Recommendations for the best possible Socket A motherboard?

[Arnie Berger]

I already have an Abit NF7-S v2.0 motherboard. However, a digital tv card in
conjunction with and SATA striped RAID array it won't work properly. I had
held out hope that there would be a decent Nforce2 MCP-S motherboard but
that doesn't seem to be the case, anyone know any better than me???

I'm basically looking for something as good as the one I have right now but
with SATA RAID properly implemented.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

Best regards

tHatDudeUK

I find it hard to believe that it is a hardware conflict between the
SATA raid chipset and the PCI bus. I'd bet on a driver problem.

arnie

 

[BUFF]

snip
snip

Which model numbers are the boards with the new Southbridge?

Thanks

EPoX 8RDA6+
MSI K7N2 DELTA2-LSR
MSI K7N2 DELTA2-FSR
MSI K7N2 DELTA2-Platinum

 

[tHatDudeUK]

I just ran a check using the i key as recommended on that site. I didn't
know that facility existed. Very useful.
Now, my H/W FBUS had a value of 1. This is above the 0 recommended but I
have a Creative Live soundcard which may account for it.
It would be interesting to know what yours is?
Anyway, I ran a defrag on the SATA drive whilst listening to a DigiTV
channel. It didn't fail and the H/W FBUS value remained at 1.
How does yours compare?

Unfortunately I can't get anything to change at all. I get a CMD SATA
adapter listed which is already set at 32 latency and if I change it to 8,
the next time i look at the box it's greyed out and there's no change to
digitv.

 

[Chip]

http://www.mayne.org/htpc/digitv-sata-fix.php

This looks useful...

I told you it was a PCI latency issue about 1 year ago. Do you remember?
;-)

Chip

 

[tHatDudeUK]

I told you it was a PCI latency issue about 1 year ago. Do you remember?
;-)

Indeed but the problem got worse when I moved from a single SATA drive to 2
in a RAID0. It wasn't much of a problem then but it's unusable now. That
software doesn't seem to do anything, I have tested it. I have also tried a
BIOS update with a BIOS modded to have the latest SATA BIOS.

Changing the latency in the BIOS seems to have no effect. It would appear to
be as that site suggests, the SATA has it's own latency setting which the
manufacturer's set sky high to get slightly better benchmarks.

I think my only solution is to move to the USB version or buy a new
motherboard.

 

[Chip]

Indeed but the problem got worse when I moved from a single SATA drive to
2 in a RAID0.

Well it would!

It wasn't much of a problem then but it's unusable now. That software
doesn't seem to do anything, I have tested it. I have also tried a BIOS
update with a BIOS modded to have the latest SATA BIOS.

Sorry to hear it. FWIW I have sound problems too and I am running 2 x sata
disks in Raid0 of an nforce2 motherboard.

Changing the latency in the BIOS seems to have no effect. It would appear
to be as that site suggests, the SATA has it's own latency setting which
the manufacturer's set sky high to get slightly better benchmarks.

I think my only solution is to move to the USB version or buy a new
motherboard.

That may well be true. The other option you could try would be to install a
cheap SIL3112 sata raid card. I bought one for £17 some while back (for
completely unrelated reasons). Whereas its the same controller as on your
motherboard, at least you'd be able to adjust the PCI latency with it.

On the other hand, it might still not fix your problem and you could be
throwing good money after bad. If I were you I'd get a new motherboard with
a raid controller integrated into the southbridge. That's what I am going
to do. The only thing is I can't decide whether to go for the Abit KW7 now,
or to wait a while and go 64 bit. The former is a cheap option - but the
prospect of a complete reinstall of all my apps is fairly unappealing! The
latter option is the better long term bet, but I reckon to get significantly
better performance than I am currently getting - significant enough to
justify the move - I reckon I need to spend $600 ~ $700. Not sure I can
swallow that right now.

Good luck anyway.

Chip

 

[Martin Prentice]

Unfortunately I can't get anything to change at all. I get a CMD SATA
adapter listed which is already set at 32 latency and if I change it
to 8, the next time i look at the box it's greyed out and there's no
change to digitv.

Thats disappointing.
Anyway, it has confirmed my choice of the NVidia chipset with the integrated
SATA controller. The H/W FBUS value in the Nebula remains constant no matter
how much load I put on the SATA BUS.

I hope things work out for you.

regards

Martin

 

[tHatDudeUK]

I hope things work out for you.

Nebula prices have remained constantly high, I might be able to get £70 for
it on Ebay meaning a USB one will cost me about £40 or so. I think I'll
order a USB one first to test it before selling my PCI card though

I could upgrade the motherboard but I think I'd rather wait a while and go
64bit

Thank for all the help everyone;.

 

[tHatDudeUK]

I find it hard to believe that it is a hardware conflict between the
SATA raid chipset and the PCI bus. I'd bet on a driver problem.

The PCI bus can only handle so much data. When the SATA uses the PCI bus,
the digital TV card can't get the data through to the processor.

 

[jaime]

Good luck mate.....it seems you are not alone :O)

From your comments the Abit you have looks like a good bet, however it lacks
multiplier adjustment so its a no for me as it wont work well with a mobile
Athlon (I plan to underclock a 2500+ to around 1.5ghz and 1.2 v or something
like that to keep the power draw down and the cooling silent) so the MSI
K7N2 Delta2 Platinum for ~ £62 looks like the board for me.

Anyone using one of these boards?

Thanks

 

[no66y©]

"jaime" wrote in message

so the MSI K7N2 Delta2 Platinum for ~ £62 looks like the board for me.

Anyone using one of these boards?

Not that paticular one but my experiences of MSI is poor to say the least.

wouldnt use another in a base unit if I was given it.


--
No66y©
Those who find they're touched by madness
Sit down next to me

Reply to address is a spam trap.
Use no66y [at] breathe [dot] com

 

[jaime]

"jaime" wrote in message

Not that paticular one but my experiences of MSI is poor to say the least.

wouldnt use another in a base unit if I was given it.

Thanks, I've noticed a lot of bad comments about them shame as the board
seems to match my requirements.

 

[Trevor Hemsley]

The PCI bus can only handle so much data. When the SATA uses the PCI bus,
the digital TV card can't get the data through to the processor.

It is listed as a "Restriction" on the Nebula web site. It says

"If you have a Silicon Image SATA drive controller, its probably best to
use a DigiTV USB version. This controller monopolises time on the PCI
bus, making recording TV to the hard drive difficult."

so that would seem to imply that it's specifically the SiL controller
that's the problem and that another SATA controller would be OK.