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Skip Navigation LinksPC Authority > Group Tests > Catching the MHz Bus

Catching the MHz Bus

by Staff Writers  on Jan 1, 1900
Tags: Catching | the | MHz | Bus
If you equate the CPU as the brains of the PC
then think of the motherboard as the nervous system, shuffling signals back and forth from
the extremities of your PC. In exposing these 15 e
If you equate the CPU as the brains of the PC
then think of the motherboard as the nervous system, shuffling signals back and forth from
the extremities of your PC. In exposing these 15 examples of 133MHz front-side bus (FSB) motherboards we are also exposing you, the reader, and potential consumer, to the direction in which expandability is heading.

The reason behind the impending turf war is the new 133MHz FSB. There's a lot happening behind the scenes and the 133MHz FSB is an end in itself. The means to this end is where the battle to win the hearts and minds of PC buyers is being waged. As we write this there are new Intel and AMD CPUs being announced with higher clock speeds and the 133MHz FSB is one of the flow-on features of the new technology. But not everyone knows the route to unlocking these new features or even that their existing technology is in need of a makeover. See 'Cheap as Chipsets' on page 75 for a discussion on the competing chipset technologies.

The debate is not only raging on the chipset front. Memory is also crucial to the equation with the new RAMBUS or RIMM-equipped motherboards making their first appearance in the Labs. We have more on this on page 71.

We've concentrated on Intel Slot 1 motherboards, with four chipsets from two manufacturers to consider. The Labs makes no apologies in stating the manufacturer's published specifications unless we have received explicit advice to the contrary.

Our thanks go to the vendors who contributed to our testbed, which consisted of an Intel 'Coppermine' 733MHz supplied by Intel; a Quantum Fireball CR 13.6Gb drive; SIMMS International (1800 800 703) and Cassa Australia for the PC133 memory from Kingston Technology and Transcend, respectively; and Diamond Multimedia for supplying its Viper V770 Ultra AGP board.

Labs Editor: David Lin
Contributors: Tremayne Sargeant, Philip Luces,
Tim Dean, James Gorbold
This article appeared in the February, 2000 issue of PC Authority.


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