Motherboard

[two words]

Just wanted to know what type of motherboard works best with a P4 and XP, for running Mastercam and Solidworks.

Thanks.

[cadcam]

I would look at ASUS or ABIT.

I was looking at the ASUS board they have a board that will use PC133 ram or the PC800.

They run about $199.00.

[Bullines]

Jay mentioned some reputable motherboard manufacturers. Asus and ABit are probably the cream of the crop right now. I would avoid any motherboards from Via like the plague, though. Motherboards.com would probably be a good place for you start comparing various boards based on the specs you want. Hope this helps

[cadcam]

Bullines,

That is a good site that is were i got my Dual PIII Abit board for my server.

Good prices and good shipping.

[ 11-29-2001: Message edited by: cadcam ]

[Rubenr]

Good Question.....

But... does the Asus or Abit motherboard run well with the new Pen-4 in Mastercam? I'm not sure if you guys are aware, but the new motherboards now support the new Rambus memory chip running at 800 MHZ (WOW!)and because of the speed of the new video cards things are changing fast. So what type of video cards are we talking about using with this motherboard? Will this also runs well with the new Solidworks 2001 with the new XP Pro (Windows) for an operating system?

I also would like to upgrade to the latest and greatest, so the question is.... Has any body out there have his or her system set-up this way?

Ruben

3D CadCam Works!

[Bullines]

Ideally, the better P4 motherboards out there will be using Intel's 850 chipset. They use PC800/PC600 RDRAM (that's Rambus). The 850 edges out the only other chipset that comes close in terms of performace, the 845. The 850 has a memory bandwidth that tops out at close to 3GB/second and has a frontside bus speed of 400MHz, as opposed to the now-common 133MHz. A board with an Intel 850 chipset will cost you somewhere in the neighbourhood of $200US. If you spent all your money on your motherboard and can't afford that shiny new Oxygen card, I'd go with a GeForce3. How will all this run with Windows XP and Mastercam? Pretty darn good I'd imagine, but I'd like to get my hands on a test machine to see for myself

[JAMMAN]

By the time I'm able to experiment with p4 and rambus intel will be at 4ghz and there will be dddr memory running at1.2 ghz. From articles though like fromToms Hardware states the new Sis645 chipset that supports the new ddr333 memory is supposed to be really good with the glorious p4 even though Mr. Pabst consistantly leans toward the AMD breeds. Sis has a reputation for being kinda cheezy so they have allot to gain by designing a superior chipset.

[ 11-30-2001: Message edited by: JAMMAN ]

[cadcam]

Rubenr,

Yes sir like Bullines stated that is RDRAM,

I my self have not seen this typ of setup yet with Mastercam & Solid Works on a XP box.

But i will be building a new one soon.

As for the video that has not changed still 4X AGP at this time.

I use the 3D labs card & still need to pickup another.

[mikee]

Try this web site :www.jncs.com

I bought my computer from them.( I have to do everything on the net for hardware here in Iowa)

Thier video cards are not the best selection for mastercam or solidworks. I use the nivida g256 with 64 megs ram.It works great. A oxygen card would be my first pick

The Asus motherboards are the best around. Ive built a lot computers and never had a problem with Asus.

mikee

[cadcam]

Mikee,

Why not just buy the oxygen card straght from 3DLabs over the net?

Then you would have it all.

[mikee]

Cadcam,

Will do on my next build

mikee

[Rubenr]

Good stuff here guys....

Perhaps it would be wise to start with a video card like say... the Oxygen from 3d labs although they make so many of them. I'm thinking in the line of the (Oxygen GVX1 32mb)it's about 2 bills with Asus P4 P4T motherboard this would support the new Rambus chip (memory) it's also about 2 bills.

Mikee, I don't think you need the full 64mb, but

I could be wrong?

Jim, hopefully the new version of Mastercam will support the new hardware products that are coming out, and then I can go play more golf rather than waiting for my 3d toolpaths to happen.

I've also heard for a Mastercam Rep that the Matrox dual 32mb G550 works great...

Jay, if you're in the process with building a new system or are thinking about, what are you specs, meaning....which of the Asus motherboard and which of the 3d Labs (Oxygen) video card would you use?

And for the Closure:

I guess nobody out there has the latest and greatest system with the new P-4 using Mastercam and new Solidworks and Xp Pro? Actually, this really surprises me..... Who is going to step up to the plate and "Go For It"!

Late

Rubenr

[two words]

Thanks for everyone's input.