need some help chosing a motherboard

[Cthulhu]

which one of these would you all pick? also, do they both support dual channel mem?

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=13-127-181&depa=1

and

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=13-130-463&depa=1

any other suggestions would be cool too... it's for a athlon64 3000+

 

[RoCkStAr*]

is that the 90nm or the 130nm one (i.e. winchester or newcastle?)

 

[Cthulhu]

it's the winchester chip... 90nm. is one of those motherboards not compatible with it?

 

[zandor]

Those two boards are so similar it's hard to pick.
I see four differences:
* The A-Bit board costs $7 less.
* The A-Bit board had 3 firewire ports vs. 2 for the MSI (probably useless)
* The A-Bit board has 8 channel sound vs. 6 for the MSI (useless to me)
* To my eye, the A-bit board is more aestetically pleasing. I don't like the orange PCI clot on the MSI board.
* The MSI has an extra ATA channel.

I'd get the A-bit unless you're going to install a lot of hard drives.

 

[Cthulhu]

Those two boards are so similar it's hard to pick.
I see four differences:
* The A-Bit board costs $7 less.
* The A-Bit board had 3 firewire ports vs. 2 for the MSI (probably useless)
* The A-Bit board has 8 channel sound vs. 6 for the MSI (useless to me)
* To my eye, the A-bit board is more aestetically pleasing. I don't like the orange PCI clot on the MSI board.

I'd get the A-bit. That said, I'm running an MSI board. (K7D Master-L)

yeah, that orange slot is kinda outta place...in fact that board is rather "colorful" hehe. any idea if that abit board supports dual channel memory? any other suggestions?

 

[Cthulhu]

nevermind... i scrolled down to the specs. =) :doh:

 

[RoCkStAr*]

is one of those motherboards not compatible with it?

Both should be compatible. however, ask the retailer whether the BIOSes have been updated for the Winchester chip, cos i think there is some problems otherwise?

 

[umbra]

which one of these would you all pick? also, do they both support dual channel mem?
all 939 boards have dual channel, it is the only reason people choose 939 over 754.

 

[zandor]

Actually it's not really dual channel as I understand it. It's a single 128-bit channel. Dual channel implies being able to read a chunk of memory (64-bits) from 2 separate locations on 2 different DIMMs at once. The 939s just read 128-bit chunks.

edit: And 939 is only a little faster. Also, 754 isn't going away soon. It'll be the "value" setup until DDR2 is cheaper than DDR. I think 939 will actually go out of style first. When DDR2 starts to get close to DDR in price, all the performance chips & boards will go to slightly more expensive but faster 128-bit DDR2 setups. The economy segment is going to stick with 64-bit DDR until the total cost is lower for DDR2. In theory 754 mobos are supposed to (eventually) be cheaper than socket A mobos, since the A64 can easily get by w/ a single ship setup (just a "southbridge", since the mem controller is integrated).