The Official i845E, i845G, and i850E Motherboard Thread. All Your Comments and Questions are Welcome Here. :)

[VC15]

Originally posted by: cuzznkev
About the Abit Boards. I am interested in the TH7-IIR, which is an 850 chipset board. However, I think I am waffling. My concerns are regarding the DDR v. RDRAM debate. It seems to me that the RDRAM is better and prices are bearable. However, what is the long term on this issue? I just read an article about the new P4 2.4 (Here) and the last couple of sentences go something like this
"...The simple reason behind this relates to the cost of RIMM modules in contrast to DDR, and the moderate gain in performance isn't enough to sway the average consumer. In summary, the Intel 850E chipset caters extremely well for the power-user, but the high cost and uncertain future of RDRAM makes it a no-go for most price conscience buyers - but not everybody is price conscience!"
Uncertain future???? Are they scrapping this line and going to focus on the 845??? If so, it would seem as the BD-7IIR would be the way to go. Any comments.

The reason i'm grabing the Asus P4T533-C is for RDram@1066 speed. I do things that are graphical intesive, and i really need the extra bandwidth even if Intel does not focus on Rimm motherboards in the future, does not matter, in 2 years i will upgrade again to a new motherboard + CPU so it wont' matter if they will use Rambus Technology or not

 

[Sukhoi]

Originally posted by: Tommy2000GT
If the 845G is faster than the 845E then why do a lot of people prefer the 845E? Am I missing something?

Most i845G boards don't have the features people are looking for. The EPoX 4G4A+ seems to be a nice board with good features, but there have been several reports of horrible overclocking stability.

 

[WideMouth40]

A quick note about the settings in the ABit BG7, from the HArdForums board where someones being a guinea pig:

1) 1:1 4:3 3:4 4:5
2) yes, it'll do dr333 OOB as long as the FSB is 133mhz
3) yes, FSB/3 FSB/4 and locked at 33/66 37/75 44/88
4) 1mhz increments from 100mhz to 250mhz
5) +5% +10% +15% CPU voltage adjustments
6) memory is available at 2.5 2.6 2.7 and 2.8v
7) no agp voltage adjustments

I'm surprised I haven't seen more people using this board, looks like a winner. The only thing that strikes me as a little limiting is the CPU voltage adjustments. Anyone here have this board?

Peace

 

[Rectalfier]

Does anyone have an i845G motherboard? How does it overclock? How's the performance?

 

[MazerRackham]

Okay, this is a dumb Q, but which is the "higher end" chipset, the i845E or i845G? I know the 850E is the RAMBUS solution and the other two are DDR based. So which of the DDR boards is the big daddy?

Thanks for the info!

 

[manko]

Anyone tried overclocking on the Asus P4B533-V yet?

 

[Sukhoi]

Originally posted by: MazerRackham
Okay, this is a dumb Q, but which is the "higher end" chipset, the i845E or i845G? I know the 850E is the RAMBUS solution and the other two are DDR based. So which of the DDR boards is the big daddy?

Thanks for the info!

They're sorta similar. The i845E is just an update of the i845D with official 133 MHz FSB support. The i845G is a new revision of the chipset with integrated graphics (supposedly GeForce2 MX speed) and a slightly optimized memory controller. But in general i845G boards don't seem to be overclocking very well from what I've read.

 

[srenken]

I do not believe people are preferring the 854E over the 845G, it is just the E version is the only one currently available. Some people have the 845G, but they have also complained that due to the added overhead of the graphics controller, the 845G can not handle the higher FSB's that the 845D and E can. It really sucks being on the cutting edge, just waiting for the path blazers to show me the "ONE". Back in the day, reviews of these boards would already have been done, just waiting for the NDA to be lifted.

Scott

 

[sao123]

Has anyone built a PC based on the Intel 850EMV2 or 850EMV2L Motherboards?
I was wondering if these boards recognize the PC 1066 RDRAM and operate at the 4.2GB/s as they should, or is it programmed to only accept PC 800 RDRAM at 3.2GB/s.
Does this board allow any overclocking features?

I was also considering the Ga-8ihxp, which is currently unavailable anywhere, even though Gigaybyte claims it is.
I like the onboard Raid 133 allowing a total of 8 IDE devides on the Motherboard. I also like the added 6 PCI slot and the dual bios feature. I am slightly concerned about using the ICH4 in combo with the 850E as the voltages do not match up.

See quote here.

Q: Why does the P4T533 use ICH2 instead of ICH4?

The ASUS P4T533 uses the 850E northbridge with ICH2 southbridge because it provides much more stable performance. There reason why Intel doesn't support the use of 850E with ICH4 is due to the fact that the voltage difference between the northbridge and southbridge is not as compatible (you can ask Intel, themselves).

