Epox EP-8RGA+ and Athlon 1700+

[k900]

Hey guys, I'm about to order an Epox EP-8RGA+ and an Athlon 1700+ from newegg. I've read a lot about the EP-8RDA+ but not much about the EP-8RGA+, which is an nforce2 board with integrated graphics. Can anyone comment on the overclocking possibilities of this setup? I have 2x256mb of pc2700 ddr ram so I know I will be limited there. I also have a sk-y and ys tech variable speed fan. Are the 1700+ chips newegg is currently shipping a good deal?

Does anyone know if the Epox EP-8RGA+ has a thermal sensor?

Would it be worth it to pay the extra money and get a barton 2500+?

And I'm looking to build a separate media center cpu in which I'm going to use a athlon 1800+ thoroughbred and hopefully underclock it, can anyone suggest an extremely quiet case fan? How about the ys tech variable speed fan and an sk-7 like my other setup?

Thanks for any input.

-Kevin

 

[Grizybaer]

Hey,

I just put together my system, 8rda+ and 1700, also from newegg.

I dont see why you'd want to overclock. I'm not running any special fans, only three total;, cpu, Power supply and one in the back of the case to make up for my non amd approved psu.

Right now i'm running at 1.9Ghz. The default for the 1700+ is 1.47. Yesterday i was running at 1100 mhz. I've been testing and benchmarking and have not yet noticed a significant change in temps.

This is my own experience and i'm not an expert, i'm learning all of this as it comes.

good luck on your project

 

[Blooz1]

The Epox 8RGA+ has adjustable VDD (NOT found on the 8RDA+..), which allows you to bump your main voltage to achieve higher FSB. People have bought this board for just this feature, without any intentions of using the onboard graphics! It will OC just fine!

 

[Shimmishim]

Originally posted by: Blooz1
The Epox 8RGA+ has adjustable VDD (NOT found on the 8RDA+..), which allows you to bump your main voltage to achieve higher FSB. People have bought this board for just this feature, without any intentions of using the onboard graphics! It will OC just fine!

yup..

 

[bgeh]

Originally posted by: k900
Hey guys, I'm about to order an Epox EP-8RGA+ and an Athlon 1700+ from newegg. I've read a lot about the EP-8RDA+ but not much about the EP-8RGA+, which is an nforce2 board with integrated graphics. Can anyone comment on the overclocking possibilities of this setup? I have 2x256mb of pc2700 ddr ram so I know I will be limited there. I also have a sk-y and ys tech variable speed fan. Are the 1700+ chips newegg is currently shipping a good deal?

Does anyone know if the Epox EP-8RGA+ has a thermal sensor?

Would it be worth it to pay the extra money and get a barton 2500+?

And I'm looking to build a separate media center cpu in which I'm going to use a athlon 1800+ thoroughbred and hopefully underclock it, can anyone suggest an extremely quiet case fan? How about the ys tech variable speed fan and an sk-7 like my other setup?

Thanks for any input.

-Kevin

the Epox EP-8RGA+ does have a thermal sensor. it comes standard with mobo's today

 

[screw3d]

Where did you buy your 8RGA+ from?

A friend of mine got it from Newegg, and I found out that the northbridge is not of the A1/C1 steppings..

No matter though, since you can up the Vdd from the BIOS..but the A1/C1 northbridge seems to run wee cooler..

 

[k900]

thanks for all the great advice.

is newegg the best place to buy the 1700+(its only $44 there) or should I pay $59.99 JIUHB 0319 AMD XP 1700+ from svc?

If I order from newegg is there any chance of getting a dreaded palomino?

 

[ponyo]

You will get Tbred B from Newegg. Price seem to flux from $41-44 at Newegg. You'll likely get DUT3C from them but some lucky people have gotten DLT3C from them. I bought last week and paid $42 for mine and got DUT3C. Right now it's running 11x200 at 2200 mhz at 1.7v on Epox 8RDA+.

DLT3C are supposed to be the best overclockers. At $60 from SVC, it's not a bad deal. But remember you have to add shipping to that price unlike Newegg which offers free shipping on 1700+. So for me it would have cost like $66-67 from SVC vs $42 from Newegg. $24-25 or more than 50% premium to get DLT3C chip. For me it wasn't worth the 100-200mhz more I might get from DLT3C chip. I also had to get a quiet heatsink for this chip. I took that into consideration and bought 1700+ from Newegg along with $7 Speeze heatsink. Total came to $54 shipped. Much cheaper than DLT3C from SVC, and at 2200 mhz it's not bad overclock using $7 heatsink. Temp is 39-40 C idle and extremely quiet. My powersupply fan is louder than my heatsink fan.

I felt the tradeoff in cost, performance, and noise wasn't worth it to get DLT3C from SVC. Remember you're going to have to use more expensive aggressive heatsink to get max performance out of DLT3C. Plus you have to remember in overclocking, there are no guarantees. Not all DLT3C will be super. You might get a dud and poor overclocker. Same with DUT3C chip. But at least with DUT3C, you didn't pay much. Something to chew on.

 

[k900]

okay thanks for the response

where did you get that speeze heatsink and would you recommend it to me?

 

[ponyo]

I got the Speeze heatsink along w/ TBred 1700+ at Newegg. It's the 80mm fan one and only $7 but $5 for shipping. So it's $12 total. It's cheap, effective, and quiet. I ordered another one for my other computer. BTW, I'm using the white thermal paste that was on the heatsink. I have Arctic Silver I could have used but decided to stick w/ stock one since it was already applied on the heatsink. Plus, difference in thermal paste is highly overrated. At most you're only going to shave 1 or 2 degrees tops if even that. Even household grease will get the job done. Cheapest overclock is the best overclock in my book.

 

[screw3d]

Originally posted by: Naustica
I got the Speeze heatsink along w/ TBred 1700+ at Newegg. It's the 80mm fan one and only $7 but $5 for shipping. So it's $12 total. It's cheap, effective, and quiet. I ordered another one for my other computer. BTW, I'm using the white thermal paste that was on the heatsink. I have Arctic Silver I could have used but decided to stick w/ stock one since it was already applied on the heatsink. Plus, difference in thermal paste is highly overrated. At most you're only going to shave 1 or 2 degrees tops if even that. Even household grease will get the job done. Cheapest overclock is the best overclock in my book.

Yes I'll agree the "overrated" part, mostly $$$ reasons and the miniscule temp difference.. but good thermal pastes last longer/don't dry up/maintain thermal conductivity for (much) longer periods than plain old paraffin wax thermal tape.

Additionally, most of the o/c crowd install/remove the heatsink fairly regularly... and therefore you'll need to reapply thermal grease anyway.. and they r easier to clean off/apply than the normal stuff (specifically the ones on stock heatsinks). Since they are about the same price .. why dont just get those AS III/Shin-etsu/Ceramique stuff ..plus they are proven to be some good stuff...

You may argue that what's 1-2 deg C..ever heard of the straw that broke the camel's back? Every deg C counts!