Stuck between two choices.

The_YongGrand · 10th Sep 2006, 11:02 AM

Ah, I'm now trying to have to change my motherboard to accomodate my new Pentium 4/D processor, but I'm already too stuck between two choices.

I can choose the Asus ones with the Radeon chipset, or the Foxconn with the Intel 915 chipset - only priced RM130.

Which one will you suggest if I happen to put the P4 with HT processor inside the board? And are Radeon chipsets good? I have the lovely 7300GT PCIE gfx card, but if I put the card into a Radeon board, will it cause the combination not to work?

Please suggest - I'm new to the Intel boards world.

TheApprentice · 11th Sep 2006, 08:08 AM

I am also new to the Intel board worls, having just built up a Pentium 4 3Ghz 630 onto a Foxconn 947G7MA motherboard. I have an nvidia 7300 gs pci-x card, not the gt.
I have had some problems with this particular mobo but I am putting it down to the 945 chipset. What I would suggest is check out Intel's website to make sure that the Intel Chipset that is installed onto your chosen motherboard will give you maximum support for your chosen processor.
In my personal experience the Pentium 4 630 does NOT go well with the 945 chipset!

The_YongGrand · 11th Sep 2006, 12:06 PM

Ah! What a coincidence!

A long long time ago, I wanted to purchase the Pentium 4 630, but it's just waaaaaaaaaay too expensive back in late 05.

After a while, there's the Pentium 4 531 - which is cheaper, but the cache is only 1MB, but that's already very good for my overall home use.

And maybe I'll be wedging that processor into a Intel 915 chipset board - or maybe the Radeon xpress ones. Again, lemme check the website for more info.

What's the incompatibility problems like, theapprentice? Is it hangups and lockups in WinXP?

TheApprentice · 11th Sep 2006, 06:01 PM

Hi
Well, I got a couple of hangups, mainly desktop crashes, but I had a VERY difficult time keeping the sound intact, driver kept disappearing on me. The implementation of the Hi-Def Audio codec is abysmal.
On paper the 945G series chipset is quite nice, but I do not seem to be realising full processor capability for some reason, poor performance on motherboard math benchtests, game compatibility issues (cannot get breakthrough to run at all), maybe Foxconn kludged something when they put their bits on the end of it.
The 630 CPU is awesome but I feel that the mobo is holding it back somewhat.
I just found a useful review site that compares the 915 chipset with the viakt890, radeon x200 and the nforce4 ultra chipsets at:
http://techreport.com/reviews/2004q4...0/index.x?pg=1
Hope this helps...

The_YongGrand · 11th Sep 2006, 10:53 PM

Thanks.

The 630 is very awesome - but I couldn't find this processor anymore - I don't know why. Newer species like the 531, 541 suddenly come out, so I would like to give one of these a try.

I'm planning to purchase the Foxconn 915P7MH board since it's very cheap (about RM 130), furthermore I just want it to work with the casual P4 and not much upgrade can be done.

Or maybe I can get the Radeon chipset board, but I afraid my nVidia 7300GT refused to work on different chipsets..

And have you read the CPU support documentation before you install the 630 into your Foxconn motherboard?

TheApprentice · 12th Sep 2006, 05:04 AM

yo
yeah I made sure the cip went with the board ok, no probs there. I am coming round to thinking that it is what Foxconn did to the board that is giving me grief.
My board is the 945g7ma with on-board graphics. Well the onboard graphics are limited, not really aimed at gaming or hi-end stuff, and do not support hardware pixel shading. So I got myself a 7300 and slotted it in.
Yeah it seemed to put the onboard graphics to sleep no problems but the video transfer speed across the pciex-16 bus is terrible due to some internal chipset architecture problem.
If u can find a board with no on-board graphics built in to the northbridge then yeah, go for it.
btw I had a quick look at the Radeon chipset stuff, as far as I can see you shouldn't have a problem using an nvidia card with the radeon xpress 200 chipset. ecs make a board for around 40 quid BUT there you are stuck with on-board graphics again which may lower your pciex-16 performance.
I also noted that radeon seem to be optimising their stuff for the amd64 bit platform so maybe do a bit of research into that one as well before commiting yourself.
Overall, I don't mind the Intel stuff, I just seemed to have bought myself a bad comination this time around.

