Epox 8KHA+ overclock question - 200 to 266 FSB?

[Mac]

I just recently junked a KT133 mobo and have an AMD Tbird 1200 200 FSB CPU without a home. I would like to put this on a EPOX 8KHA+ mobo and run it at 1200 ( or faster) with a 266 FSB by dropping the multiplier and upping the FSB from 100 to 133. If it will work, it is a nice performance boost for free. Is the EPOX a good board to use for this?

My question stems from reading old articles about problems that users had trying the same thing when the KT133A boards first came out. For those that remember, it wouldn?t work on most mobos because during the early stages of the POST, most boards were designed to initialize at the default multiplier on the CPU and whatever FSB that had been selected by the user (usually hard jumpered). Many CPU?s couldn?t make it through the post because they were momentarily running so far over spec (33%). As I recall, Abit and Asus were about the only boards that would check the bios at startup in order to set the multiplier then perform the POST, and thus could reliably run older Tbirds at a 266FSB.

Did most mobo vendors address this issue? Or is it considered moot because only 266FSB TBirds have been manufactured for over a year now? So back to the original question, will the Epox K8HA+ support this? Any other recommendations?

 

[Mem]

will the Epox K8HA+ support this? Any other recommendations?

I`m no OC expert so don`t know if it will work but think it should ,however the Epox 8KHA+ is a great overclocking board with excellent stability(using one at the moment),you could PM Insane3D and ask him (meantion my name he knows me).

 

[Insane3D]

Originally posted by: Mac
I just recently junked a KT133 mobo and have an AMD Tbird 1200 200 FSB CPU without a home. I would like to put this on a EPOX 8KHA+ mobo and run it at 1200 ( or faster) with a 266 FSB by dropping the multiplier and upping the FSB from 100 to 133. If it will work, it is a nice performance boost for free. Is the EPOX a good board to use for this?

My question stems from reading old articles about problems that users had trying the same thing when the KT133A boards first came out. For those that remember, it wouldn?t work on most mobos because during the early stages of the POST, most boards were designed to initialize at the default multiplier on the CPU and whatever FSB that had been selected by the user (usually hard jumpered). Many CPU?s couldn?t make it through the post because they were momentarily running so far over spec (33%). As I recall, Abit and Asus were about the only boards that would check the bios at startup in order to set the multiplier then perform the POST, and thus could reliably run older Tbirds at a 266FSB.

Did most mobo vendors address this issue? Or is it considered moot because only 266FSB TBirds have been manufactured for over a year now? So back to the original question, will the Epox K8HA+ support this? Any other recommendations?

You will be fine, this would commonly happen on some popular KT133A boards, but it's not an issue anymore. Even though the Epox has the FSB jumper, it will not encounter this issue as it sets the multiplier before post. Also, IIRC, the 1.2ghz and up Tbirds came unlocked, so you shouldn't have to even bother unlocking.

If you have any trouble, I would try this sequence. Boot the board @ 1200, with the FSB jumper on the 100mhz FSB position. Next, enter the bios and change the multiplier to 9, exit and save. The CPU should now be running @ 900mhz. Once you know you've changed the multiplier in the bios, turn it off and change the jumper to the 133mhz position. Boot up and it should be running 1200 with a 133 (266) FSB.

 

[Mac]

Insane 3D,

Thanks for the note...I'll try it. I already have the Epox running with a 1GHz /266 Tbird but didn't want to go through the hassle and risk of removing it (open heart surgery comes to mind!) and installing the 1.2GHz if it wasn't going to work. And yes, you are correct, 1.2GHz CPU is unlocked from the factory. I could get it to run at 1.4GHz on the old board (Abit KT7-R) but it would get pretty toasty so usually ran it at stock.

Thanks again.

 

[Insane3D]

No problem. I would be very surpirsed if you had any trouble. This issue was most common with the Durons as I remember. One of the big reasons was the Duron ran a lower Vcore than the Thunderbirds, so this issue would crop up frequently. The old workaround was to pencil all of the L7 bridges to make the CPU default @ 1.85vcore instead of 1.75v giving it plently of juice to post...


Anyway, you shouldn't need to do that, just an FYI..