Apollo Via 133a?

[Bronyaur]

Is this a good chipset? Will it runa p3 @ 650 well? I am a gamer so i need a fast system..thx for any input

 

[AMB]

There has always been an assiacted memory bandiwth with the chippest.

I would either go for an Asus BX mobo so that you can run it at 133 MHz or the New 815 chippest.

The reason why I recommended the Asus is because it is the only one of the top of my head that has the 1/4 PCI and AGP divider.

 

[Ulysses]

It's a tough decision.

The VIA Apollo Pro 133A is a good chipset and has an asynchronous memory bus (for either PC100 or PC133 SDRAM), AGP 4X and ATA/66.

As suggested the 440BX platform, when overclocked to 133 MHz FSB, will outperform virtually anything else. But your 650 chip, RAM, or video card may not necessarily make it from 100 to 133 MHz FSB !

The Intel 815E chipset is the newest and has many nice features. It looks like the chipset of the future. It would be my pick if you have a P3 650 or 667 FC-PGA and can get one of the new mobos that are just now coming out.

 

[birddog]

I've worked on many VIA 13a boards. They will not benchmark as well as a BX at the same clock speed, But they do have all the proper ratios to run at 133mhz. Not many Video Cards will let you run 133mhz on a BX board. THere is no problem with this on the VIA boards. As far as gaming, I doubt you would notice the few FPS difference when running at the same clock speeds; but the VIA will let you overclock more easily with whatever other components you already have. I play Quake 3 & UT with all the goodies on at 1024 resolution, and can't see any type of slowdown (even when I'm not overclocked).

------------------
Asus P3V4X
P3 550 @ 733mhz
192 MB Micron PC 133
Visiontek GeForce DDR
SB Live Value
WD 20 GB HD

 

[Ausm]

Go with the Asus P3V4x mobo...I use it for gaming and work apps on Win2K and it works great VERY stable.


Ausm

 

[truffelsmoel]

Before you buy Via, check this out:

Via 133a:
http://www.maxforums.org/gfx/memory.jpg

Good old BX:
http://2cpu.com/Hardware/tyantiger100/rev_f/2x800 sandra mem_2.JPG

Quite a difference eh? Those 2 board where also the same brand btw, just another chipset.
I bought Via, but am now trading it for a BX board. Memory throughput is important.

I don't care about AGP4x

Davy

 

[koeizen]

If you are not going to overclock then use a BX motherboard.

 

[ChrisQuickTA]

I am running a P3V4X, 650 cB0@866, default 1.65v. THe system is very stable with the exception of my crappy IDE 4 gig hard disk. There is a memory fix for the VIA boards that will make the memory alot faster, not AS fast as a BX board but it makes up alot of ground. Before I used WPCREDIT to enable 4-way interleaving with my memory set to 2-2-2-5 I got scores of 300/350, after the fix I got scores of 380/440, a huge performance difference. The only problem is that you have to tweak the board to get the memory fast, the BX boards are fast as hell out of the box. Good luck, but I must let you know that if you get a p3v4x you will not regret it. Oh yeah and I am running win 98SE and I have to reboot b/c of freezing or blue screens less than my p2 233 gateway...go figure

Chris

 

[DeadlyKnight]

WELL I LL TELL YA THIS GO WITH A ASUS WHATEVER P3V4X OR THE P3BF THESE TWO BOARDS ARE ABSOLUTELY SOME OF THE BEST BOARDS IVE DEALT WITH ,STABILITY AND PERFORMANCE COMBO

 

[Ulysses]

For info on vid cards on BX boards see:

http://www.anandtech.com/printarticle.html?i=1270