First of all, I'm not saying that AMD processors aren't stable. I'm sure they're just fine. I'm saying that I've heard that they're more picky about drivers and BIOS settings when running 3D games with the latest AGP video cards; settings that I don't want to have to waste time researching.

And for those who asked: the articles to which I refer were printed articles in PC Gamer magazine. I don't have an online link, and I don't remember which issues they were in.

Let me be a little more specific in that last statement. I didn't mean to say that the AMD processors themselves are more picky. I meant that the particular combination of AMD-based motherboard/BIOS and high-performance graphics card causes a situation where reliability is more dependent on getting the drivers and the BIOS settings just right. I'm sure the actual CPU has less to do with it than does the motherboard and BIOS code. And for that matter, it could just be that the people that write video card drivers simply do more QA on Intel platforms. Even if it's got nothing to do with the CPU itself, it's still something I need to consider when building a system.

That sounds more like the state of things 2 or three years ago. That hasn't been my experience any time recently, but your name is in red, so it must be so...

ooh, that kind of didn't sound nice.

Yep, it's come down to the Intel / AMD discussion again. No one wins really, everyone has an opinion they stick to, and when they buy their next processor they go with what has worked for them. No biggie really.

ooh, that kind of didn't sound nice.

He's got a point, though. Just because some magazine had a problem with their particular motherboard doesn't mean they're all that way.

I'm only re-iterating what they said, I've never touched an Athlon in my life. So actually I have no authority to speak on the topic at all. I was just defending why I only use Intel when I build my own systems.

Sorry 'bout that Tony. Hat's off to you for taking the higher ground. That is a good reason to stick with Intel...they've always been reliable.

"...they've always been reliable." - with the right chipset...

I've got a Via chipset based motherboard, and frankly installing the OS & drivers for it was a nightmare (Asus TUV4X). Again, not a scientific sampling in the least, but that was the last time I buy a non-Intel chipset mobo. I still have 'spontaneous reboot' issues in W2k. Starting to suspect RAM - replaced powersupply and am not overclocking or getting too hot. That is a whole other thread though...

-Zeke

Actually, the drive I linked to is the same drive (WD1200JB), just OEM (which is what I bought). As a matter of fact, it's marked down to $157.25!

In my experience with AMD I've never had incompatibility problems like that. With video cards, yes, but those problems had nothing to do with the fact that I was running an AMD chip. To each his own though. Nobody can win the "AMD Vs. Intel" argument, because there are a lot of people that still base their opinions purely on the theory or comments of another person, and therefore have a uninformed bias towards one or the other. Just has to be seen first hand by each person that is up to making the descision, of course, only if they're willing to not be so closed minded. Don't get me wrong, I have both AMD and Intel based machines, but for gaming and a majority of the other things I do, I use AMD.

Sorry, I hadn't realized that... guess I need a little more practice in digging through shopping websites.

Don't be sorry. Honest mistake. Especially since the site doesn't seem to be clearly marked stating that the one for $157.25 is OEM, except for that it is marked as a "Dell System Upgrade."

If you're going to be playing games on it, I'd recommend going with a SS40G instead. They are better suited for gaming, get better performance (which you'll see in the benchmarks)

The SS51 isn't even out yet, how did they do benchmarks with it? :-)

Reasons I like the SS51:
USB 2 and Firewire
SPDIF sound
Heatpipe processor cooling
Newest SIS chipset supporting DDR333, and 533mhz bus

The P4 right now has matured very well, and is begining to show awesome peformance leaps. AMD is falling behind with the Athlon now, and I will no longer consider them until they get the Hammer based chips out. Even with their recent revisions to the Athlon, it's pushes out a ton of heat. I love the competition that AMD is giving to Intel, but for now Intel has the better platform for a system I plan on keeping for a while. If my system wasn't just begging for a replacement, I'd wait on the Hammer.

You could try one of these RAID 0,1 cards from Granite Digital. There are some nice RAID, Firewire and SCSI drive cases and adapters there.

Still would love to try out the firewire bridge boards

"...they've always been reliable." - with the right chipset...

I've got a Via chipset based motherboard, and frankly installing the OS & drivers for it was a nightmare (Asus TUV4X). Again, not a scientific sampling in the least, but that was the last time I buy a non-Intel chipset mobo.

I think meatballman was talking about Intel in his "they've always been reliable" comment. re-read his post and the one he's replying to.

Why would you do that?

Calvin

One reason I could think of is to get more devices than you normally would. 6, in this example.

Yeah, I'm talking about Intel also. I'm just pointing out that I've had trouble with Intel processor motherboards with non-Intel chipsets. Rereading my post (I have to stop posting when I'm really tired) I can see I omitted mentioning that the TUV4X is a Pentium III board.
-Zeke

yeah, but unless i'm missing something, the format-one-drive-at-a-time-as-a-raid-0-array nonsense is completely unnecessary. just set 'em up in "JBOD" (just a bunch o' disks) mode. no raid going on at all, just as in his example.

--dan.

I'm not sure what your question is. Do what exactly?