[Pc_Support] Intel Socket-478 chipset solutions ...

[Bryan J. Smith]

I know many of you are still deploying Intel Socket-478 solutions. 
If you are, please make the following considerations.

1.  Intel-brand cheapest desktop:  i845

When saving money is an issue, just go for the i845.  You're not
going to get much more at all going for an i865, that's a mis-nomer. 
If you're really worried about performance or support, then you
should be looking at an LGA-775/i9xx series anyway.  The i8xx series
is 3+ years _old_ now.

2.  Intel-brand professional desktop:  i875

The i875 is the professional-grade version of the i865, and those
that fail the i875 tolerances are branded i865.  Because of the exact
pin-out, far too many vendors use the same PCBs -- and some, e.g.,
the Asus P4P800 (i865), use the same PCB that was tested against for
the P4C800 (i875).  I recommend you _never_ run a mainboard with the
i865 in an office environment -- only for home users with limited
use.

3.  Intel-brand workstation/server:  E7210

If you're already spending $150 for an i875, you might as well look
at a $200 E7210.  The E7200 series is based on an Intel cross-license
with ServerWorks (fka Reliance Computer Corporation, RCC), which has
been designing workstations and servers for the tier-1 PC OEMs for a
good decade.  I.e., Intel has _never_ designed a workstation/server
chipset themselves (the closest they've ever come was the old i450NX
which was not competitive at all), and the E7200 is the entry-level
ServerWorks design.  It's also used for Socket-604 (Xeon) as well as
Socket-478.

[ NOTE:  The E7221/7230 are the LGA-775 editions with PCIe ]


-- 
Bryan J. Smith   Professional, Technical Annoyance
b.j.smith at ieee.org    http://thebs413.blogspot.com
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I'm a Democrat.  No wait, I'm a Republican.  Hmm,
it seems I'm just whatever someone disagrees with.