Tyan vs Asus dual AMD board

[Lex]

Ok guys, it's decision time. I fried one Tyan, due possibly not to the board, but bad installation from vendor. The Asus was not available at the time I bought the Tyan. Now, given that I had to return the bad board, it opens the floor for discussion of replacing with an Asus Mobo.

The Asus with MTX chipset is out, that wasn't available when I got my Tyan. But one person told me they have had a lot of problems, stability wise. Any comments on this? Can anybody find any info on the two? Comarison, especially info on Asus?

Motherboards.com is scarce on Tyan or Asus info.

Thanks,
Lex

[Bing Fung]

Mmmm, tough decision Lex, I'm not familair with the specs, Yet.....




Bing

[Lex]

Ok, a little more info Bing.


I had the Tyan Tiger MP (S2460), this used the MP or is it MX chip set. Tyan also has a Tiger MPX,(S2466), that uses the AMD 760 MPX chipset. This is the same chip set the Asus A7M266-D uses. Both the MPX boards have 2 64 bit in addition to 3-4 standard PCI slots, at least going from memory, I think that's right.

Not sure yet if I can get the Tyan S2466, but since it says it's in production, I wouldn't think it would be long on that.

The Asus MPX is available now.

Lex

[ThomasW]

Can't speak to those MB's specifically but have used both brands with good success.

You might want to ask the pro's

http://www.sharkyforums.com/cgi-bin/ubb/Ultimate.cgi

http://www.community.tomshardware.com/community/wwwthreads.pl

Also check the hardware sections of both sites. They have huge archives




theAudioWorx
Klone-Audio

[Lex]

Thanks for the tip Thomas. Boy those are easy URLs to remember, lol.

Lex

[SiliGoose]

Lex,

As far as I can tell the differences are fairly slight.

The MPX can use the AthlonXP (only in single chip mode) where the MP cannot. Of course, you're going to be using AthlonMP's so that point is mute.

The MPX can use 1GB more RAM than the MP (for a total of 4GB) but that'll never be used anyway.

I wouldn't pay any attention to the 64-bit PCI slots either as you'll likely never use them anyway.

I'd actually lean toward the Asus since it has USB 2.0 support. That'll save you from adding a USB 2 card when the time finally comes. I doubt you'll use the Asus' onboard sound but it's a decent sound chip in case you need it. The Asus does have fewer total PCI slots but 5 is still plenty, IMO.




-Sili

[SiliGoose]

I just found a good review of the new MSI K7D dual-CPU board (also using the AMD 760MPX chipset). Here's the link:

http://www.hardocp.com/reviews/mainboards/msi/k7d/index.html

It looks pretty similar to the Asus board. Gigabyte has one coming too. It should be out very soon.




-Sili

[ThomasW]

oops forgot about these guys....
Go to the community page for a very large forum

http://www.anandtech.com/

theAudioWorx
Klone-Audio

[SiliGoose]

www.amdmb.com is great too.




-Sili

[Lex]

Sili, nice post, and Thomas thanks for the additional forum locations. I fished for opinions on 3 different forums, including Sharkeys, Motherboards.com, and anand place. Nobody had much to say. Interesting that I learned more here when 2 of those forums have over 20,000 members!

I am about to decide on the MP. I think the decision makes sense. There is reputed to be a problem with the south or north bridge, in the 760 mpx chipset. Further, those 66 mghz 64 bit card slots can't always double as 32 bit slots. That could create a PCI shortage for sure! I mean, I am within 2 of being maxed out now.

thanks guys,
Lex

[Lex]

Well, I opted to stay with the 2460, due to concerns as I mentioned about the bridge, and the 64 bit slots. I just ordered it.

I did upgrade the memory to 1024 registered DDR. That should make it fly!

Thanks,
Lex

[SiliGoose]

Cool! How long until you get it back?

Sounds like the place you purchase from is a quality business.




-Sili

[Jariten]

The Asus and all other mainboards using the AMD 768 southbridge have faulty USB ports

so does the Tyan with the MPX Chipset.

=)
Beware!