What i am planning to build for my own pc

[elite_syntax]

Here one of the kits i want to buy but want to see what you guys think.


SY-A460
SOYO P4IS2 3-In-1 Mid-Tower Barebone System


Specifications


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Processor
Supports Intel ® Socket-478 P4 Processors (1.4G - 2.4G+)
Chipset Type
Intel 845
Chipset Description
Intel 845 chipset
Supports 400 MHz FSB
Memory Description
Three SDRAM 3.3V DIMM sockets support up to 3 GB
168-pin PC133/PC100 Non-ECC, unbuffered SDRAM memory
Expansion Slots
Six 32-bit Bus Mastering PCI slots (V2.2 compliant)
One AGP slot (support 4x mode with 1.5V)
One CNR Connector (Communication Networking Riser)
Expansion Slot Types
Six 32-bit Bus Mastering PCI slots
IDE Type
Ultra DMA 33/66/100
IDE Description
Supports up to PIO mode 5 & Ultra DMA 33/66/100
Two PCI bus mastering ATA E-IDE ports
Audio Description
AC97 CODEC on board audio solution
IO Port Description
Two RS-232 Serial Ports (16550 UART compatible)
One Parallel Printer Port (SPP/EPP/ECP mode)
One FDD port (supports LS120, 3 modes, 1.2/1.44/2.88 MB FDD)
Provides 1 IrDA port with optional cable for transceiver
Provides 4 USB ports (2*rear, 2*pin header)
PS/2 Mini-DIN mouse & keyboard ports
Two USB ports
Two D-Sub 9-pin male serial port
One D-Sub 25-pin female printer port
Audio I/O: LINE-Outx1, LINE-Inx1, MIC JACK x1
One game port
Drive Bays
5.25' External * 4
3.5" External * 2 / Internal * 2
Front Panel
Power knob
Power on and HDD LED indicators
Easy Access Features
7 expansion slots in the back
Power Supply
PX/PL Series
300W UL Intel P4 Compatible Power Supply
BIOS Description
Award PCI BIOS with green, ACPI, APM, PnP and DMI functions
Supports multiple-boot from E-IDE / SCSI / CD-ROM / FDD / LS120 / ZIP
2 Mbit Flash ROM
Dimension Description
41.2 cm (H) x 18.5 cm (W) x 44.5 cm (D)
Certification
FCC Class B & CE EMI Regulation CompliantPC98 Compliant
Compatibilities
WinXP / Win2000 / WinNT / WinME / Win98SE / FreeBSD
Warranty
All SOYO products are designed to offer stability and flexibility, and are tested to ensure highest reliability. We offer a 1 year limited warranty on this SOYO product.





Look like it will work with freebsd. Does anyone know if Soyo motherboard kits are good to get?
:confused:

[bwkaz]

Again with this question! ;) I think I'll just say the same thing as before:

Originally posted by elite_syntax
Three SDRAM 3.3V DIMM sockets support up to 3 GB 168-pin PC133/PC100 Non-ECC, unbuffered SDRAM memory
That memory speed is going to bite you. Especially if you have one of the faster processors that that board can take -- it says up to 2.4GHz, right? Well, think about it this way -- the memory is running at 1/20th of the processor speed, and 1/3 of the frontside bus speed. Which means that the only way the processor won't stall waiting for the memory, is if the only memory accesses happen every 20 cycles. With the way P4's are set up, you can probably get 5-10 instructions executing per cycle (though that's just a guess, I have no numbers to back it up), which means a minimum of 100 instructions between memory accesses. Of course, the cache helps a bit with this, but the cache isn't bigger than 256K most of the time (I have seen 512K and 1MB caches, but those were in Xeon chips), that's not big enough to hold the working set of 100 instructions.

Which means your processor will be stalling, waiting for your memory to catch up to it.

Double the memory speed (DDR266, or PC2100), and you only have to put 50 instructions between memory accesses. This setup will still stall, but not nearly as often. For the price difference in the memory itself, I think that going to DDR is worth it. But that's just my opinion, so yeah. I'm still not sure why Intel ever put SDR support in the 845 (and actually, I was under the impression that the 845 was simply an 850 with DDR, not Rambus, and not SDR, but hey, if Soyo says so...).

