mATX Roundup

[Heidfirst]

Originally posted by: Steeeeve
.the Fata1ty thing got to people.

Fatal1ty is a gamer not an overclocker though ...

 

[JoeK7]

Hi Gary,

Thanks for this thread and the upcoming round-up.

As I doing a lot of video converions, I would be interested in comparing file management actions (doe the transfer rates drop by copiing files from one SATA to another disk. What about parallel burning and encoding ...

If this could be implemented into the roundup, I'll find my optimized board.

Thanks
Joe

 

[chucky2]

You know another thing would be taking like iTunes, downloading some music, and then timing on each platform how long QTFairUse converts those songs...or do this on a couple of boards of differing chipset and if it trends to another benchmark, state that.

I like using iTunes, but don't like iPods...putting Lame'd MP3's from songs I purchased in iTunes on my Sansa (thanks Hot Deals!) is really nice...

Chuck

 

[rexian96]

Originally posted by: Steeeeve
For now I'd still say this is the best mATX board out there but as normal, we are disappointed that it didn't make up enough ground on the ATX folks.

In terms of overclocking probably you are right. But for me missing 1394 is a big deal since the only PCI slot will be taken up by my x-fi card.

 

[BlingBlingArsch]

after all its a mATX

 

[adnoto]

Any word? I thought I read the review would be out the 26th? Not trying to rush anyone or anything, mostly I am just wondering if it's me - I can't find it on the main site for some reason. Anyone know the review's status?

 

[JoeK7]

Hi,

I have received a note from Gary, telling me that the review won't be out before next week.

I dare to see it, but we have to wait

Joe

 

[Skott]

Okay, so now its pushed back to next week instead of Friday the 30th? Dang... I really wanted to read his review of the F-I90HD.

 

[Steeeeve]

Originally posted by: rexian96

Originally posted by: Steeeeve
For now I'd still say this is the best mATX board out there but as normal, we are disappointed that it didn't make up enough ground on the ATX folks.

In terms of overclocking probably you are right. But for me missing 1394 is a big deal since the only PCI slot will be taken up by my x-fi card.

This was odd. And if you will notice on the board there is a spot for onboard 1394 (and it is labeled as such). It just doesn't have a connetor to go with the leads.

 

[Double Trouble]

Originally posted by: JoeK7
Hi,

I have received a note from Gary, telling me that the review won't be out before next week.

I dare to see it, but we have to wait

Joe

Ack.... I was really itching to see the roundup. I'm waiting to read it before pulling the trigger on a mATX board.

 

[Gary Key]

I will be retesting the 690G boards starting this evening. We have new 7.3 drivers being released today with some significant quality improvements under Vista and some performance enhancements. Intel delivered new G965 drivers on Monday so testing is under way on those boards. The review will be up next week, sometime between the 3rd and 5th depending on how well this goes. My only comment at this point, the NVIDIA boards fair much better under Linux. I was throughly impressed with SUSE 10.2 and will load it on my personal machine now.

 

[rexian96]

Originally posted by: Steeeeve

Originally posted by: rexian96

Originally posted by: Steeeeve
For now I'd still say this is the best mATX board out there but as normal, we are disappointed that it didn't make up enough ground on the ATX folks.

In terms of overclocking probably you are right. But for me missing 1394 is a big deal since the only PCI slot will be taken up by my x-fi card.

This was odd. And if you will notice on the board there is a spot for onboard 1394 (and it is labeled as such). It just doesn't have a connetor to go with the leads.

In the diagram in the manual, I couldn't see it. Do you mean the pins are there and the backplate is missing? OR the pins are missing too? If pins are missing then 1394 chip is probably not there at all.

 

[Gary Key]

Linux is working on the 690G and X1250 with the 8.35.5 driver released today.

 

[JoeK7]

Hi,

Last night the question came up to my mind, whether there is a scalability of the IGP performance due to different CPUs on the boards. This is more a generic issue (CPU scalability), but it would be nice to know, if an AM2 X2 4600+ on the socket would deliver much better IGP performance than an Sempron or Athlon single-core 3200+.

Kind regards
Joe

P.S.: Regarding Linux, are there any benchmarks out there, doing the same stuff under Windows and Linux, so it would be easy to compare how Windows on these boards perform against Linux applications ?

 

[magreen]

Originally posted by: JoeK7
Last night the question came up to my mind, whether there is a scalability of the IGP performance due to different CPUs on the boards. This is more a generic issue (CPU scalability), but it would be nice to know, if an AM2 X2 4600+ on the socket would deliver much better IGP performance than an Sempron or Athlon single-core 3200+.

If I understand your question right, then the answer is yes, cpu scalability is an issue. You need a minimum 486 DX 33MHz processor to take full advantage of the IGP's graphics power. :laugh:

 

[JoeK7]

Damned, so I can't use my AMD 386DX-33MHz ?

Well, then I have to wait until K99 will be released in 2062.

 

[magreen]

You might be able to, just not the 386 SX.

 

[BlingBlingArsch]

i think one would see a difference in cpu dependent games like CS:S

 

[Zap]

Originally posted by: JoeK7
Last night the question came up to my mind, whether there is a scalability of the IGP performance due to different CPUs on the boards. This is more a generic issue (CPU scalability), but it would be nice to know, if an AM2 X2 4600+ on the socket would deliver much better IGP performance than an Sempron or Athlon single-core 3200+.

It probably is like that to a certain degree on all GPUs regardless, however IIRC some of the more recent Intel offerings are more CPU dependant because some of the featureset in the drivers actually harness the CPU because the IGP doesn't support them in hardware.

