The TOMMYGUN for OVERCLOCKERS.
Written: Aug 06 '01
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: Fast, stable, features galore!
Cons: Outdated now, but if you have it, read on for tips!
The Bottom Line: Although it has integrated componets (many hate this), they are hi-qual stuff like Adaptec 2940U2W and an Intel 10/100 Pro LAN.
|
|
|
| nad_masters's Full Review: ASUS Intel 440BX Chipset P2B-LS Motherboard |
Having this board in my system for 4 years, one may think it is time to replace it with something better. NOT SO, as this is the first motherboard I owned that never gave me a HINT of being obsolete.
Once in it's hey-day, the PII-450 was the quickest CPU you can buy...and it costed about $850 retail boxed! The board then? About $500. Now? It's about $400. Not a huge difference, I know, which makes it NOT a good buy now. Especially since if you are going to get a new system, it should be AMD Athlon based.
However, this is the best motherboard purchase I ever had! I knew it was GOOD when I bought it (loaded with features I will talk about later), but I have NO IDEA that it would last me this long (in terms of obsolescense). For those of you who still have a Intel 440BX-based board, read on as well!
Pros
Integrated Adaptect 2940U2W (the best SCSI standalone card when the motherboard was debut) and Intel 10/100 Pro LAN means that this board ain't no cheap sun-nuv-a-...well... you know. They are REAL devices that are using the PCI bus, which frees up REAL PCI buses for your own demented will. The 2940U2W supports 40 MB/sec transfers while the Intel LAN solution provided reliable 100 MBit/sec networking. I researched on how much the Intel NIC card would go for if I bought it seperately, and found that it was a hefty $60 back in the day! The 2940U2W? If you don't know how much it cost then, check it out now and add on another $100. Yep...this board was worth the $500 back then.
Most boards only come with 3 DIMMs. This one comes with 4, which makes upgrading RAM more flexable. A maximum of 512 MB (or 1 GB if the new BIOS allows 256 MB per slot) rounds out the board's flexing muscle.
Thanks to the 440BX, there is even more room for it to flex! New upgrading options for the CPU has increased, thanks to Intel's Celeron (please read my full review and opinion on the Celeron here in ePinions). For most people who owned this board, the CPU there is not up to today's standard, but still kicking longer than a Pentium of the same age. Since software haven't kept up with hardware just yet, our CPUs are still hacking it. But once you decide to run some of the newer games (Max Payne and Duke Nukem Forever - when it's out - comes to mind), you'll be force to upgrade. Now that the Celerons are based on the 100 MHz FSB, the new Celeron 900 MHz is the best bet for only $120. Not bad. "What about the PIII?" some of you may ask. Well, the fastest PIII CPU we can put on there HAS to be based on the 100 MHz FSB. That limits our choices to something much slower than the Celeron 900 MHz.
And for overclockers? This board is so stable, that you can push it up to 112 MHz FSB without a problem! Just make sure your memory and video card is up to it.
Cons
If you decide to go with another SCSI card (why?) or the newer Ultra160 card, or even another LAN card (again, why?), you cannot disable it in the BIOS. There is a newer revision of the P2B-LS that can, but I have the earlier one. Maybe the BIOS upgrade would help. In either case, even if you didn't want the LAN card or SCSI card (because you don't need it), you are stuck with it and their resources will be stuck with them as well.
Recomendations
Fortunatly, I do need them, as I have a Plextor CD-ROM drive (a bad reason to have such a good SCSI adapter). Current IDE technology has pushed SCSI to the side and onto oncomming traffic...the traffic generated by the other IDE bus, that is! ATA100 has outdone SCSI, and even with Ultra160, the cost is very ewwy (very expensive) and not feasible for everday use...even for hardcore gamers who must have the best and have it all.
I recomend a few strategic upgrades (RAM is cheap, the Celeron is cheap and fast, the Radeon is cheap and fast) to prolong the total-system-overhaul itch. This holds true for ALL OTHER 440BX motherboards.
Of course, as stated, don't buy this board if you don't own it already. This is an upgrader's board. If you have it, don't feel sorry for yourself. If you don't check out the ASUS A7V266 (Athlon-based using VIA KT266 chipset) or a AMD760-based motherboard).
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): 500
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
nad_masters
|
 in Computer Hardware |
 - Top 100 |
|
Location: Chicago, IL, USA
Reviews written: 550
Trusted by: 114 members
About Me:
If you mind is in the gutter, where are your hands?
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.