Epox-8K7A

[tcc2f6]

Well, a lot has been said about this mobo I know, but I have one last thing.. I've been having troubles building a computer (first one at that) and you guys convinced me to go with this one.

I'm trying to make sure I get everything to go as smooth as possible on this try. Even ordered the swiftech heat sink (the others just feel like I am going to break the board when I put it on) and will be going to buy a non-netgear NIC to replace the Netgear sitting next to me. Any NIC that isn't Netgear should be fine, correct? I also need to get two case fans, anyone know if they need 3 or 4 pin fan?

Any last advice or tips for making sure the installation of this board goes well?

Thanks

 

[NelsonMuntz]

As far as I am aware any NIC besides Netgear s/b okay. I used a Linksys and it went fine and I have heard that D-Link has worked okay. As far as the case fans go, you can get four pin ones that will work no matter what. If I remember correctly there are two extra 3-pin connectors on that motherboard for case fans, so that route s/b fine too. The benefit with having them on the board is that the mobo monitoring (temp and fan RPM) in the BIOS can pick up the extra fans.

 

[Micronaut]

Uhh... what's wrong with Netgear? I thought I perused most of the EPoX threads and didn't see anything about this...

 

[bevo]

Netgear fa311, 312, 313 are incompatible with the amd 761 chipset. Netgear Fa310 is okay...

 

[CurtOien]

Lynksys is good,easy to install and inexpensive.

 

[Micronaut]

Problem is.. out of personal experience with 4 LinkSys cards - 3 have died. Not a good ratio.

 

[heffe734]

Linksys makes one of the best NIC's i heard from roaming through these forums...the intel NIC is nice too. I have D-Link...but it works fine for me, even when OC'd.

 

[carmeo]

don't scare me, i have linksys card..

 

[Courtland]

The Epox is a good board, but it has been having some pretty serious, at least in my opinion, problems. A good amount of people cannot reboot with a printer pluged in, and Epox has recognized this problem, you can ship the board to them for a fix, but that is also a pain. Then there is the no boot issue with the Netgear NICs, and some other misc POSTing problems. I had a problem where the board would post about 25 percent of the time, it seemed totaly random, and others have had this problem. There are also plenty of satisfied owners so I wouldn't get scared away, however after returning my 8K7A I am going to get a GigaByte 7DXR, for one it does not seem to have any problems, and for two it is starting to seem like a better board. Also, a heads up with the swiftech and the epox, be careful when you mount it, the metal stands can easily hit parts on the board if you do not position it correctly and watch it when you are unscrewing them.

 

[bevo]

<< Linksys makes one of the best NIC's >>

I wouldn't go that far...LOL

Courtland....The Epox does have some advantage over the Giga, like better and higher vcore adjustment, and thus it is easier to o/c. Giga has advantages also, ie, more ram, but both can perform well, and one will not outperform the other to any noticeable extent. Also, the Nic issue is an amd 761 chipset issue, so it will have to be dealt with in any of these MB's, whether they be Epox, Giga, MSI, ASUS or Abit.

 

[SpeedTrap]

just get a decent nic (3com) and youll be fine

 

[Courtland]

My only real problem with the Epox is that it is having the printer problem, and an overclocking problem when you have two DIMMs in.

 

[Majinga]

my comp would stall playing online games with linksys card, then i went to d-link and it works fine now,,

 

[heffe734]

only what i heard from ppl...ppl were saying Linksys were good cards...but i think they meant OCing...

 

[Flashram]

My Netgear PA101 NIC would not work with the 8K7A. Had to switch motherboards because of it...

 

[amb#cog]

Courtland could you elaborate on the 2 DIMM OC'ing problem please? Even a link would help.

Flashram99 Your NIC wouldn't work so you changed motherboards, and not just swap in another NIC???

If it helps anybody. I have an SMC NIC on my 8K7A (see my sig).

 

[Courtland]

No link, just have seen a few people on other forums with this problem.

 

[IdahoB]

The 2 DIMM O/C problem is a myth - the reality is, with more RAM chips on the DIMMs the probability that one will be below the standard of the others and therefore lower overall overclocking performance is higher, hence some people cannot overclock as high when they put in a second DIMM - but had they put in that DIMM first on it's own they would have reached the same limit anyway.

 

[tcc2f6]

Thanks for all the tips. Hopefully this time will go much smoother. I appreciate it.

Also, dumb question probably, but went to Best Buy and saw a LinkSys NIC, it was the cheapest one around 15-20, however is kept saying &quot;Easy to install in Pentium Computers.&quot; Does it really make a difference? I would have thought it wouldn't matter...

 

[SpeedTrap]

no such thing as a 2 dimm or printer problem. all work fine here and even a usb scanner tosed in

 

[tjdavis1138]

I have two epox 8k7a's. One has the printer problem, one does not. I just haven't wanted to rip the other one out yet and send it back. What a pain in the a@@.

 

[bevo]

<< saw a LinkSys NIC >>

The Linksys NIC will work fine with amd 761 chipset MB's...

 

[Poof]

I'm considering this mobo since it seems to be the general consensus recommendation across hardware sites, which is sortof rare.

From what I read about the 2 dimm problem was with respect to the voltage, ie., the epox apparently runs the dimms at 2.6V by default and by setting this to 2.7V when there are 2 dimms inserted (I guess if you have the problem), this would help.