The_YongGrand · 12th Sep 2006, 10:11 AM

Thanks for the info. Maybe I should double check the specs before ever purchasing one of these. Intel motherboards are very difficult to choose, and maybe I'll choose the 915 chipset.

Have you done an RMA the motherboard? I thought all Intel chipsets will just fit perfectly with Intel processors?

TheApprentice · 12th Sep 2006, 06:14 PM

No probs
Yeah there do seem to be a lot of different Intel boards out there, it is difficult to know which one to go for, although I still maintain that the on-board Intel Extreme Graphics 3 option should be avoided.
I have found an old but informative link about the 915 chipset here:

http://www.tbreak.com/reviews/article.php?id=305

No I haven't tried an rma on my board yet but what I was thinking of doing is to get hold of another make of board (maybe on sor) with the same chipset and try that. When mobo manufacturers decide on using a particular chipset, they implement the hardware around that chipset in different ways. Some use different sound codecs, some use different onboard video options etc... it's entirely up to the manufacturer how they "implement" the chipset.
My board seems to be crippling functionality in some way so I figure if I get a different board (maybe a genuine Intel instead of Foxconn) with the same 945 chipset, I can compare performance results between them. If the new board still chugs then it is a Chipset issue.
I'm now about to go off and email Western Digital coz I have just lost a 200Gb Hard Drive which is under 12 months old. Controller has just failed!
l8r

The_YongGrand · 12th Sep 2006, 06:20 PM

Hmm... I'll check the board's manual, since it's the 915P7MH Foxconn and the stores near my place are selling 'em so dirt cheap!

Oh, I thought when a seperate graphics card is detected the onboard is usually bypassed/skipped?

The Radeon Xpress 200 is also a fine chip, but I think I will get an Asus board with that chipset - since I'm recycling my DDR RAM and my PCIE card too.

also the graphics performance might be weak because 7300GS is a weaker version of a 7300GT, if I'm not mistaken.

TheApprentice · 12th Sep 2006, 07:32 PM

Just a quick reply before I have to go out for the day

Yeah, usually when you plug an external card into the pcix-16 slot it should put the onboard stuff to sleep. THAT is where I am getting problems because although it SEEMS to go to sleep, whenever I bench-test the 7300 it never seems to reach full performance.
I am about to try this card in a friend's machine (no on=board graphics) to compare results but I know it is capable of far more than what I am getting at the moment.
This is why I think that the on-board graphics are not being cleanly shut down.
l8r

10th Sep 2006, 11:02 AM	#1 (permalink)
The_YongGrand Hyperactive Join Date: 12 Feb 2005 Location: Somewhere in 甲洞... Posts: 2,744 Reputation: 1144 Rep Power: 18	Stuck between two choices. Ah, I'm now trying to have to change my motherboard to accomodate my new Pentium 4/D processor, but I'm already too stuck between two choices. I can choose the Asus ones with the Radeon chipset, or the Foxconn with the Intel 915 chipset - only priced RM130. Which one will you suggest if I happen to put the P4 with HT processor inside the board? And are Radeon chipsets good? I have the lovely 7300GT PCIE gfx card, but if I put the card into a Radeon board, will it cause the combination not to work? Please suggest - I'm new to the Intel boards world. __________________ Intel Core 2 Duo E7200, 2GB DDR2-667 RAM, Gigabyte 945GCMX-S2, Sapphire ATi Radeon HD4850 512MB DDR3 Intel Pentium Dual Core E2140, 2GB DDR2-667 RAM, Asus P5B-E Plus, nVidia Geforce 7950GT 512MB DDR3