[Timothy L. Miller]

No, 845 was initially designed with SDRAM. Then 6 months later they added DDR support.
But the basic idea is sound. Going SDRAM and you will lose SO much performance of your P4. The P4 NEEDS the extra bandwidth of DDR or RDRAM. I've seen reviews of 1.8 GHz P4's coupled with RDRAM beat (with ease) 2.0's with SDRAM in all real life tests (not synthetic "processor only" tests). And considering the fact that SDRAM and DDR are basically THE SAME price, you're really just wasting your money crippling your processor with that RAM.

[elite_syntax]

I just seen that after i post it silly me.

[bogler]

Originally posted by elite_syntax
Here one of the kits i want to buy but want to see what you guys think.


SY-A460
SOYO P4IS2 3-In-1 Mid-Tower Barebone System


Specifications


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Processor
Supports Intel ® Socket-478 P4 Processors (1.4G - 2.4G+)
Chipset Type
Intel 845
Chipset Description
Intel 845 chipset
Supports 400 MHz FSB
Memory Description
Three SDRAM 3.3V DIMM sockets support up to 3 GB
168-pin PC133/PC100 Non-ECC, unbuffered SDRAM memory
Expansion Slots
Six 32-bit Bus Mastering PCI slots (V2.2 compliant)
One AGP slot (support 4x mode with 1.5V)
One CNR Connector (Communication Networking Riser)
Expansion Slot Types
Six 32-bit Bus Mastering PCI slots
IDE Type
Ultra DMA 33/66/100
IDE Description
Supports up to PIO mode 5 & Ultra DMA 33/66/100
Two PCI bus mastering ATA E-IDE ports
Audio Description
AC97 CODEC on board audio solution
IO Port Description
Two RS-232 Serial Ports (16550 UART compatible)
One Parallel Printer Port (SPP/EPP/ECP mode)
One FDD port (supports LS120, 3 modes, 1.2/1.44/2.88 MB FDD)
Provides 1 IrDA port with optional cable for transceiver
Provides 4 USB ports (2*rear, 2*pin header)
PS/2 Mini-DIN mouse & keyboard ports
Two USB ports
Two D-Sub 9-pin male serial port
One D-Sub 25-pin female printer port
Audio I/O: LINE-Outx1, LINE-Inx1, MIC JACK x1
One game port
Drive Bays
5.25' External * 4
3.5" External * 2 / Internal * 2
Front Panel
Power knob
Power on and HDD LED indicators
Easy Access Features
7 expansion slots in the back
Power Supply
PX/PL Series
300W UL Intel P4 Compatible Power Supply
BIOS Description
Award PCI BIOS with green, ACPI, APM, PnP and DMI functions
Supports multiple-boot from E-IDE / SCSI / CD-ROM / FDD / LS120 / ZIP
2 Mbit Flash ROM
Dimension Description
41.2 cm (H) x 18.5 cm (W) x 44.5 cm (D)
Certification
FCC Class B & CE EMI Regulation CompliantPC98 Compliant
Compatibilities
WinXP / Win2000 / WinNT / WinME / Win98SE / FreeBSD
Warranty
All SOYO products are designed to offer stability and flexibility, and are tested to ensure highest reliability. We offer a 1 year limited warranty on this SOYO product.





Look like it will work with freebsd. Does anyone know if Soyo motherboard kits are good to get?
:confused:

Oh No.. AC97 audio. Turn it off and buy a soundcard ;)

[elite_syntax]

Know any good place to get a pc kit online? :confused:

[Timothy L. Miller]

Econopc (http://www.econopc.com/applications/category/mcategory.asp?catID=13)
Tiger Direct (http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/Category/category_tlc.asp?Id=31)
Antares (http://www.antaresnow.com/pricelist.asp)

[michaelk]

Soyo has quality control issues with some of their motherboards. Make sure that they test it before shipping.