ddr motherboard

[lighthse]

planning my system for upgrade

amd 1.4ghz 266mhz
either msi k7 master(amd760) or gigabyte dx(amd760)
2x 256mb PC2100 CL2.5 Crucial ram
Enlight 300w psu
Swiftech 370 or maybe Alpha pal6035
Maxtor 60+ 7200rpm ata100 30gig
Western digital 7200rpm ata66 15.3gig
Sblive value
Creative 3d blaster tnt2 ultra
Sony 52x cdrom ide
Iomega 250mb internal ide
3com PCI eternet card

gigabyte dx and microstar k7 master...

which one is better in terms of stability and "error free"...

any compatibilty problems between all these components?

 

[heffe734]

only things i would change about your setup is:

1) for the mobo...i'd prefer epox 8k7a...great for OCing...looks like you might be planning to do that with the money you are gonna put into cooling.

2) Your HSF...Swiftech...but i'd go for the mc-462a...massive...and it cools very very very well.
don't forget ur artic silver II

3) Case...i'd get something a lil more bigger with a higher P/S...you can't OC very well with a 300...i'll tell you that much...Antec case with enermax 431 W p/s.

Yeah it's more money but as Creed once said..."Can you take me higher!"

EDIT: why not pay like a few bucks more and get a DVD rom...where r you buying your stuff...i hope it's newegg.com

 

[lighthse]

what's the diff between agp and agp pro?

 

[Coligeon]

<< what's the diff between agp and agp pro? >>


Good Question, I was wondeirng the same thing. I ended up buying my motherboard just becaise of the Agp pro slot, and not for its Raid benefits, I did the wrong thing. Pro slot is for High end workstation graphics, it is also Bigger then the Traditional Agp slot I Think, nothing that the average Consumer has I wouldn't think. I think some cards like maybe the 3dlabs Oxigen cards use it? not sure though.

 

[lighthse]

update

 

[chainbolt]

go for the Gigabyte (if you can get one), just make sure to get the 7DXR and NOT the 7DX. The 7DX is a much older version with less features and less perforance, not just the missing RAID.

 

[lighthse]

how about microstar k7 master?

 

[lighthse]

updates

 

[NelsonMuntz]

There is an article in the new FAQs about AGP, but it does not address AGP Pro. From what I have gathered though, the AGP Pro slot is a waste of money for any applications that a home user would have. The AGP 4X is the way to go IMHO.

 

[bevo]

microstar k7 master is an excellent board..

 

[Corsarius]

I use a:
MSI K7 Master
1.4 GHz/266 FSB Athlon
512MB Crucial CAS 2.5 DDR
Windows 200 pro, Sp2

Case:
I use an Antec case (SX1240) with an Enermax 451 (430W) PSU.
You will want decent airflow in the case!
The Antec case has that 'separation wall' underneath the PSU. Makes cabling a little nasty but keeps the Mobo airflow separate from the Disk slots (I am running a couple of Atlas 10k II SCSI 160 disks).

Board/Stability:
I have no problems with the stability and the Board overclocks nicely (I am running it on 1533 per default, had it up to 1666 stable).
The board has sufficient space around the socket for bigger heatsinks. It also has the 4 mounting holes the Swiftech would need.

Board/Graphics
The only issue I had with the board is that there is a big capacitor right in front of the AGP slot.
This collided with the bottom screw of my graphics card (ELSA Gladiac 920). I took that screw out and filed it down by 2mm. Fits now.

Power supply:
I would really suggest a 400W+ PSU with AMD certification (2nd PSU fan on the bottom) like the Enermax.

Heatsink/Fan:
The Swiftech MC-462a certainly gives you massive cooling.
But the noise is horrible.
And that thing is heavy (about 1.8 lbs/800 gramms).
Don't even think about moving the PC without taking the heatsink out.
I replaced mine with a Noisecontrol Silverado. Ugly, cool, silent.
Unfortunately these are hard to get here in the US.

That's my 2 cent.

