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good motherboard for overclocking?

G

gwlam12

Diamond Member
I currently have an MSI k7t266 pro with an athlon xp 1600 + with an agoia core.

i can hit as high as xp2100+ but my video craps out on me when i play wc3. this doesnt happen when i dont overclock.

so im hoping a better motherboard will alllow me to overclock without having video card crap out on me. what are ur suggestions? also, the cpu is locked since i dont nkow how to unlock and dont want to risk breaking it.

i also have crucial pc2100 ddr ram. any suggestions on what settinsg i should use for that? i dont understand how i up the fsb for ram from pc2100 to pc2700. anyone care to explain it to me? thanks.
 
If you set your FSB at 166MHz, your RAM will operate at DDR333/PC2700 speeds. However, your RAM may not be able to handle those speeds. If you're looking to buy a new board, I would heartily recommend an nForce2 board since the nForce2 chipset has a boatload of great features, including the ability to lock the PCI/AGP busses at 33/66 which will keep your video card from crapping out.
 
If you're running your 1600+ at 2100+ speeds without unlocking it, then you've got the AGP bus up pretty high, which could certainly cause problems with your video card, so yeah, that's a board issue of sorts. Its possible that your motherboard has a 5/1 PCI/AGP divider at 166FSB, which would set everything back to spec, so you might try setting the FSB to 166 and see if you can get it stable. One of the great things about the nForce2 chipset is you can set the PCI/AGP busses to 33/66 regardless of FSB speed.
 
Originally posted by: CrazySaint
If you set your FSB at 166MHz, your RAM will operate at DDR333/PC2700 speeds. However, your RAM may not be able to handle those speeds. If you're looking to buy a new board, I would heartily recommend an nForce2 board since the nForce2 chipset has a boatload of great features, including the ability to lock the PCI/AGP busses at 33/66 which will keep your video card from crapping out.
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Exactly.

Also, what are you running for a video card? What do your voltages look like for your psu? What size is the PSU?
 
im running an albatron ti4200 with 128mb ram.

my psu i s 300 watts

i dont nkow how to read voltage for psu...but according to the program speedfan

VCOREA: 1.81V
VCOREB: 1.23V
+3.3V : 3.18V
+5V: 4.84V
+12V: 12.65V
-12V: -12.86V
-5V: -5.10V
+5VSB: 5.35V
VBAT: 3.12V
 
I would try a bigger psu, the new gf4 cards pull more juice from the agp slot then previous versions.

Your +3.3 and +5 volt rails are too low for my liking. I would try a beefy PSU and see if that helps you out, the way it sounds is that when you are pushing your system, it craps out due to lack of juice.

I would get a nice 400+ watt PSU.
 
thanks, i was just thinking about the psu as well. i was going to start a thread asking "how much is in your system with your 300 watt psu?"

oh, i am wondering, does a 400 watt psu necessarily mean you'll have higher electric bills? or does that just mean u have 400watts to use.
 
Actually, the higher the output in watts, the more energy efficient it will be, and use less electricity. I run 4 computers and 2 tv's here, and my highest power bill was like 37$.....
 
Just don't fall into the "bigger is better" PSU trap. A high quality 300w PSU will provide more and better power than a cheap 400w PSU. Just make sure you get a PSU from somebody like Antec, Enermax or Sparkle and you should be fine.
 
Originally posted by: CrazySaint
Just don't fall into the "bigger is better" PSU trap. A high quality 300w PSU will provide more and better power than a cheap 400w PSU. Just make sure you get a PSU from somebody like Antec, Enermax or Sparkle and you should be fine.
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thanks! but that means i gotta spend more money 🙁

oh, i didnt respond to your earlier post about setting my fsb to 166. apparently, the highest my mobo will go is 164. there isnt any option for anything higher 🙂
 
Originally posted by: gwlam12
Originally posted by: CrazySaint
Just don't fall into the "bigger is better" PSU trap. A high quality 300w PSU will provide more and better power than a cheap 400w PSU. Just make sure you get a PSU from somebody like Antec, Enermax or Sparkle and you should be fine.
Click to expand...

thanks! but that means i gotta spend more money 🙁

oh, i didnt respond to your earlier post about setting my fsb to 166. apparently, the highest my mobo will go is 164. there isnt any option for anything higher 🙂
Click to expand...

You definitely need a new motherboard then 🙂 Btw, your power rails really aren't that bad. I'd try a new motherboard first, then buy a PSU later if you still have problems.
 
ok...but still! no one answered my question in the thread title. What is a good motherboard for overclocking? I'll probably treat myself to a new motherboard and psu for christmas 🙂 maybe some pc2700 ram or higher to keep up with times (as opposed to my pc2100) even though i just bought a gamecube and ps2 🙁
 
well, if you wanna get somethign to play with, maybe an epox, 8k3a+, or maybe a asus. if you have real good luck, get an refurb board from newegg, all of their refurb kt333 boards are about 40 - 50. it's just a suggestion.

