Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD)

[BUGGI1000]

Neye
Because of the given demand, I build alot of very cheap
XP systems, which I stocked with SIS745/746 boards ... they
have all the needed features (in that class: 100MB-LAN, USB,
Firewire, Sound), low prices and are imho very uncomplicated.
Went also with Asrock, the Low-End Boards from Asus. I don't
want to say, they are the same (ASUS), but nearly ...
The most problems I came across occured with compatibility
problems between different DRAM modules or DRAM<->Board.
Here in germany many distributors have Infineon modules and
they went very fine for me, the same goes to Nanya or nearly
all "NON-OEM" modules, like Samsung or Micron.
So PC400 Modules (same price as PC333) from the manuf. above
are very non-critical in today XP systems, also with FSB400
on e.g. Nforce2 or KT600. A little bit different is the new
A64 plattform - timing is very crucial and alot of boards
have problems with different module types. When you want to
buy something, i would advise you to have a look at an HW
board ...
SIS on A64 - You are right - the performance is nearly
equal for all given chipsets, Nforce3 150, K8T800 and SIS755.
The main SIS boards are now the ECS ones (had no problems,
but a few boards were just defect from the beginning ...) and
Asrock (K8S8X). I would advise to have a look at the Asrock.
But I have to say, that cheap VIA and Nforce3 ones are nearly
reaching the same price level - here around 10€ more. This
goes for Gigabyte without huge extras ...
Don't want to hint something about the 939pin versions ...
but when considering a new A64 board, I would wait for the
new REV's., which should appear in the coming month.
Nforce3-250, K8T880 Pro -> K8T890 and SIS755FX -> SIS756.
Should be interesting and the new CG Stepping

When I should buy a (cheap and good)) A64 system today
without OC in mind, I would only look at the features
(what do I need (really) ) and look at the Q&Q feature -
then take the cheapest board with a A64-3000+ (CG). NICE.

BUGGI