I could be wrong.

 

[Steeeeve]

Originally posted by: rexian96

Originally posted by: Steeeeve

Originally posted by: rexian96

Originally posted by: Steeeeve
For now I'd still say this is the best mATX board out there but as normal, we are disappointed that it didn't make up enough ground on the ATX folks.

In terms of overclocking probably you are right. But for me missing 1394 is a big deal since the only PCI slot will be taken up by my x-fi card.

This was odd. And if you will notice on the board there is a spot for onboard 1394 (and it is labeled as such). It just doesn't have a connetor to go with the leads.

In the diagram in the manual, I couldn't see it. Do you mean the pins are there and the backplate is missing? OR the pins are missing too? If pins are missing then 1394 chip is probably not there at all.

I don't really know how to describe it as I am not an expert on mobos (that's why my partner does those reviews haha).

Imagine you ripping off the 1394 socket on your motherboard and seeing just the little metals spots where it connected to the motherboard...that is what you see

 

[chucky2]

You know another suggestion would be to indicate which motherboards with onboard video, if any, have an option in the display properties for 1366x768.

I'd really like to run my Olevia 32" LCD at its native res, but have opted for 1280x720 since my Radeon 9500 can't do 1366x768 via DVI (I think it can via Powerstrip for D-SUB, but that sort of defeats the point).

Just a thought...

Chuck

 

[najames]

Originally posted by: Gary Key
I will be retesting the 690G boards starting this evening. We have new 7.3 drivers being released today with some significant quality improvements under Vista and some performance enhancements. Intel delivered new G965 drivers on Monday so testing is under way on those boards. The review will be up next week, sometime between the 3rd and 5th depending on how well this goes. My only comment at this point, the NVIDIA boards fair much better under Linux. I was throughly impressed with SUSE 10.2 and will load it on my personal machine now.

Linux is working on the 690G and X1250 with the 8.35.5 driver released today.

I'd say you should publish current results in saga form and update them as you go, part one, two, etc, like a mini-series. We've been held hostage long enough, REVOLT!!!

Gary old buddy pal, long time friend, that Linux info is what I was waiting for!!! I have been using generic Nvidia drivers, but could live with installing the ATI stuff, thanks AMD for that push. I really thought the new chipset would mean a lengthy wait for Linux compatibility, just now Nvidia 6150/6100/430s are working out of the box with Ubuntu Feisty's latest kernels. I can't believe you are sold on Suse 10.2 that much. I really liked earlier versions of 10 with the bright green cameleon desktop, but hated their GUI to add/maintain sources. Email apps weren't my favs either, yeah I know Thunderbird, Claws, etc. I was just used to Gnome more than KDE, overdosed on Ubuntu/Debian. Suse was definately slick and very solid then. I will be reevaluating Suse now. Any Linux will be secure, say goodbye to viruses and a host of other Micro$oft problems, hello Microsoft guest virtual machine. As a non-gamer, the only problems I have with Linux is getting multimedia and stuff like flash working in 64bit distros. It takes a little hacking around to do it.

This build has been a major agony holdup, been waiting for over a month now. This will be a daily use rig, but want to be able to use it for video processing too if needed. Once it is finished I can rework all downstream PCs and server.

You guys with the 386SX chips can have my Pentium 200MMX sitting here in a box too. It ran it's life overclocked up from the default 66Mhz bus all the way to 75Mhz at a whopping 225Mhz as I recall. You can provide you own hammer to make it fit your socket.

 

[mrandtx]

Originally posted by: Steeeeve

Originally posted by: rexian96

Originally posted by: Steeeeve

Originally posted by: rexian96

Originally posted by: Steeeeve
For now I'd still say this is the best mATX board out there but as normal, we are disappointed that it didn't make up enough ground on the ATX folks.

In terms of overclocking probably you are right. But for me missing 1394 is a big deal since the only PCI slot will be taken up by my x-fi card.

This was odd. And if you will notice on the board there is a spot for onboard 1394 (and it is labeled as such). It just doesn't have a connetor to go with the leads.

In the diagram in the manual, I couldn't see it. Do you mean the pins are there and the backplate is missing? OR the pins are missing too? If pins are missing then 1394 chip is probably not there at all.

I don't really know how to describe it as I am not an expert on mobos (that's why my partner does those reviews haha).

Imagine you ripping off the 1394 socket on your motherboard and seeing just the little metals spots where it connected to the motherboard...that is what you see

Howdy Gary,

I believe the phrase that you are looking for is that the socket is not stuffed. When you say that, you are implying that the traces and footprint are on the PCB, but the part is not installed. Simular to this part (which if I'm reading the silk screen correctly, is "optical-in"):

http://img256.imageshack.us/img256/5498/board234cx0.jpg

But I don't see any other connectors that might be for 1394... could you describe the location or point them out to us on this (or other pics on the internet)?

http://img95.imageshack.us/img95/9492/board23uc2.jpg

Great info on this forum - you very much!

Marc

 

[chucky2]

Interesting:

Article: Catalyst 7.3 corrects AMD 690G poor image quality

Chuck

 

[chucky2]

I want to correct what I said in one of my previous posts about QTFairUse benchmarking.

What's really needed in that scenario is to download some songs via iTunes, then use QTFairUse to strip out the DRM. This happens very quickly.

Then, JHymn would be the actual program you'd want to benchmark...

...only useful really to those of us that use iTunes and want to have freedom with the music we legally paid for, so something like this might not be worth it for others to see...

Chuck