The voltage of the 850E northbridge is 1.8V, while the voltage of ICH4 is 1.5V. If a motherboard manufacturer wanted to make this configuration work it's possible, but only by adjusting the voltage of the chips against their specifications . The result is a board that doesn't follow specifications, which is also less stable and may have long-term reliability issues.

For ASUS, the 850E with ICH2 is a natural fit. With both northbridge and southbridge voltages being an identical 1.8V, stability and reliability is not sacrificed.


Q: Do 850E boards paired with ICH4 offer better performance or features?

In addition to being less stable, the 850E + ICH4 boards do not offer better performance of features. The main difference between ICH2 and ICH4 is the integrated USB 2.0 controller. Realizing that USB 2.0 is a required feature for the performance/mainstream segment, ASUS enables this feature via an NEC USB 2.0 controller. The P4T533 has 8 USB ports all together: 4 X USB 2.0 and 4 x USB 1.1


Q: So why do some other manufacturers try to use 850E + ICH4?

The main reason for doing so, is to try to save costs. The integrated USB 2.0 with ICH4 saves the cost of having an additional USB 2.0 controller. Eventhough Intel will not validate and support this configuration due to potential problems, other companies may try to cut corners to lower their cost. ASUS feels that by adding the additional NEC USB 2.0 controller, users are guaranteed the best reliability and value.

So that leaves me with the Asus P4T533-C which looks like a solid board except, with great features.
However, I am worried about the Nonstandard 4pin 5V power connector, instead of the ATX revised 4pin Square 12V Plug. Does this make any real difference?

Please help me decide the best board.

 

[Beatnik]

Memory speed seems to be the controlling factor here.
As to why all the interest in the I845G, the support for DDR333
in the chipset is the moving force. So for people who 1) like
Intel chipsets, and 2) are interested in DDR memory, it is attractive.

As for the I845E, and the goofy GL versions, just to keep sane
I'll be avoiding those boards in the future. I mean, why would I
buy that chipset if it won't get me DDR333 support? I don't know
what Intel was thinking there. It would have been nice if they made
boards that had exactly one difference, i.e. the builtin graphics.

So... the I845G seems nice. People are concerned about keeping
the chips cool. But so far, people have posted both good and bad.
The good is that the 5:4 multiplier is showing up on some BIOS's.
That gives you 333 @ 133 if you want it, or 375 @ 150 if you want it.
With the current state of DDR available, I like having those options.
The bad is that people have had easier times overclocking on some
of the other boards. Some folks have improved cooling a little on the
chips and gotten very good results.

So again, the obvious choice here is 1066 RDRAM on an I850E board.
But for those of us who feel that RDRAM should and likely will die, it
feels like end-of-life time for RDRAM. That puts you into DDR. Once
there, you go P4X333, SIS645DX, or earlier 845 series chips.

 

[milkman]

GA-8IHXP! Thanks for the "exreme tech" article galtsfan.. very helpful. I to am waiting anxiousely for the Gigabyte GA-8IHXP. Im a mac user. Tired of the incompatibility of my mac.. I'm assembling my first PC!! Wanting to try and simulate the power of the apple G4 (dual gig) i'm assembling an "ultimate" PC.. a MoNstEr!.. "It's AliVe" im PUMPED! (btw-UT2003 JUNE 18th!)

I've worked the net up and down (hardware reviews and round-ups). Over a months research.. and hours lolol of "ram" reading and reviews.. i have purchased the following:

-Gainward GeForce Ti4600, P4 2.53, two sticks 256 pc1066 rdram, cheetah 35gig HD, coolermaster case. you can imagine lol my anticipation of the final piece.. the GA-8IHXP

will this voltage (1.8v/1.5v) issue between the I850E chipset and ICH4 to resolve? If it does'nt is there any loss in using an Asus, Iwill, or Abit bord that uses the 850E chip set with ICH2 south bridge??? thank you

ps- im actually pretty broke right now.. i just know how to prioritize.

 

[jaeger66]

Again, I don't know why Gigabyte bothered to use the ICH4 and then not use any of the features it offers. I'd feel better sticking with an 850E/ICH2 board.

 

[galtsfan]

Well Gigabyte is no longer the only MB maker to pair up the 850E and the ICH4 it seems MSI has a demo at the COMPUTEX 2002 in Tiawan.

MSI

Their 850E Max MS-6592 will join the few innovators...

 

[galtsfan]

sao123 asks

Has anyone built a PC based on the Intel 850EMV2 or 850EMV2L Motherboards?
I was wondering if these boards recognize the PC 1066 RDRAM and operate at the 4.2GB/s as they should, or is it programmed to only accept PC 800 RDRAM at 3.2GB/s. Does this board allow any overclocking features?

