which mobo instead of nforce

[remu]

Hello everyone!

I am a newbie with all this motherboard and chipset stuff, so I let you guru's decide for me a decision, ok?

I bought sometime ago ASUS A7N266-C motherboard, which has the nForce chipset and a Radeon 8500 (128MB) and a Athlon XP-1800 CPU and 1024MB (266MHz) RAM.

I got really disappointed, when I noticed that Linux lacks the AGPGART module for this chipset, and from what I've read in here, it probably won't get one either, without buying an nvidia graphics card, which I will not do.

Someone wrote here that if you want agpgart support, then buy a mobo with VIA chipset.

The question is, what motherboard (with VIA chipset) should I buy, to get the AGP support and that fits with my present CPU and graphics card?

A BIG thank you for your reply,
Remu

[bwkaz]

I like my KT333 (well... as far as the chipset goes, that is). Just make sure you get it from a reputable manufacturer (e.g. I'd recommend against Biostar, which is the company that made mine -- they took a good number of useful features out of the thing). It takes up to PC2700 memory, though, so if you use the memory you have you might be throttling some things back (I don't know for sure).

If you think that's a big deal, then you might go with a newer release of the KT266 chipset or something.

I don't know how well the KT400 works yet, but I don't think it's great unless you use the absolute latest 2.4 kernel, 2.4.21-pre6. I also don't have one of those boards, so I don't have any experience with them.

[Cheshiremackat]

I don;t want to seem like a troll here, but do you hate the nforce? The nforce is an excellent chipset... the nforce2 is probably the fastest out there, and only getting faster (400mhz fsb)... for via to compete the Kt400A is only as fast as the latest nforce boards (iirc)

Now, if you want fast 3-d why not sell the radeon and get a gforce 4 ti or a new FX card? Sell the radeon to a friend/ebay...

just seems easier to me than getting a new mobo to keep the videocard... the mobo needs to stay current for atleast a year, videocards are 6months most...

I would change the videocard before I change the mobo...


IF you absolutley Demand that the mobo go... get a via kt400 or kt400a, then you can upgrade the processor to the latest barton cpus when you want to increase the performance... OR... (ok maybe I'm going overboard)... wait until sept, and get an Athlon64 based system! That would kick! only 6 months for the latest!

_CMK

[remu]

Hi,


Now, if you want fast 3-d why not sell the radeon and get a gforce 4 ti or a new FX card? Sell the radeon to a friend/ebay...


IMHO, radeon does have better picture quality, on the monitor and tv...

Why would I have to 'obey' nvidia, use nvidia chipset, and then have to buy nvidia gfx card to get optimal speeds from the whole system. I just happen to like radeon better than nvidia, it's just that simple.

and no, i don't hate nforce.

But thanks for your opinions though!

[Cheshiremackat]

As I understand from reading a few threads on this board... the nvagp thing, and the ability not to use an ATI card in linux; has ATI is to blame as much as Nvid. I'm not choosing sides here, but I think they both have to GPL some info to get AGP to work...

Anyway, if you prefer the radeon then defintley use it... I have used both and find the differences to be negligable.

just remember one thing... in 6 months any videocard will be dated... so if your going to get a new mobo then get one that will scale... :)


IMHO your missing a hell of a chipset in the nforce though.

_CMK

[remu]

Anyway, if you prefer the radeon then defintley use it... I have used both and find the differences to be negligable.

just remember one thing... in 6 months any videocard will be dated... so if your going to get a new mobo then get one that will scale...


IMHO your missing a hell of a chipset in the nforce though.


Maybe the differences are just a matter of personal taste, but IMO nvidia's display are bit foggy (hope this is the right word,) compared to radeon, despite of tuning my monitor...

I'm not dumping the nforce though, it suites fine for my kids who mainly use windows anyway, and is better supported on windows.