 
I would check out one of the kt400 mobo's from the usually suspects, epox, asus, abit....

You can sheck out amdmb.com for reviews and the forums for feedback, they have a sub-forum for each mobo manufacture, so you can see what others say about the board ya want😛

I would still say bigger psu, or maybe dual psu's🙂 I would go antec, one of their true power series, for 78$ newegg has a 430watt true power. Don't skimp on the psu, it is one of the longest lasting investments.

As for motherboards, not sure what ya want to spend, newegg has the epox EP-8K9A2 for 125$

The board features:
CPU Supported: AMD Athlon/Athlon XP/Duron
Chipset: Apollo KT400 Chipset
FSB: 266MHz
IDE: 2x E/IDE Ultra DMA/133
RAID IDE: 2x Highpoint HPT372 UDMA/ATA 133 RAID
RAM: 4x DDR SDRAM PC2700, 4GB Max
Slots: 1x AGP(8x), 6x PCI
Ports: 2x PS/2 Mouse/Keyboard, 2x Serial, 4x USB
Onboard Audio: Realtek ALC650 6-channel full-duplex integrated sound
Supported Serial ATA
Onboard LAN
 
If you want to stick with MSI go for a kt3 ultra 2, I have one with my 1600+ AGOIA 0213 overclocked to 166fsb with no problems...I also have a 300w PSU Generic with generic pc2100 RAM @ pc2700..you may have to up the voltage on the cpu and ram though...It is most definetley the mobo's problem and running your pci/agp out of spec, don't listen to the people telling you to buy a PSU, just get the new mobo and test it out yourself.
 
Originally posted by: Necrolezbeast
If you want to stick with MSI go for a kt3 ultra 2, I have one with my 1600+ AGOIA 0213 overclocked to 166fsb with no problems...I also have a 300w PSU Generic with generic pc2100 RAM @ pc2700..you may have to up the voltage on the cpu and ram though...It is most definetley the mobo's problem and running your pci/agp out of spec, don't listen to the people telling you to buy a PSU, just get the new mobo and test it out yourself.
Click to expand...

btw, what else do you have in that system?

my 300 watts is currently supporting:

80gb hdd
two cd drives
xp 1600+
motherboard
2x256mb crucial pc2100 ram
geforce4 ti4200 128mb ram
nic
tv tuner
sound card
floppy


one of the guys above says that the gf4 needs a lot of juice. do u have a gf4?
 
Wanna hear something odd?
I bought a PNY ti4200 and put it in my duron 800@933 system on a Epox 8KTA3 KT133A motherboard. on my "ever power" 250 watt (135 for 3.3 and 5v) it would die after 4 seconds of unreal tournament 2k3. So i got a 350 Raidmax, and it worked fine. Then i upgraded to an 8K5A2+ KT333 board and an XP 1600+ that i run at 1.74 ghz. the Raidmax PS crapped out on me and i threw the 250 back in the mix. so far it's runnin just fine, even in power-hungry UT2k3. now is that odd or what...
 
I guess I'll be the only 1 to suggest this board.....Check out the Soyo KT-400 dragon boards. Fsb can go as high as 255!! Great for future cpu's. The agp: pci doesn't lock, but if your cpu will do 166, there will be no problems. The divider goes to /6...very nice. AGP 8X compatible, ddr-400(backwards compatible), onboard highpoint raid controller, and it is roomy enough for my PAL8045. I love this board and highly recommend it. They are running a deal with Mushkin, so you get a coupon for good savings on the best RAM manufacturer (IMO). Say what you want folks, but my 512mb stick of Mush. pc-3200 will do 456@2-4-2-2. I hope I at least broadened your scope on mobos. 😎
 
Originally posted by: Blain
I really like my Epox 8K5A3+. Even though it's a KT333 MB, it adjusts the APG and PCI bus down to normal levels while running a 166MHz FSB. 😀
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Happy with my 8k5a series board too!

I have the Epox 8k5a2+. Main difference between it and the 3+ is it doesn't have as many raid channels. I believe the 8k5a2 has no raid channels.

I would suggest any of the 8k5a series boards.
 
Originally posted by: CamNeely
I guess I'll be the only 1 to suggest this board.....Check out the Soyo KT-400 dragon boards. Fsb can go as high as 255!! Great for future cpu's. The agp: pci doesn't lock, but if your cpu will do 166, there will be no problems. The divider goes to /6...very nice. AGP 8X compatible, ddr-400(backwards compatible), onboard highpoint raid controller, and it is roomy enough for my PAL8045. I love this board and highly recommend it. They are running a deal with Mushkin, so you get a coupon for good savings on the best RAM manufacturer (IMO). Say what you want folks, but my 512mb stick of Mush. pc-3200 will do 456@2-4-2-2. I hope I at least broadened your scope on mobos. 😎
Click to expand...

so what is this coupon u have?
 
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