Elite PC Titan FX: Setting New Standards in Gaming
by Wesley Fink on November 30, 2003 10:57 PM EST- Posted in
- Systems
Elite PC Titan FX: MSI K8T Master2-FAR Motherboard
| Motherboard Specifications | |
| CPU Interface | Socket-940 Athlon64FX/Opteron |
| Number of CPUs | One or Two A64FX or Opteron |
| Chipset | VIA K8T800 (North Bridge) VIA VT8237 (South Bridge) |
| Bus Speeds | 200 to 233 in 1MHz increments |
| AGP/PCI Speeds | No adjustment |
| Core Voltages Supported | Fixed |
| AGP Voltages Supported | Fixed |
| DRAM Voltages Supported | Fixed |
| Memory Slots | 4 184-pin Dual-Channel DDR DIMM Slots 2 DIMMs (2 x 512MB) Mushkin High Performance ECC Registered Memory installed provide 1 GB of DDR400 memory at 2-3-2-8 timings |
| Expansion Slots | 1 AGP 8X Slot 4 PCI Slot |
| Onboard Graphics | None — ATI 9800 XT installed |
| Onboard RAID | VIA SATA RAID 2 x 36.7GB WD Raptor SATA 1000RPM Drives Installed in Raid 0 configuration |
| Onboard USB 2.0/IEEE-1394 | SIX USB 2.0 supported through 8237 FireWire Controller on Audigy 2 |
| Onboard LAN | 100/1000 |
| Onboard Audio | AC '97 2.2 Audio disabled Creative Audigy 2 5.1 Digital Audio installed |
| Onboard Serial ATA | Two Standard SATA connectors 8237 Used by SATA RAID 0 |
The MSI K8T Master 2-FAR motherboard is a standard ATX motherboard designed for Workstation use. Elite PC chose this board to be able to provide outstanding performance with a single FX chip and future expansion with a second socket for dual Opteron processors. Since we have found the Opteron to scale very well with multiple processors, this is an excellent option if the single CPU version performs competitively. For more information on Opteron CPU performance with multiple processors, please see Part 2 of our Opteron review.
Since the MSI K8T Master 2-FAR is a stock motherboard, you can find more information on the board and BIOS upgrades at MSI's site. While MSI classifies the K8T Master 2 as a workstation board, the feature-set is comparable to a desktop board. USB 2.0, SATA RAID, 8X AGP, standard PCI slots, and ATA133 IDE are all standard features. The only major concession to providing Dual CPU support is that MSI could only fit 4 PCI slots on the K8T Master.
The Titan FX is equipped with 2 x 512Mb (1GB) of Mushkin High Performance ECC Registered memory. This very fast registered memory can perform at 2-3-2-8 timings, which is much faster than other registered memory that we have tested. The memory is based on Winbond CH5 memory chips. OCZ also provides a fast 2-3-2-8 registered memory based on the same chips. We plan to compare available Registered Memory for the Athlon64 FX/Opteron in an upcoming memory review. The Mushkin is one of the fastest registered modules that we have tested and is a good choice for the Titan FX.
The Titan FX uses the top-line Radeon XT with 256Mb of memory to fill the 8X AGP slot. Two of the four PCI slots available on the K8T Master-2 motherboard are filled with a Creative Audigy 2 sound card and the MSI TV@nywhere card. This leaves 2 available slots for expansion, though there is so much already installed on the Titan FX that there should be little need for additional expansion slots. They are there if you need them.
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Wesley Fink - Monday, December 1, 2003 - link
#7 - While it is clear in the pictures in the review, I did not make specific mention that the MSI K8T Master motherboard requires a 24-pin connector (not a standard 20-pin ATX) and a 8-pin auxilliary power connector. This is the connector often used on other Dual-Processor, Workstation, and Server boards. As a result the choices for PS are more limited. In general, the 24-pin PS are higher quality.madgonad - Monday, December 1, 2003 - link
ElitePC makes good products.I've bought two over the past ten years and both are still running great (although not in my house). They have excellent prices for less robust systems if your wallet isn't blessed enought for the $3k+.
And I did enjoy reading a review exposing the prior Dell paid-advert for what it really was. Nice recovery Anandtech. Gave Dell every chance in the world and they still blew it.
tfranzese - Monday, December 1, 2003 - link
I don't think AMD has confirmed it and probably will never confirm it. It is most probably going to be something you see disappear in time because the FX was seemingly launched in a hurry to drive the nail into their 'performance crown' coffin.I've actaully seen no tests done with the FX's in pair, only read that they can be because the HT links were never disabled.
SUOrangeman - Monday, December 1, 2003 - link
RE: #9 and #10I too was intrigued by the multi-processor A64FX remark. This was a bigger question mark before the Opteron 248 arrived. Still, has AMD confirmed that the FX line will work in MP mode ... and will they support it? It's kinda like the MP vs. XP+mod situation without some confirmation from AMD.
-SUO
Boonesmi - Monday, December 1, 2003 - link
dang that is one very impressive system... for someone who doesnt want to build his/her own system, then this is about as good as it gets :)tfranzese - Monday, December 1, 2003 - link
#14, I think the tweaking is just eliminating bottlenecks such as HDD bandwidth by using striped 10k rpm SATA drives. Just right there you are increasing access time, lowering CPU utilization, and lowering write times.I don't think there is very much else done in terms of tweaking that usual enthusaists such as you or I do to a system we build. Hitting nice CAS times, overclocking, etc are all tweaks that net an enthusiast machine better performance over stock, not tweaked equipment.
ArvinC - Monday, December 1, 2003 - link
This system's scores are really impressive. I would really love to read an article discussing the "black art" of tweeking that some of these system builders use. I bet a lot of insight could be gained if one knew the exact system settings and tweeks builders like FNW, Voodoo, AlienWare, etc. use.Wesley Fink - Monday, December 1, 2003 - link
#1 and #2 - The card is a 256mb Radeon XT, and the info has been corrected.tfranzese - Monday, December 1, 2003 - link
#11, you seem very touchy. Anywho, you're pretty ignorant. Pioneer owns the DVD-R market in leadership, not Plextor - yet anyway. Also, there are few manufacturers who make their own drives and it's only foolish to pay more for the same drive just to have a certain name on it.destaccado - Monday, December 1, 2003 - link
#8 i said nothing about the writers being identical or not all i said is that they were trying to save a few dollars already by using generic equivalents.....if your spending 3g's you should be buying plextor 708's anyways....