p4x333 retail MBs on shelf this century?

[rebar]

Does anyone have any idea when VIA P4X333-based boards might actually appear on the shelves? Soyo announced ( http://www.soyousa.com/news/newsarticle.php?id=81 ) the advent of the SY-P4X333 DRAGON Ultra all of five days ago, but I presume most other MB manuf'rs are still avoiding the P4X333, fearing the wrath of I_t_l (shh! they're listening). Anyone have any dirt on when the blasted thing might actually be offered for sale?

 

[AMD_Man]

Just get yourself an Asus P4S533 (SiS 645DX with unofficial DDR400 support) or Abit BG7 (i845G with unofficial DDR333 support). You'll be much happier with either of those boards than a VIA-based board.

<b><i>"A penny saved is a penny earned!"</i></b>

 

[rebar]

Hi and thanks for answering. The P4S533 was my 1st choice until I read the THG review <A HREF="http://www.tomshardware.com/mainboard/02q2/020514/index.html" target="_new">here</A>. Other reviews <A HREF="http://www.anandtech.com/chipsets/showdoc.html?i=1623" target="_new"> here</A> and <A HREF="http://www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=Mjkw" target="_new">here</A> said much the same thing. On top of this, the USB 2.0, AGP 3.0 and ATA 133 support, which the P4S533 doesn't have, seemed to me to maximize the future lifespan of the board. Did I get it wrong?

Thanks again!

 

[AMD_Man]

You can get a separate USB2 card when you do actually need it. No AGP 8X cards are currently available and if history is any indication, the performance difference will be negligible. ATA133 does practically nothing for performance.

<b><i>"A penny saved is a penny earned!"</i></b>

 

[Crashman]

All those sites show the VIA chipset clearly inferior to the i850E, yet you still want one? I need not question your judgement further.

BTW, the Asus P4T533-C also has USB 2.0.

What's the frequency, Kenneth?

 

[rebar]

Did I misread?

<A HREF="http://www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=MjkwLDU=" target="_new">HardOCP</A>: "The benchmarks have simply shown the VIA P4X333 to be an outstanding performer when compared to Intel's flagship i850E and the SiS-645."

<A HREF="http://www.tech-report.com/reviews/2002q2/via-p4x333/index.x?pg=7" target="_new">Tech Report</A>: "If I were building a Pentium 4 system today, the list of chipset contenders would only have one entry on it, and that entry would be the VIA P4X333."

<A HREF="http://www6.tomshardware.com/mainboard/02q2/020514/p4x333-16.html" target="_new">THG</A>: "If you take some time to analyze the benchmark results more closely, you will notice that the VIA chipset is only slightly behind the fastest RAM/chipset combination available out there."

<A HREF="http://www.anandtech.com/chipsets/showdoc.html?i=1623&p=8" target="_new">Anandtech</A>: "Provided that there are no issues with USB2 and AGP 8X, we can honestly say that VIA has produced the best DDR chipset for the Pentium 4."

I'll cheerfully admit I'm out of my depth here and so have to rely on expert opinion, but the expert opinion in this case seems pretty uniformly positive. The likely price-point advantage is a decided bonus. What downside am I missing?

 

[Crashman]

Yes, their conclusions suck when you consider the data they provide, perhaps due to a personally hatred they feel towards Rambus, or a particular affiliation they have with VIA. Either way, the test show the i850/RDRAM clearly superior to the P4X333, by a large margin in some test.

What's the frequency, Kenneth?

 

[FatBurger]

And none of the quotes listed actually said that the P3X333 beat the i850 or i850E. The THG quote said the opposite.

<font color=blue>Hi mom!</font color=blue>

 

[Crashman]

Yep

What's the frequency, Kenneth?