11th Sep 2006, 12:06 PM	#3 (permalink)
The_YongGrand Hyperactive Join Date: 12 Feb 2005 Location: Somewhere in 甲洞... Posts: 2,744 Reputation: 1144 Rep Power: 18	Ah! What a coincidence! A long long time ago, I wanted to purchase the Pentium 4 630, but it's just waaaaaaaaaay too expensive back in late 05. After a while, there's the Pentium 4 531 - which is cheaper, but the cache is only 1MB, but that's already very good for my overall home use. And maybe I'll be wedging that processor into a Intel 915 chipset board - or maybe the Radeon xpress ones. Again, lemme check the website for more info. What's the incompatibility problems like, theapprentice? Is it hangups and lockups in WinXP? __________________ Intel Core 2 Duo E7200, 2GB DDR2-667 RAM, Gigabyte 945GCMX-S2, Sapphire ATi Radeon HD4850 512MB DDR3 Intel Pentium Dual Core E2140, 2GB DDR2-667 RAM, Asus P5B-E Plus, nVidia Geforce 7950GT 512MB DDR3

11th Sep 2006, 10:53 PM	#5 (permalink)
The_YongGrand Hyperactive Join Date: 12 Feb 2005 Location: Somewhere in 甲洞... Posts: 2,744 Reputation: 1144 Rep Power: 18	Thanks. The 630 is very awesome - but I couldn't find this processor anymore - I don't know why. Newer species like the 531, 541 suddenly come out, so I would like to give one of these a try. I'm planning to purchase the Foxconn 915P7MH board since it's very cheap (about RM 130), furthermore I just want it to work with the casual P4 and not much upgrade can be done. Or maybe I can get the Radeon chipset board, but I afraid my nVidia 7300GT refused to work on different chipsets.. And have you read the CPU support documentation before you install the 630 into your Foxconn motherboard? __________________ Intel Core 2 Duo E7200, 2GB DDR2-667 RAM, Gigabyte 945GCMX-S2, Sapphire ATi Radeon HD4850 512MB DDR3 Intel Pentium Dual Core E2140, 2GB DDR2-667 RAM, Asus P5B-E Plus, nVidia Geforce 7950GT 512MB DDR3

12th Sep 2006, 10:11 AM	#7 (permalink)
The_YongGrand Hyperactive Join Date: 12 Feb 2005 Location: Somewhere in 甲洞... Posts: 2,744 Reputation: 1144 Rep Power: 18	Thanks for the info. Maybe I should double check the specs before ever purchasing one of these. Intel motherboards are very difficult to choose, and maybe I'll choose the 915 chipset. Have you done an RMA the motherboard? I thought all Intel chipsets will just fit perfectly with Intel processors? __________________ Intel Core 2 Duo E7200, 2GB DDR2-667 RAM, Gigabyte 945GCMX-S2, Sapphire ATi Radeon HD4850 512MB DDR3 Intel Pentium Dual Core E2140, 2GB DDR2-667 RAM, Asus P5B-E Plus, nVidia Geforce 7950GT 512MB DDR3

12th Sep 2006, 06:20 PM	#9 (permalink)
The_YongGrand Hyperactive Join Date: 12 Feb 2005 Location: Somewhere in 甲洞... Posts: 2,744 Reputation: 1144 Rep Power: 18	Hmm... I'll check the board's manual, since it's the 915P7MH Foxconn and the stores near my place are selling 'em so dirt cheap! Oh, I thought when a seperate graphics card is detected the onboard is usually bypassed/skipped? The Radeon Xpress 200 is also a fine chip, but I think I will get an Asus board with that chipset - since I'm recycling my DDR RAM and my PCIE card too. also the graphics performance might be weak because 7300GS is a weaker version of a 7300GT, if I'm not mistaken. __________________ Intel Core 2 Duo E7200, 2GB DDR2-667 RAM, Gigabyte 945GCMX-S2, Sapphire ATi Radeon HD4850 512MB DDR3 Intel Pentium Dual Core E2140, 2GB DDR2-667 RAM, Asus P5B-E Plus, nVidia Geforce 7950GT 512MB DDR3 Last edited by The_YongGrand : 12th Sep 2006 at 06:27 PM.

11th Sep 2006, 08:08 AM	#2 (permalink)
TheApprentice Newbie Join Date: 11 Sep 2006 Location: UK Posts: 16 Reputation: 3 Rep Power: 0	I am also new to the Intel board worls, having just built up a Pentium 4 3Ghz 630 onto a Foxconn 947G7MA motherboard. I have an nvidia 7300 gs pci-x card, not the gt. I have had some problems with this particular mobo but I am putting it down to the 945 chipset. What I would suggest is check out Intel's website to make sure that the Intel Chipset that is installed onto your chosen motherboard will give you maximum support for your chosen processor. In my personal experience the Pentium 4 630 does NOT go well with the 945 chipset!

