Hey all,
My passion is digital audio recording and music composition, and when it comes to computer systems, stability is the number one priority.
In my market niche, Intel chipsets are synonymous with stability. But the Pentium IV brings with it other issues (CPU spikes due to denormalization, lack of P4 optimized software, etc).
So ultimately what I want is a better PIII system (current rig is an 800 MHz PIII on an Abit BF6 440Bx MoBo). But it seems like socket 370 and the Pentium III are truly dying. The recent announcement of a Williamette-based Celeron further confirms this.
The Tualatin PIII represented a beacon of hope, but without a new chipset (and even faster proc speeds), it's not much of a solution. The i815 was very popular with my crowd, but the memory limitations (512 Mb RAM and PC133) are a real problem.
I only wish Intel could release a new PIII chipset with the following features:
- Support for PC2100 / PC2700 DDR SDRAM (2 Gb or more)
- 266 MHz system bus (or double pumped 133 MHz)
- Dual Proc support
- Latest USB support (2.0)
It seems like Intel has partnered with Serverworks for the Tualatin MoBo's, so I don't see much hope for a new chipset.
Athlons are becoming more popular with the music crowd, but chipset compatibility with high-end audio cards is still an issue (AMD is generally preferred over VIA). Other chipsets (Ali, Sys, Serverworks, etc) are virtually unheard of in this niche.
Maybe I'll wind up waiting for the next generation Athlon (and the accompanying AMD chipsets). I just can't see investing in Pentium IV or Palomino right now.
Is there any reason to hold out hope for a new PIII platform?
Wiggum
My passion is digital audio recording and music composition, and when it comes to computer systems, stability is the number one priority.
In my market niche, Intel chipsets are synonymous with stability. But the Pentium IV brings with it other issues (CPU spikes due to denormalization, lack of P4 optimized software, etc).
So ultimately what I want is a better PIII system (current rig is an 800 MHz PIII on an Abit BF6 440Bx MoBo). But it seems like socket 370 and the Pentium III are truly dying. The recent announcement of a Williamette-based Celeron further confirms this.
The Tualatin PIII represented a beacon of hope, but without a new chipset (and even faster proc speeds), it's not much of a solution. The i815 was very popular with my crowd, but the memory limitations (512 Mb RAM and PC133) are a real problem.
I only wish Intel could release a new PIII chipset with the following features:
- Support for PC2100 / PC2700 DDR SDRAM (2 Gb or more)
- 266 MHz system bus (or double pumped 133 MHz)
- Dual Proc support
- Latest USB support (2.0)
It seems like Intel has partnered with Serverworks for the Tualatin MoBo's, so I don't see much hope for a new chipset.
Athlons are becoming more popular with the music crowd, but chipset compatibility with high-end audio cards is still an issue (AMD is generally preferred over VIA). Other chipsets (Ali, Sys, Serverworks, etc) are virtually unheard of in this niche.
Maybe I'll wind up waiting for the next generation Athlon (and the accompanying AMD chipsets). I just can't see investing in Pentium IV or Palomino right now.
Is there any reason to hold out hope for a new PIII platform?
Wiggum