 

[GundamF91]

AGP Pro slot is for certain high-end AGP GFX card by Asus or other makers. The slot is longer, the cards have extra pins for extra voltage for the GFX chip.

I wouldn't worry about getting or not getting it. It's no harm in getting it, but you are not EVER likely to purchase an AGP Pro card. Very expensive, and not worth it unless you do 3D rendering all day long.

 

[Coligeon]

<< AGP Pro slot is for certain high-end AGP GFX card by Asus or other makers. The slot is longer, the cards have extra pins for extra voltage for the GFX chip.

I wouldn't worry about getting or not getting it. It's no harm in getting it, but you are not EVER likely to purchase an AGP Pro card. Very expensive, and not worth it unless you do 3D rendering all day long. >>


Hmm, well, will the AgpPro slot ever replace the the normal 4X? To tell you the truth, I ended up buying the Msi K7T266ProR just for that slot, not the Raid, I thought I was doing the right thing lol, thought maybe never cards would start to be using it, or so I Read. Lol, guess I wasted my Money, I might try to refuse the motherboard now. Do you think that would be the right thing to do GundamF91, or anyone, and then just get the Plain K7T266Pro with the 4X Agp, it would only save me around 8 Dollars after they tack on the shipping again? I guess it probably isn't worth it, lol, I can always seel my system for more now I guess.

 

[GundamF91]

AGP Pro isn't designed to replace AGP 8x...it's just a powerbooster thing to supplement it. The new AGP 8x isn't quite finished yet....so won't be seeing it for a while. As for worth it or not...really depends on your situation.

Would you have to incur extra cost to exchange it? ie. shipping, etc. 8 bucks isn't worth it just for that IMO. At least I wouldnt' want to wait for another board shipped to me. (during that time, the prices of hardware would've fallen again). Not to mention your got RAID for $8. Better to have RAID than not. Not to metion extra IDE slots.

 

[Coligeon]

Thanks, yeah I didn't think it was worth it either, they were going to take away shipping too, so it would only give me 8 Dollars back for the normal model. The thing was I wasn't getting it for the Raid I thought the Pro slot would be more handy, but I guess not, well, I guss the only way I can think of it as is that I have the most expensive model. Thanks.

 

[heffe734]

lighthse...run a search in the forums...go to search...type author as &quot;kormaster&quot;...and look for the article saying &quot;EPoX 8k7a or K7master&quot;...you'll see many ppl recommending epox. K7master is a good board...but word around the forums here is that the 8k7a mobo is the best for OCing...i like it. They also have a new updated bios too and it's crazy easy to flash. You can go upto 2.2V...that's if you want the extra juice...kinda high but mine oc's fine @ 1.85 default. And also...xsuicidalx was using a program called CPUFSB...and he was getting amazingly high FSB with his Epox 8k7a...i guess something about this mobo. RESEARCH! And after all is said and done...i think you'll be persuaded to go epox.

BTW: Disregard the negative remarks by the guy in the &quot;epox 8k7a or k7master&quot; post cause all the guys that were giving the thumbs down were made by the same guy using 3 different names. Also...you should look into a new P/S...400+. A must for OCing.

 

[lighthse]

any recommends for PCI ata100 ide card....so that i could use more ide devices? btw i don't use raid....so any cheap and good cards to recommend?

 

[heffe734]

don't use any...

 

[Zuluwarrior]

I'd recommend the 8k7a
along with the antec 1240 case
and the super cool globalwin cak38 heatsink/fan
it's a solid copper beast that gits the job dun
don't forget yer silver either babeeee........

 

[heffe734]

Zulu...what are your temps with that HSF? You OCing?

 

[formulav8]

I had the K7 Master and I like the Epox much better. Performance and Stability is better with me with the Epox over the Msi.

 

[Zuluwarrior]

i'm not overclocking the fsb, just multiplier.....

running a 1.2 right now at 1.33

temp right now is at 33 cel.

no lockups, been goin a week now 24/7 and i haven't
even applied the silver yet