11th Sep 2006, 06:01 PM	#4 (permalink)
TheApprentice Newbie Join Date: 11 Sep 2006 Location: UK Posts: 16 Reputation: 3 Rep Power: 0	Hi Well, I got a couple of hangups, mainly desktop crashes, but I had a VERY difficult time keeping the sound intact, driver kept disappearing on me. The implementation of the Hi-Def Audio codec is abysmal. On paper the 945G series chipset is quite nice, but I do not seem to be realising full processor capability for some reason, poor performance on motherboard math benchtests, game compatibility issues (cannot get breakthrough to run at all), maybe Foxconn kludged something when they put their bits on the end of it. The 630 CPU is awesome but I feel that the mobo is holding it back somewhat. I just found a useful review site that compares the 915 chipset with the viakt890, radeon x200 and the nforce4 ultra chipsets at: http://techreport.com/reviews/2004q4...0/index.x?pg=1 Hope this helps...

12th Sep 2006, 05:04 AM	#6 (permalink)
TheApprentice Newbie Join Date: 11 Sep 2006 Location: UK Posts: 16 Reputation: 3 Rep Power: 0	yo yeah I made sure the cip went with the board ok, no probs there. I am coming round to thinking that it is what Foxconn did to the board that is giving me grief. My board is the 945g7ma with on-board graphics. Well the onboard graphics are limited, not really aimed at gaming or hi-end stuff, and do not support hardware pixel shading. So I got myself a 7300 and slotted it in. Yeah it seemed to put the onboard graphics to sleep no problems but the video transfer speed across the pciex-16 bus is terrible due to some internal chipset architecture problem. If u can find a board with no on-board graphics built in to the northbridge then yeah, go for it. btw I had a quick look at the Radeon chipset stuff, as far as I can see you shouldn't have a problem using an nvidia card with the radeon xpress 200 chipset. ecs make a board for around 40 quid BUT there you are stuck with on-board graphics again which may lower your pciex-16 performance. I also noted that radeon seem to be optimising their stuff for the amd64 bit platform so maybe do a bit of research into that one as well before commiting yourself. Overall, I don't mind the Intel stuff, I just seemed to have bought myself a bad comination this time around.

12th Sep 2006, 06:14 PM	#8 (permalink)
TheApprentice Newbie Join Date: 11 Sep 2006 Location: UK Posts: 16 Reputation: 3 Rep Power: 0	No probs Yeah there do seem to be a lot of different Intel boards out there, it is difficult to know which one to go for, although I still maintain that the on-board Intel Extreme Graphics 3 option should be avoided. I have found an old but informative link about the 915 chipset here: http://www.tbreak.com/reviews/article.php?id=305 No I haven't tried an rma on my board yet but what I was thinking of doing is to get hold of another make of board (maybe on sor) with the same chipset and try that. When mobo manufacturers decide on using a particular chipset, they implement the hardware around that chipset in different ways. Some use different sound codecs, some use different onboard video options etc... it's entirely up to the manufacturer how they "implement" the chipset. My board seems to be crippling functionality in some way so I figure if I get a different board (maybe a genuine Intel instead of Foxconn) with the same 945 chipset, I can compare performance results between them. If the new board still chugs then it is a Chipset issue. I'm now about to go off and email Western Digital coz I have just lost a 200Gb Hard Drive which is under 12 months old. Controller has just failed! l8r

12th Sep 2006, 07:32 PM	#10 (permalink)
TheApprentice Newbie Join Date: 11 Sep 2006 Location: UK Posts: 16 Reputation: 3 Rep Power: 0	Just a quick reply before I have to go out for the day Yeah, usually when you plug an external card into the pcix-16 slot it should put the onboard stuff to sleep. THAT is where I am getting problems because although it SEEMS to go to sleep, whenever I bench-test the 7300 it never seems to reach full performance. I am about to try this card in a friend's machine (no on=board graphics) to compare results but I know it is capable of far more than what I am getting at the moment. This is why I think that the on-board graphics are not being cleanly shut down. l8r