed good, and I am planning on going with the DDR ram. But, I will do some checking about those new chips as I want to make sure that I'll be able to upgrade this to a top palomino (~2 Ghz) at some point.

Thank you again.

 

[Guest]

if you can, wait a month and you'll be able to make a intelligent purchase on ddr mobo's. Sis is coming out with a northbridge that looks to perform better than via's and amd's nb.

 

[Guest]

Well, assuming these chips all turn out to be well and good, how long would it be for actual MBs to have these chips in them? I'm looking to order within at most the next couple weeks, so if the MBs themselves won't be out until October, it could spell problems...

When do you think the MBs for them will start appearing? Have MB manufacturers been preping the MBs ahead of time by any chance?

Thanks again.

 

[Guest]

A month, eh? Hmm... have any test results been released yet? How do you know these might well be better?

 

[somerandomguy]

Better M/B's in a month? That's always going to happen.
If you're planning to buy a M/B wont need to be upgraded for a while, you may as well buy one now, because there is always going to be something better on the horizon.

"Ignorance is bliss, but I tend to get screwed over."

 

[Guest]

So, what would you recommend then?

 

[somerandomguy]

Me? Probably the one you were already looking at. The Asus A7M266. Go here ->
http://www1.amd.com/athlon/mbl/index/1,1503,,00.html

"Ignorance is bliss, but I tend to get screwed over."

 

[74merc]

not just a northbridge, its a north/south duo.
both in one chip.
ta hell with connecting the two...

----------------------
Independant thought is good.
It won't hurt for long.

 

[tlaughrey]

Here's a review of the new SiS 735 chipset. Preliminary tests seem to show it's a good performer.

<A HREF="http://www.socketa.com/reviews/chipsets/sis/735/" target="_new">http://www.socketa.com/reviews/chipsets/sis/735/</A>

 

[Guest]

Hmm.. anyone know when the SiS chip will be available on MBs?

 

[dhlucke]

Not within a month. I think we're all expecting to see products toward the end of summer/begining of fall. I would go ahead and make your purchase now unless you have a couple months to wait. Since you don't there is no reason for you to even hesitate. The worst thing that can happen is that you have to buy a new motherboard when you upgrade again, but at that point there will surely be new IDE speeds, USB2.0, etc so it'll be worth it.

<font color=red>Amd or Intel? Who cares?? Not me...</font color=red>