From owner-freebsd-hardware Tue Nov 11 07:47:49 1997 Return-Path: Received: (from root@localhost) by hub.freebsd.org (8.8.7/8.8.7) id HAA00438 for hardware-outgoing; Tue, 11 Nov 1997 07:47:49 -0800 (PST) (envelope-from owner-freebsd-hardware) Received: from electric.tbe.net (electric.tbe.net [208.208.122.10]) by hub.freebsd.org (8.8.7/8.8.7) with SMTP id HAA00422 for ; Tue, 11 Nov 1997 07:47:41 -0800 (PST) (envelope-from gary@tbe.net) Received: (qmail 6345 invoked from network); 11 Nov 1997 15:55:47 -0000 Received: from flash.tbe.net (gary@208.208.122.15) by electric.tbe.net with SMTP; 11 Nov 1997 15:55:47 -0000 Date: Tue, 11 Nov 1997 10:45:59 -0500 (EST) From: "Gary D. Margiotta" To: FreeBSD Hardware List Subject: MB Chipset Differences Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Sender: owner-freebsd-hardware@freebsd.org X-Loop: FreeBSD.org Precedence: bulk Hello, I have a quick question, though the answers might not be so. I am looking for some new motherboards, and I would like to clear up some fog in my head over the different chipsets the boards have. I am including what I think I know about the different chipsets, but have one nagging question which I would love an anser to above all the other things: Among the VX, TX, and HX chipsets, what does the max cacheable RAM mean? I know the VX & TX can do up to 64 MB, and the HX can do 512 MB, but what does this mean in the long run, and how does this affect server performance? VX: Good chipset for low-to-medium end machines, can cache up to 64 MB RAM, and can support both 72-pin SIMMS and 168-pin DRAM, though not always at the same time. TX: Fast chipset, good for higher-end systems, and its strongpoint is SDRAM. CAn cache up to 64 MB RAM. HX: Good for high-end servers. Supports 72-pin SIMMS, and can accept and cache up to 512 MB of RAM. FX: Used in PPro boards. Not much known about this chipset. What am I missing, where am I wrong, and what else should I know. (I know that is a lot to ask, and I apologize). I have been quite happy with the Asus, Gigabyte and Tyan boards that we have, but I would like to know a bit more before I buy another. I am partial to the HX boards, but I couldn't really explain why and have it hold up in a 'HX is better than TX is better than VX' discussion. Any insight would be greatly appreciated. ______________________________________________________________ -Gary Margiotta Voice: (973) 835-9696 TBE Internet Services Fax: (973) 256-4605 http://www.tbe.net E-Mail: gary@tbe.net