My P4 new mobo?

[Jake the Dog]

despite the god awful colouring, it looks to be amongst the better of the Canterwood chipped boards. DFI make good stable boards (DFI are a long time OEM manufacturer). I've been using/selling DFI boards for years and have no hesitation in trying this one.

I like the Gigabit Intel LAN, 2 x SATA (RAID), 4 x PATA (2 of which offer RAID1.5), 8 x USB 2.0 and the huge huge bundle packaged with it, which includes rounded cables, a case carry straps/bag and even thermal paste, although I don't know what brand. see: http://www.dfi.com.tw/Product/xx_product_spec_details_r_us.jsp?PRODUCT_ID=1134.

 

[CougTek]

If I were to buy a Pentium 4 motherboard, I would probably get the Abit IC7-G :

I read somewhere that they have engineered this board so that it can operate safely at FSB frequencies of either 1000MHz or 1200MHz (can't remember, probably 1000MHz). Of course, you'll need one hell of a memory module in order to reach this, but at least it's good to know that the board in itself won't be the one holding you back in your overclocking attempts.

[women mode]

...and also because I like the color.

[/mode]


Oh, btw...

4 x PATA (2 of which offer RAID1.5)

Excuse my oh-so-limited knowledge here but, what the hell is RAID 1.5?

 

[blakerwry]

I assume he meant RAID 1,5 (as in raid 1 or 5)

I like the way the fan looks, but I don't like the fact that it has a fan. Is it really cheaper to buy a crappy heatsink and a crappy fan than just buying a good heatsink and no fan?

Does anybody still find a passive motherboard a good "feature" to look for?

 

[CougTek]

Does anybody still find a passive motherboard a good "feature" to look for?

A passive heatsink can be appealing for people with a noise issue. However, a passive motherboard is generally something considered to be bad and to avoid, except for those collecting museum parts.

 

[Will Rickards WT]

Does anybody still find a passive motherboard a good "feature" to look for

Yes I do.
My most recent story about chipset fan.
Put together new computer for my dad and he's happy. Hard drives still slow and starts making noises. So he picks up a hard drive and I put it in. Much better but he says it still makes the annoying noise. I open up the case and it is the little chipset fan making all this noise. I unplugged it and closed the case. No more noise and he is happy.

 

[blakerwry]

yeah, those chipset fans can be annoying when they start to die.

coug - maybe I should have specified passively cooled, verses electronically passive.

 

[Buck]

Does anybody still find a passive motherboard a good "feature" to look for?

Indeed! Who needs more moving parts than is necessary - nobody!

 

[Jan Kivar]

I really like Intel's solution: The sink is about the same size as a standard Duron HS... Too bad that Intel's board really lacks in features.

Cheers,

Jan

 

[Howell]

Is that DFI board OEM for CATERPILLAR? :-?
Did anybody notice the IDE headers on the ABIT board?

 

[Mercutio]

No comment on the quality of those motherboards, but my eyes would be a lot happier with green or gold PCBs and the more normal white and brown components.

I thought pastels died in the 80s, and that thing Jake linked to makes me think I'm in a construction zone.

I blame the LAN party crowd for this deterioration of good taste.

 

[time]

I think Coug likes it because the blue of the DIMM sockets matches his eyes.

 

[Jake the Dog]

I assume he meant RAID 1,5 (as in raid 1 or 5)

nope. RAID 1.5. taken from the DFI website:

DFI LANPARTY Series has been equipped with RAID 1.5 which empowers users with both performance and security on data processing. RAID 1.5 is currently an exclusive technology for DFI high-end motherboard users. It is also the latest development from traditional RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks). DFI has full faith to boost your fun and performance by sharing this sharp technology with users all over the world.
RAID 1.5 is undoubtedly one of the latest developments in terms of data security and performance. Traditionally, it needs at least four hard drives to perform both striping (RAID 0) and mirroring (RAID 1). Now RAID 1.5 takes only two hard drives to build a subsystem (array of disks) which gives you performance, reliability and affordability.

What makes RAID 1.5 such a powerful and unique technology is that when retrieving data it utilizes the performance-enhancing configuration of RAID 0 to allow multiple access to the data at the same time, and when storing data it utilizes the mirroring configuration of RAID 1 to copy and store your data in different hard drives. Performance is highly improved when reading, fault tolerance is also achieved when writing. RAID 1.5 definitely saves you big money on hard drives!

Interested in more information about DFI LANPARTY Series and RAID 1.5?
Please visit www.lanparty.com.tw and you will be amazed!

 

[CougTek]

I think Coug likes it because the blue of the DIMM sockets matches his eyes.

Who told my eyes were blue? They are grey. And I like the black and blue color combo. It would be better if the blue was darker, but we can't have everything I guess.


Mercutio,

If green PCB with standard connector colors is your trill, may I suggest EPoX?

 

[blakerwry]

I assume he meant RAID 1,5 (as in raid 1 or 5)

nope. RAID 1.5. taken from the DFI website:

DFI LANPARTY Series has been equipped with RAID 1.5 which empowers users with both performance and security on data processing. RAID 1.5 is currently an exclusive technology for DFI high-end motherboard users. It is also the latest development from traditional RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks). DFI has full faith to boost your fun and performance by sharing this sharp technology with users all over the world.
RAID 1.5 is undoubtedly one of the latest developments in terms of data security and performance. Traditionally, it needs at least four hard drives to perform both striping (RAID 0) and mirroring (RAID 1). Now RAID 1.5 takes only two hard drives to build a subsystem (array of disks) which gives you performance, reliability and affordability.

What makes RAID 1.5 such a powerful and unique technology is that when retrieving data it utilizes the performance-enhancing configuration of RAID 0 to allow multiple access to the data at the same time, and when storing data it utilizes the mirroring configuration of RAID 1 to copy and store your data in different hard drives. Performance is highly improved when reading, fault tolerance is also achieved when writing. RAID 1.5 definitely saves you big money on hard drives!

Interested in more information about DFI LANPARTY Series and RAID 1.5?
Please visit www.lanparty.com.tw and you will be amazed!

So that would just be RAID 1 then... with a striped reading algorithm. Nothing new, highpoint and 3ware have had this for awhile... maybe others