anyone have any o/cing experience w/ the K7VTA3?

via kt333 chipset

mine is a V3.1 and I run it at 143mhz but it can't handle 150mhz.

im running mine w/ a 2500+ barton, set the jumpers on the mobo to 166/166 and it seems to be working perfectly fine.

does anyone know about any hacked bioses?

I just got this board yesterday, didnt try OC'ing yet, I did see FSB adjustments in the BIOS already, but are the PCI and AGP locked or what?

i don't know what's up, but sandra 2003 is reporting that my pci bus is @ 45mhz == 180/4!!! i set the jumpers to 166/166 on the mobo, shouldnt the pci divider be @ 1/5???? anyone have a program that would determine pci bus???

Sandra also cannot see my voltages right, it might be sandra has no clue WHAT to read from our boards

I just got a version 5.0 of this board, so that can run a barton 2500?

http://www.ecsusa.com/products/k7vta3_5.html = specs.

I can't tell.

Yes it can, it supports the 333 FSB

WOOOHOOO.
thanks for the reply.
I had read that it was 333 ram speed, but glad to know my barton (in route as of yesterday before my 1st post here) can move into my spare mobo!

I wrote ECS and asked for the service bios so we can adjust multiplier and voltage, we shall see what they say

my guess is that you will never hear back from them (only based on the email I sent over a week ago to them asking if this board v5.0 can run barton)
It would be great to get some good bios for this thing!
EDIT: found the jumpers and got the barton up and going.
WOW these bios REALLY need some voltage and multi options!!! I can live with 199 fsb on a kt333 (If it can even get that high- haven't had a chance to really dig in) with some multi adjustment possible. never tried to OC a board without dividers, so I'm not sure where to set the PCI and AGP buses.

No word yet from them, but I imagine it will take awhile.

right now i'm at 181 fsb w/ my 2500+ barton

sandra reports my pci clk speed @ 45mhz

if it is true, that means the board is stuck at 1/4 pci divider and is not using 1/5 while jumper-ing @ 166/166

AkumaX said:

right now i'm at 181 fsb w/ my 2500+ barton

sandra reports my pci clk speed @ 45mhz

if it is true, that means the board is stuck at 1/4 pci divider and is not using 1/5 while jumper-ing @ 166/166

Click to expand...

If you put it back to stock 166, what does it report your PCI then?

Yeah I dont trust sandra at all.

Looks as though ECS is never going to reply on this matter, oh well...I expected it since the revision 8.0 version of this mobo supports overclocking. Of course they would want me to buy the newer one

bummer. I got my K7VTA3 Revision 5.0 in a fry's combo,, but if it had some OC ability I might throw it in the mix of boxes I have. I guess I might use it to run the second barton I have until I can get a good board to overclock it, because I think it is really a waste to run a barton at stock!
I wish someone would hack the bios. fat chance though, I think because there is not a huge demand for hacked bios (like the k7s5a).

Give it time, most people have the k7s5a because of the Fry's deal or cause it was dirt cheap and when the community grew so did the mods. Our board is also the new replacment Fry's combo board so it will saturate soon

On a side note there are FSB options in our latest BIOS (5.0G) that do allow minor overclocking (as far as stock voltage will carry you) and im not ready to give up on this mobo yet, it really has been the most trouble free and stable board I have ever owned.

Right now I have 2 bartons so I need the K7VTA3 to run the second barton because all my other spare boards are not barton compliant. I am looking to get a second nf7-s off newegg refurb, so I will have a "spare" bios chip to hot swap with if I corrupt mine. I don't plan on selling my K7VTA3 though.
I didn't start researching OC'ng until 6 months ago, so I never saw the advent the k7s5a in terms of OC, and how the hacked bios evolved . Your enthusiasm for the possibilty/probability of hacked bios for this board, in addition to your experience with the stability of this board further reinforces my decision to hold on to my K7VTA3 v. 5.0. I have heard poor things about ECS boards (mostly the k7s5a), but I think al lot of that can be attributed to Fry's open boxe motherboards (which are to be avoided like the plague). This is my first ECS board, and putting aside the lack of voltage/multi options (and the limitations of the VIA chipset) I think this is a great board.

I am wondering though, how much drive there will be to hack the bios for rev 5.0 if there is a rev 8.0 that includes overclocking options. Especially if Fry's starts handing out the 8.0's instead of the 5.0's (which I would only see happening if ECS stops supplying cheaper rev's than the 8.0 for FRY's to buy).