I've wondered this myself, I not willing to buy one to find out I bet it would be stable though!...I'm sure there aren't and O/C options.

 

[NanoMem]

Gigabyte GA-I8G is out according to pricewatch, do we have a link to its thread from here?

thx!

 

[somtoja11]

could anybody confirm that 8IEXP has AGP/PCI lock in 1Mhz intervals from 33/66 to 50/100 ?

and what about other overclocking features ?

stability ?

anybody tried at home ? or some rewiews ?

 

[WideMouth40]

Originally posted by: NanoMem
Gigabyte GA-I8G is out according to pricewatch, do we have a link to its thread from here?

thx!

If Gigabyte follows their standard naming formats, the GA-8IG probably has few if any overclocking features. THe board to watch for would be the GA-8IGXP.

Peace

 

[mschell]

After using a SiS 645 chipset motherboard for a while I though I'd go Intel/Intel but have been somewhat disapointed at whats currently being offered. While the 845G has decent performance, the chipset is really designed for OEM entry level P4 systems. The (E) version chip paired with a cheap GF MX vid card trashes the (G) system running the on board video in every system benchmark so what good is the integrated video to the power user. Blasted Intel overlooked DDR 333 suport on the (E) version so forget about using future faster memory.

My solution was to order the Asus P4S 533. It's a SiS 645DX chipset and supports DDR400 memory. Checking benchmarks shows it performing as good or better than the Intel chipsets when using fast DDR333 memory. The board also offers ATA 133 support, 1.85v CPU core and best of all it's cheaper than the Intel boards, at $105 from New Egg.

I would consider a 850E mother board but they are to darned expensive. You also need to purchase memory that works with one chipset only.
All this for a 5% performance gain?

 

[Acer]

You guys who are the real experts on Intel systems please look at this review over at vr-zone.com It looks like the newest Iwill release, the P4R533, is going to kick some serious butt out there.

Please post your opinions. I know I didn't need to say that. hehehehe

Here is the link!

 

[jaeger66]

Originally posted by: mschell
After using a SiS 645 chipset motherboard for a while I though I'd go Intel/Intel but have been somewhat disapointed at whats currently being offered. While the 845G has decent performance, the chipset is really designed for OEM entry level P4 systems. The (E) version chip paired with a cheap GF MX vid card trashes the (G) system running the on board video in every system benchmark so what good is the integrated video to the power user. Blasted Intel overlooked DDR 333 suport on the (E) version so forget about using future faster memory.

You haven't been reading the reviews very carefully. The graphics on the G add nothing to the cost, so disable it and forget about it. Almost nobody here will be running the onboard video.

 

[galtsfan]

For all of you that are awaiting ASUSs P4T533 board...The memory for it is available now...That's right, the 232 pin RIMM4200 is for sale at ComponentsDirect.......256Meg- $149+S/H

ComponentsDirect

Shouldn't be much longer til it shows up on PriceWatch!

 

[Skysailor]

This is a bump to keep the conversation going. I am almost ready to build a new system and want to hear how these new 850E based MBs are performing.

 

[Strafe]

There was a story on HardOCP about ComponentsDirect, someone said the PC1066 is just PC800 with a sticker covering the PC800 designation. They also have a horrible resellerrating.

 

[Acer]

Originally posted by: Strafe
There was a story on HardOCP about ComponentsDirect, someone said the PC1066 is just PC800 with a sticker covering the PC800 designation. They also have a horrible resellerrating.

I bought my PC1066 (Kingston, 32ns) at GoogleGear. It performs very nicely on my Iwill P4R533 board at 152 FSB. Iwill includes continuity RIMMS (CRIMM) to keep the memory banks balanced to provide better stability. This board doesn't have any way of increasing the Vrimm so I am stuck at 152. The board can only go to 156 which is the max based on the ICS chip that they use on the board. I can reach 156 FSB if I use the 3X memory setting instead of 4.

 

[Acer]

Originally posted by: Skysailor
This is a bump to keep the conversation going. I am almost ready to build a new system and want to hear how these new 850E based MBs are performing.

I like this Iwill version of the 850E. Have you read the review over at VR-Zone.com? I posted the link further above. It provides 5.1 sound, onboard LAN with the "N" version of the board and CRIMM's. I don't know if other manufacturers of the 850E provide CRIMM's. Vcore goes to 1.85 and it does use the HIP 6301 voltage regulator so you can use a SMD grabber to jack the Vcore more if you desire. I presume that would not be an issue with this board or really any of the NW cpu's.

The only issue that I have with this board is the multiplier setting is non-existent when the manual and website specs talk about that capability.

As far as performance. A few of my basic tests with Sandra and Q3 were very similar to vr-zone's review. I have the 2.4 (533) cpu and 2-256 mb sticks of Kingston PC1066. It does move bandwidth very nicely.