If you had 1000$ to build a new sys,

[prz]

Ghosth, get more cache (Tbird). That normally shows in performance big time based on last couple of years experience.  I'm on a KT7/TBird 950/TNT2 GTS (Leadtek) rig and _very_ happy with it. anywhere between 30 to 70s in terms of frames, no jitter. KT7 because of the ISA slot = ACM card. TBird because you can overclock, performance and price (although I was too lazy to, if you kick on all the high-performance options on KT7, the processor CPU is last 3-4% performance, who cares). Get good cooler.

[hazed-]

Ghosth
i have a 900 t-bird with KT7a raid mobo but you should be aware that the viatech usb controllers are really bad and are very incompatible with my usb adsl modem.I had to disable the onboard and buy a pci-usb card before the adsl would work.
 The via chips i have are the apollo kx133 (abit KT7A-RAID VIA KT133A /VIA 686B VIA Apollo KX133)and these are the problem i think.the apollo Kt133 chips are apparently fine as my friend has a microstar mobo with via kt133 (not kt133a!)usb controllers and his adsl had no probs.
Via supply many mobos and you can check which board has kt133 and which have kx133 on vias web site  www.viatech.com  , go products and they provide lists of mobo manufacturers.Im not sure of all this stuff but you might want to check it out before you buy.
the software overclocking bios is fantastic,as is the fact that there are 5 or 6 pci slots and 1 isa slot.so you can add alsorts   .
 up until i got usb modem i have had no trouble at all.great board up until adsl stuff.

hazed

ps i have a coolmaster k6-600,fcpga-1.1gz,SoA-1.2 Ghz and it has been fine ($10?)
and make sure your atx case has 300W power supply (athlon recomended)

[This message has been edited by hazed- (edited 02-04-2001).]

[PakRat]

I think it was over in Tom's Hardware there was a comparison between the Athlon and Duron at the same clock speed. The Athlons were significantly faster but I don't remember the exact ratio though it did depend on the application. On the other hand, I think the biggest differences came in applications that did lots of math and graphics - like AH.

Might be worth a close look to make sure though.

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Rape, pillage, then burn...

[Lephturn]

I have gotten every Via USB controller to work I've tried, but you MUST get the latest VIA 4-in-1 drivers for it.  You should also look around for a Win98 patch that MS put out for Via USB controllers.  I have a KX133 based board (classic Slot A Athlon), and I did have problems originally, but a BIOS update and the VIA 4-In-1 drivers fixed it.  You can get them here:  http://www.viahardware.com/

Hazed, did you try all that?  More good stuff available here:  http://www.usbman.com/Guides/VIA%20Tips%20and%20Tricks.htm

First up, we are talking two different chipsets here.  The KT133 chipset is the one needed for the new Socket A CPU's such as the Athlon Thunderbird and the Duron.  The KX133 is used for the SLOT A CPU, the original Athlon.  Therefore, Ghosth's new machine will require a KT133 solution.  Now there are two "generations" fo the KT133 chipset, the KT133 and KT133A.  The A is the latest revision, and is a better chipset performance wise.  THe 133A is designed to run up to 133 Mhz fronside bus, for expansion to higher speed CPU's in the future.  This is not a big deal unless you are into overclocking in a big way.  The KT133 is more than sufficient for most people's needs, although the KT133A will possibly allow more room for upgrades in the future.  Here's a review of the Abit KT7A if you want to do some reading:  http://hardocp.com/reviews/mainboards/abit/kt7a/
Tom's Hardware did a nice roundup of the KT133A based boards here:  http://www.tomshardware.com/mainboard/01q1/010122/index.html

Now, I have not tried a KT133A chipset board myself yet, so there may be an issue with USB compatibility.  However, I wouldn't base my decision just on this one case.  Do a bit of research.        If anybody has an Abit KT7 mainboard of any stripe, go here:  http://www.apushardware.com/faqs/kt7faq/kt7faq.htm   That FAQ rocks.

In addition, running ADSL through USB just plain SUCKS.  USB just isn't designed for that kind of operation, it doesn't have the bandwidth and takes too much CPU time to move the data.  The best solution is to get a regular ethernet ADSL device, which your ADSL provider may provide if you ask for it.      

Wow, wasn't I just the "link-meister" in this post!  

------------------
Lephturn - Chief Trainer
A member of The Flying Pigs  http://www.flyingpigs.com
 
"A pig is a jolly companion, Boar, sow, barrow, or gilt --
A pig is a pal, who'll boost your morale, Though mountains may topple and tilt.
When they've blackballed, bamboozled, and burned you, When they've turned on you, Tory and Whig,
Though you may be thrown over by Tabby and Rover, You'll never go wrong with a pig, a pig,
You'll never go wrong with a pig!" -- Thomas Pynchon, "Gravity's Rainbow"


[This message has been edited by Lephturn (edited 02-04-2001).]

[bloom25]

Sounds pretty good Ghosth.  (Where is the hard drive, seems like you forgot it?)  The IBM drives are the best right now IMO.

Someone said the Asus A7v has on board sound and modem.  That is totally incorrect.  Only the very first revision had onboard sound.  As far as overclocking goes, you can't touch the Asus.  (I'm running a Thunderbird 700@927.  I only bumped up the voltage by 1 notch.)

The Abit board is also good though.  (Once you get a good one, Abit has the highest RMA rate of any MB maker.)  It isn't quite as fast as the Asus board, but is slightly more user friendly.  You should do fine with either board.



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bloom25
THUNDERBIRDS

[Ghosth]

Bloom I'm currently running a 13G HD that will swap from my old puter. Same story for my wifes machine.

New hard drives down the pike perhaps.

Hazed, my DSL connects through a Cisco ext modem, into the uplink port of my lan hub, to a linksys PCI ethernet card. So USB issues not a problem. Currently the only 2 USB devices we have are a camera, and a CD R/RW burner. Neither of which is a big problem to do without if needed while I sort out usb problems.

Thanks for all the links lephturn, I tend to research & bulldog a problem to death before makeing final choices this important. Hence the more I can read/compare the happier I am.

Also thanks to all who have contributed to this thread. All data is processed & appeciated.