SETI people: which dual SOCKET-370 board should i get? - [i'm getting the msi 694d - article inside]

[TuffGuy]

which one would give the best performance? i will probably be running 2-p3-700@933-1000. is the msi 694d the best choice? if not, what should i get?

 

[MaxSiren]

I've been doing research to find the best board for exactly the same setup. The MSI 694D seems to be the best available choice for the price, but to be honest I'm not satisfied with that old VIA chipset. If only Intel wasn't so set on keeping the 815EP out of the high end market...

 

[TuffGuy]

yeah, that's my hangup also. the article on anandtech said that via is coming out with a new chipset, but i don't know how soon. i was also looking at the abit bp6 and vp6. the iwill dvd266-r is kinda expensive.

nm, scratch the bp6. it doesn't support fsb above 133mhz.

 

[MaxSiren]

Did ASUS ever make a dual version of the CUBX?

Gotta love BX! I'm running the original P2B, first revision. Oldest part of my system after the floppy, and it still takes the newest P3 chips!! Amazing piece of hardware.

 

[TuffGuy]

scratch the iwill, it requires ddr ram.

the ASUS CUV4X-D ($160) and the ASUS CUV4X-DLS

the p2b costs more than the msi 694d...

 

[networkman]

I have a pair of MSI 694D Pro boards here at home.. one is running a pair of p3-700@966, while the other is running a pair of p3-600@644(I screwed up and bought the wrong chips! ).

Seems to be a great board - I've not had any problems at all.

Anand did a review of the board just recently. Check HERE!

 

[TuffGuy]

yeah, i saw the review. i'm a little concerned about the outdated chipset, especially since he said that a new one should be coming out soon. i've narrowed it down between the msi 694d and the ASUS CUV4X-D. the msi is cheaper. do you know which one is better?

 

[ElFenix]

they said they are going to do a bunch of dual reviews soon, i'm guessing vp6, cuvx-d, the new msi board, etc. they are kind of late to the party on reviewing dual boards, though. how old is the 694d? 6 months? i flamed them for being so late that the board got a low score since it has to compete with the 1 month old ultra-stable k7t turbo and a7v133, both of which have more features as well.

 

[PhotoLenny]

Read the forums at 2CPU.com, lots of info there, there's alot of new stuff coming, but it'll be expensive, server-type boards, some for dual t-birds. Most people use the MSI or the Abit VP6.

 

[Joe]

I have both the MSI and the vp-6. I far prefer the vp-6.

 

[cakin]

2cpu had a pointer to the ECS D6Vaa yesterday. At only $78 for the non-raid version it is within a few point of matching the vp6. It does however have the via chipset and will need some tweaking. But for $78 how can you go wrong? or $95 with raid!

 

[Joe]

I also have the ECS 6vaaa, its a bit touchy at the higher bus speeds, i have had lots of problems getting w2k to run with 933's, also the bios dosent support v-core adjustment, there is a service bios available that does have the v-core adjustment but I could naver get it to run with w2k in dual processor mode

The vp-6 set up with no problems at all, if you are liiking for a cheap board the epox 6dva would be my choice, paragon has used ones for 69 bucks plus shipping, i think id get that instead of the ecs

 

[MysticLlama]

I have a CUV4x w/ dual 700@933s.
It runs really good and stable, the only thing lacking is that it doesn't have voltage adjustment, even though the book says so. (unless I'm missing a BIOS update or something), but mine run fine even with retail fans, so as long as you have good chips you're fine.

 

[Assimilator1]

Hi MysticLlama ,I don't recognise your name ,are you in Team Anandtech?

 

[Robor]

I'm not up on the features of the CUV4X-D but I'm a huge fan of ASUS. I've found their boards to be stable, reliable, and fast. I've had no experience with MSI but I can tell you to stay away from anything by Abit. I've had several of their BX chipset boards and other than my original BH6 (sold it to a friend) all of them have failed. ASUS costs a bit more but they are worth it.

Rob

 

[TuffGuy]

interesting... abit's always worked fine for me. the same wilh asus. it's never had an msi though, but from what i've noticed they are not *the* best performers, but they are stable and easy to set up. more than likely i'll get the abit vp6. i need to got to 2cpu.com and do some research when i have some free time tonight. i'm a little concerned about buying a mobo now, and having a ddr dually come out in a few weeks.

 

[Wellcky]

what about the MicroStar MS-6321 Dual Socket 370 or the MSI 694D Pro-AR Dual Socket 370 they both have the VIA 694X (510 BGA)chipset??

 

[TuffGuy]

Article Comparing the major Via-based duallies

 

[TuffGuy]

MSI 694D it is... now if i can only find the version with the updated chipset...

There are at least three (and maybe more) modifications of dual-processor boards on the VIA Apollo 133A with 6321 marking
VIA686A+RAID
VIA686B+RAID
VIA686B+RAID+IEEE1394
It's possible that there are some variants without RAID
There are at least two variants with 6362 marking
VIA686B
VIA686B+SCSI
The both PCBs have a place for IEEE1394-controller

But in price-lists all are named "MSI 694D Pro". Besides, any of the boards instead of the CNR-connector can have ISA slot.