Good Dual Mother Board

[alphaboy]

Could anyone recomend a good dual motherboard, I'd be using it for 3d software such as lightwave and 3d studio max. Is asus the best to go with?

[Warin]

I've read a few good reviews on MSI's new Dual Processor board. Find it at http://www.msi.com.tw/Product/mainboard/6321.htm

I've been using MSI product for the last 6 months or so, and have been very impressed with their quality and support.

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No Matter Where You Go, There You Are.

[Igor]

Asus makes best boards for consumer market. If you are a wuality freak then I'd get asus. It is usualy more $$ but....

MSI boards (new once) are based on VIA chipset. Some ppl, like me, don't trust VIA for stability just because it is VIA http://www.sharkyforums.com/ubb/smile.gif
But they are cheap and you can give it a shoot.

[Warin]

Originally posted by Igor:
Asus makes best boards for consumer market. If you are a wuality freak then I'd get asus. It is usualy more $$ but....



Asus is not really any better than MSI, or Abit, or Gigabyte. They all make good Mobo's. As for VIA, they make a good alternative to Chipzilla, and are the only route for the new Socket A processors (at the moment).

Ah well...

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No Matter Where You Go, There You Are.

[farfignuggin]

Tyan or Supermicro make the best dual boards available. Every one has there own opinions (just like bung holes..pardon the expression), but not everyone has experience. Both make very stable mobos, but damn if the Tyan S1834 Tiger 133 isn't a nice piece of pcb. Supermicro, well, supermicro translates to dual motherboard/server motherboard.

Just my experience.

[Bash]

Originally posted by farfignuggin:
[B]....Both make very stable mobos, but damn if the Tyan S1834 Tiger 133 isn't a nice piece of pcb...[B]


I've got a Tyan Tiger 133 dual board and it seems to work well. I've just set it up and not benchmarked it yet tho.

-bash

[Tupac]

I wouldnt mind haven a Dual T-Bird board ...would be useles for me though untill whistler cameout.

[Busithoth]

I wish I could recommend a dual motherboard, and I know that the problems I've encountered with mine are probably my own fault, but since I got a 694DPro from MSI, and ONE processor, I've had headaches galore trying to make the damn thing run stable.

everyone else thinks the board's great, though. If it ends up running (me getting a second processor or a bus terminator card), I'll let you know.

good luck,
busithoth

[IceStorm]

I use an Epox KP6-BS for my dual PII-450. It sat in Linux in X for 20 days without upchucking. I also was able to install W2K Advanced Server on it. I've yet to put it through its paces, though. 440BX-based, 2 ISA, 5 PCI, 1 AGP.

It's only $125 or so. It'll support CuMine CPUs in later revisions, but doesn't OC well, if at all. I've got mine at 112FSB with a pair of PII-450's. I had to drop the CAS timings down to 3/2/2 to run at 103 or 112FSB (runs fine at stock 100Mhz). It has 640MB of RAM in it, which could be the reason I needed to reduce the timings - 440BX doesn't seem to take kindly to more than two DIMMs when OCed.

If you're looking for a cheap dual setup, PIII Katmai CPUs (PIII-450 through 550) are running $90 to $120 on PriceWatch. The Epox board's about $125. Figure another $20, tops, for HSF units, and you'd be in business.

Personally, and I realize the reviews like the new VIA-based mutations, but I wouldn't go with a non-Intel chipset for a dual system. I didn't like the video performance of the VIA-based P3V4X, nor the odd driver/BIOS issues with ATA/66.

Just my $0.02