SOLVED Newby to AMD needs help...

[Kryten]

I have finally decided to bite the bullet and come and bat for the AMD team.
I have had very little to do with AMD apart from building a few k6-2 systems for clients, I have no concept of what is happening on the current scene.
I need a fast system that is flexable with overclocking, rock solid stable, doesn't cost the earth (don't mind spending the money if it's justifyable) I would like to stay with an ASUS board if possible but if you can convince me that you have had both and X brand is better I will make a change.
I currently have 2 sticks of PC133 I could use, but If need be can buy new ram.
thanks for your suggestions in advance.

 

[Kryten]

Ok.. here are the boards I have narrowed it down to already

Asus A7V133
Asus A7A266
Abit KT7A / KT7A Raid
Iwill KK266

The processor I have in mind is the 1.33 gig.
Would any of these boards shine above the others with this prcessor?

All of these boards seem to have good overclocking potential, the main things I am looking for are ATA 100, adjustable VCore, Support PC133 (DDR would be nice but not essential), 4 x AGP, And above all rock solid..

 

[UnseenMenace]

The first system I built to overclock from the sart was my Duron 800 on a Abit KT7A-Raid mobo, and I really rate this board highly, not only has it got great reviews but it is well respected in this Forum and used widely by the overclocking community which says a great deal about the quality. However as a first time builder i was pleased to see that the Manual was clearly laid out and informative, I did have a few questions which resulted in me sending a email to Abit.. I got a detailed reply the following day, supplying me the information I required.

I would suggest the Abit as this company appears to offer good quality products and care about there customers.. They will be seeing my custom again

 

[Kryten]

thanks for your view UnseenMenace I actually bought a Abit SA6R not that long ago but returned it to the shop because they couldn't sort out an onboard sound problem.
But I certainly wouldn't let that put me off buying another because other than that the board was very stable, and I like the Softmenu3 a lot.
Anyone else want to put in their 2 cents worth?

 

[David]

U should be Ok with any board that uses the KT133A or KT266 chipset. If possible go for the second revision ie the 2nd version that has (almost) all the bugs removed. Abit and Asus boards are all stable and reliable and you can't really go wrong by pointing at choosing any KT133A or KT266 mobo

 

[Kryten]

Just browsing through some of the posts in the CPU section and it dawned on me one of the most important selection criteria has been missed.
Core Voltage it seems to be an increasing problem, I saw a post that said the Abit KT7A-Raid had a max Vcore of about 1.85 volts.
If you own one of the other boards on the list could you please tell me your max Vcore.. thanks

 

[kamikaziken]

yes! it only goes to 1.85v but there is a voltage mod out there if you want to do a little soldering

 

[UnseenMenace]

Kryten (May 23, 2001 05:39 a.m.):
Just browsing through some of the posts in the CPU section and it dawned on me one of the most important selection criteria has been missed.
Core Voltage it seems to be an increasing problem, I saw a post that said the Abit KT7A-Raid had a max Vcore of about 1.85 volts.
If you own one of the other boards on the list could you please tell me your max Vcore.. thanks

Alas it is true that Abit KT7A-Raid has max vcore of 1.85 volts by standard, however there is a simple modifictiation on http://www.tweakhardware.com/guide/kt7-voltage/ that will take the default voltage up to 2.07 volts

theres are also voltage mods for the EPoX BX6-SE
http://www.tweakhardware.com/guide/bx6-se-voltage/ which enables us to adjust the Voltage setting between 3.65v and 4.0v!

and a ASUS A7V to 2,45V

http://www.tweakhardware.com/guide/a7v-voltage/

and MSI K7T Pro to 1.85v

http://www.tweakhardware.com/guide/k7tpro-voltage/

 

[FRANK]

I've got four socket A systems up right now, all with different motherboards. Of the boards I have I would rate them as follows;

A7V133, KT133A chipset, stable, excellent board, very good overclocking possibilities. Currently has a 1.2-C T-BIRD @ 1400 (10*140)

FIC AD11, AMD 761 chipset, I've had this one up about a week, so far; stable, very good board, very good overclocking possibilities, so far the performance has been at least on par with the A7V133, more tweaking to do. Currently has a DURON 600 @ 1100 (8*137)

AV7, KT133 chipset, stable, very good board, very good overclocking possibilities within the range of the limiting KT133 chipset. Currently has a DURON 600 @ 1100 (10*110)

FIC AZ11, KT133 chipset, stable, not a bad board but limited overclocking. Currently has a T-BIRD 650 @ 650 (default)

On the voltage question, I may be wrong but from what I've seen all of the boards maximum Vcore is limited to 1.85 without a voltage mod. If you're concerned about saving money, then this is probably about as high as you would want to go anyway. Much higher than this will cause heat issues that will require more expensive cooling methods than you can get with a relatively inexpensive hsf. All of my boards, with the exception of the AZ11 are set at 1.85 for stability. All are air cooled with Global Win hsf's FOP32's and WBK38's.

Good Luck, I think I smell success.

 

[Kryten]

Money is not a major issue, the reason I was asking about the Vcore is if I want to give it a bit of stick I was wonder which has the highest stock VCore (without mod) I am not real interested in modding the board and would like to get the board that supports the highest STD Vcore.
I will be looking at water cooling real soon...

 

[Yomama]

Kryten (May 23, 2001 10:20 p.m.):
Money is not a major issue, the reason I was asking about the Vcore is if I want to give it a bit of stick I was wonder which has the highest stock VCore (without mod) I am not real interested in modding the board and would like to get the board that supports the highest STD Vcore.
I will be looking at water cooling real soon...

Contrary to the previous opinions I do think that the Iwill board is a very stable one that definitely challenges the embedded ASUS and ABIt boards. Moreover the Iwill offers over 1.9V. Officially you can adjust the voltage up to 1.85 manually, but bios and mbm indicate that on my board this actually comes out to be 1.97V(!). I guess the regulator is off just a bit.

Another hint. Just see that you find an AXIA Chip. Speed rating seems secondary, as long as it has an AXIA core it is likely to make it well into the 1400s and possibly to 1500. Buy a 1 GHz AXIA chip (second line should start with for best o/c success) and pocket the price difference between 1.33 and 1 GHz and get a nice cooler.

Yo

 

[Kryten]

I noticed the AXIA seems to go higher... I was planning on getting an AXIA 1.33 as money is not that tight.
thanks for the tip anyway.

 

[Kryten]

Still feel like I need a little more info before I bite the bullet so bump.