Street Walker's system continued
"I am currently set on the ASUS mb. Is there a 100mhz AMD-type mobo that either has 5 pci slots or 4 pci and built in ethernet card?"
Yes. See anandtech.com for a review of a promising one with 5 PCI slots. I know less about TMC than about Epox. As that review indicates, Anand seems very excited about a new board due out in the next week or two from California Graphics called the Photon 100, which also has 5 PCI. If this board is all it's cracked up to be, I may opt for it over the epox and TMC.
But having said that, I don't think you'll be sorry going with the Asus board. It and a PII will cost about $150-$160 more, run somewhat hotter (but this is no problem in a decent case), and not perform quite as well, but you can always slap in a cooler running PII later when the price drops. What's more, it's probably a safer bet, with a bigger installed base.
As for graphics cards, Matrox has a new press release on cheap multimonitor cards that may interest you. See matrox.com , the May 12 release. That might be something to try when it comes out, as it will free up PCI slots and give you added options for not much cash.
Assuming you want to get up and running sooner than this, you might look into the G100 based Matrox Productiva (same chipset as the upcoming multimonitor card). Very cheap (< $80), very good, well reviewed, and AGP. Should do everything you want and then some. Moreover, it's been out long enough to have decent drivers--not a minor consideration.
Good luck,
Dave |
