A Cool Motherboard
Written: Jul 07 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Reliable, compatible, average performance
Cons: Minor imperfections
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| Zeromemory's Full Review: Tyan S1854 Trinity 400 |
I have been using various computer parts over the years. About every year I replace my motherboard. When it came around to replacing my motherboard I chose the Tyan Trinity 400.
What I look for in a motherboard is reliability, compatibility, and performance. I agree that I might be a user that pushes his computers to the limit, but I demand a motherboard that is high performance with a low price.
The Tyan Trinity met most of my demands (but still missed some things, more about that later). The Tyan Trinity is fairly reliable. I have run into no problems involving the motherboard, which is really cool because I my work in crucial and I cannot afford to have any downtime. The compatibility was very great. It supported 4x AGP, 133 FSB, Celeron, PII and PIII, Coppermine, ATA 66, USB, and a whole load of other stuff. I really like the great versatility Tyan built into this board. I can plug in all my current hardware and still be rest assured that my motherboard will be able to handle any of my future upgrades (which happen to be many). Performance is great. As mentioned earlier, this board supports 4x AGP, which is perfect because my video card uses that. That means that I can pull the most from my video card from this board. Having support for a 133 FSB is another plus. That way, I can use PC133 RAM and get great performance. Even though this board uses the VIA chipset, I can still expect performance comparable to Intel chipsets.
Other notable features are that fact that the processor bus and RAM bus can be different speeds. For example, my Celeron uses a 66 bus, but my RAM can use a 100 bus. Tyan knew that most users would be using configurations similar to mine (especially noting the popularity of the Celeron). In summary, if your RAM is faster than your processor's bus, then the Tyan can handle both at full speed. Another interesting feature that the Trinity has is socket for a Celeron or Coppermine and a slot for a PII or a PIII. That way, if you will not have to use an adapter to install a Celeron.
The Tyan is not perfect, however. There are some minor imperfections. First, in the compatibility department, the Trinity has only one ISA slot. Even though most cards are PCI nowadays, some people (like the engineers I know) still depend on legacy cards. It can be very frustrating to find that your work depends on two ISA cards and that using one becomes a tradeoff. Another problem I see is that the board uses the VIA chipset. Even though at the time this board was produced using the VIA chipset would have been perfect because of its 4x AGP support, the VIA still has problems with memory bandwidth. When compared to Intel boards, this is okay, but there is still a noticeable difference, with the VIA standing in Intel's dust.
Overall this is a nice board. Its easy to install, has a load of features, and will support about almost anything (except AMD). However, being full of features does not mean this board is imperfect. Some minor flaws contribute to the less that enthusiastic response to the VIA Apollo 133 chipset (used by this board). All in all, get this board if you need a quick, dependable, and compatible solution and don't mind sacrificing some performance.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 100
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Epinions.com ID:
Zeromemory
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Member: Stephen Le
Location: Berkeley, CA
Reviews written: 16
Trusted by: 1 member
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