While Tom's hardware reviews most processor releases from low end Durons
to high end Athlons it tends to only concentrate on the high end
motherboards. So for example when the new Duron 1300 was reviewed
recently it was paired with a VIA KT266A based motherboard. While I'm
relatively new to the world of build-it-yourself systems am I right in
saying the Duron has a 133MHz FSB so pairing it with a motherboard
capable of handling a processor with a 266MHz FSB is probably more than
really required.
Independent of whether I'm right in this particular case, I'd like to
see a comparison not of motherboards based on the same chip set but from
different manufacturers, which is what we usually see, but rather of a
range of different chipsets with each other. For example ASUS produces
23 socket A motherboards, obviously I shouldn't pair an Athlon XP 2000+
with their cheapest board and similarly I shouldn't pair a 900MHz Duron
with their dearest board. So what I'd like to see is a matrix breakdown
of what each chipset/board offers and what range of processors speeds
can sensibly be paired with each. I think this could be done as a
general guide, i.e. not specific to any given manufacturer.
This is the kind of information I'd have thought individual
manufacturers, e.g. ASUS, or the processor manufacturers, i.e. Intel and
AMD, would make available to their sales channels but so far I haven't
been able to track down such a breakdown.
Why am I interested in this information? Well I have two projects I want
to try, one requiring a high end system - this is easy - I read the
latest reviews and then buy the best and newest processor and
motherboard I can reasonably afford, but my other project only requires
a low end system so I'd like to have the information needed to make a
sensible choice on pairing a low end processor, say a 900MHz Duron, with
a low end motherboard - I neither want to buy a board that doesn't get
the most out of the processor nor one that's over speced for it.
So any links or pointers to such information would be much appreciated.
Yours,
George.
PS ASUS really do produces 23 socket A boards: A7A133, A7A266, A7A266-E,
A7M266, A7M266-D, A7N266, A7N266-C, A7N266-E, A7PRO, A7S-VM, A7V, A7V-E,
A7V-M, A7V133, A7V133-C, A7V133-M, A7V133-VM, A7V266, A7V266-E,
A7V266-M, A7VI-VM, A7VL-VM and A7VL133-VM!
to high end Athlons it tends to only concentrate on the high end
motherboards. So for example when the new Duron 1300 was reviewed
recently it was paired with a VIA KT266A based motherboard. While I'm
relatively new to the world of build-it-yourself systems am I right in
saying the Duron has a 133MHz FSB so pairing it with a motherboard
capable of handling a processor with a 266MHz FSB is probably more than
really required.
Independent of whether I'm right in this particular case, I'd like to
see a comparison not of motherboards based on the same chip set but from
different manufacturers, which is what we usually see, but rather of a
range of different chipsets with each other. For example ASUS produces
23 socket A motherboards, obviously I shouldn't pair an Athlon XP 2000+
with their cheapest board and similarly I shouldn't pair a 900MHz Duron
with their dearest board. So what I'd like to see is a matrix breakdown
of what each chipset/board offers and what range of processors speeds
can sensibly be paired with each. I think this could be done as a
general guide, i.e. not specific to any given manufacturer.
This is the kind of information I'd have thought individual
manufacturers, e.g. ASUS, or the processor manufacturers, i.e. Intel and
AMD, would make available to their sales channels but so far I haven't
been able to track down such a breakdown.
Why am I interested in this information? Well I have two projects I want
to try, one requiring a high end system - this is easy - I read the
latest reviews and then buy the best and newest processor and
motherboard I can reasonably afford, but my other project only requires
a low end system so I'd like to have the information needed to make a
sensible choice on pairing a low end processor, say a 900MHz Duron, with
a low end motherboard - I neither want to buy a board that doesn't get
the most out of the processor nor one that's over speced for it.
So any links or pointers to such information would be much appreciated.
Yours,
George.
PS ASUS really do produces 23 socket A boards: A7A133, A7A266, A7A266-E,
A7M266, A7M266-D, A7N266, A7N266-C, A7N266-E, A7PRO, A7S-VM, A7V, A7V-E,
A7V-M, A7V133, A7V133-C, A7V133-M, A7V133-VM, A7V266, A7V266-E,
A7V266-M, A7VI-VM, A7VL-VM and A7VL133-VM!
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