Opinoins, Best AMD Mobo for Over-Clocking "EVERYTHING" (CPU,AGP,DIMM)

[joe4324]

I'm in the market for a new mobo soon, My search has been exhaustive. I've read reviews on every mobo to come out in the last 4-6 months and I believe i'm suffering from information-overload.

Here is my criteria

1, 1 digit increments of FSB 100-200mhz
2, Vcore adjustment (preferbly to 2v+)
3, Multiplier Adjustment
4, Dimm Vcore Adjustment
5, AGP Vcore Adjustment
6, Be affordable Sub-$100

I would LOVE to have integrated LAN, but USB2.0 and fireware are not nessasary. The chipset doesnt really matter I'm assuming this will almost have to be a KT266A,KT333 part wich is fine.

the Board that is sticking out to me the most at this time, is the Soltek SL-75DRV5. It meets most of my requirements and is fairly affordable ($90ish on newegg) the AGP voltage seems to the clencher, not many boards feature it. What are you expereinces looking for these products? what do you recomend? what do you use? and what has your own research uncovered?

 

[Insane3D]

In my opinion, the Epox 8K5A2+ is excatly what you are looking for.

1. FSB speeds in 1 digit increments up to 255mhz

2. Large Vcore range in the bios, 1.4v-2.2v

3. Multiplier Adjustment in the bios

4. Dimm Voltage is Adjustable from 2.5v to 3.2v

5. No AGP Voltage Adjust (I personally don't find this very helpful on boards I have that do allow it)

6. $101 @ Mwave.

It also has the latest 8235 Southbridge which brings USB 2.0 and a upgraded 8X V-Link connection to the table. Also, this board has full support for the thermal diode of the XP.

 

[Ilmater]

Well, I can fill most of your requirements. How are these numbers for V adjustment:

VCore up to 2.0V
VDIMM up to 2.95V
VAGP up to 1.95V
VChipset up to 2.95V

Not bad, eh? That's the Chaintech Apogee 7JVL. I have found this board to be quite a nice one from a features standpoint. Take a look for yourself. However it is a bit above your price. The cheapest I could find on Pricewatch.com was here at Newegg.com for $116 shipped. It fits all of your other requirements and includes 3 rounded cables (two IDE and one floppy). Those alone would cost you the extra $16. It has integrated LAN, sound (C-Media card isn't too bad at all), and other goodies as well. Just take a look at that reivew.

Edit: By the way, this board also has the upgraded 8235 Southbridge, but I'm pretty sure that it uses its own temp sensor and doesn't use the internal diode.

 

[Insane3D]

Ilmater -

Thanks for the links and reviews. I hadn't heard of that board before, and I usually don't pay attention to the Chaintech boards. The packaging and appearance of that board are neat, although it still seems to have a few bios issues and is a little slower than the Epox, but not by anything noticeable. I really like the board coming with rounded IDE cables...very nice touch. I will have to keep an eye on how this board does...

One thing they didn't mention is if it supports the thermal diode of the XP. I consider this to be a very important feature. Also, I forgot to mention it, but the Epox has onboard LAN as well.

 

[zepper00]

From all that I have seen, it is between Abit and Epox for the OC crown. Soltek is VIAs anointed mobo mfr. I'm not sure if VIA actually bought Soltec, but there is some sort of incestuous arrangement there. The only gaming type system I have ever configured for a customer used an Abit board quite successfully. One of the keys to OC stability is keeping the PCI bus as near to 33MHz as possible. I think Asus has arranged its mobo such that the PCI is locked at 33. I'm not aware of another that does this--they all use dividers. Good luck.
.bh.

 

[Macro2]

Does the Epox use the AMD internal Diode? I think the Soltek purple Ray does. The Soltek uses dip switches but other than that it's really a good choice at $83 at newegg.

 

[Insane3D]

Originally posted by: Macro2
Does the Epox use the AMD internal Diode? I think the Soltek purple Ray does. The Soltek uses dip switches but other than that it's really a good choice at $83 at newegg.

Yes, they do. They were one of the first board makers to support it, even before Asus IIRC. They have supported it ever since the 8K3A, their first KT333 board.

 

[Insane3D]

Another Review of the 8K5A2+

 

[Ilmater]

I truly don't want to make this into a competition of the board I recommended versus the board that you recommended, but in terms of all boards that are recommended to you, I really don't think that performance of one versus another is something to worry about. I will put money down that says that nobody - and I mean nobody - can see any real-world differences between the performances of two boards based on the same chipsets, unless there are different Northbridge or Southbridge chips, which are usually reserved for entire chipset revisions (ie. KT266 - KT266A). The most difference I've ever seen between one board and another of the same chipset was ~190 3D Marks, and both boards were above 13000 Marks to begin with.

 

[Insane3D]

Originally posted by: Ilmater
I truly don't want to make this into a competition of the board I recommended versus the board that you recommended, but in terms of all boards that are recommended to you, I really don't think that performance of one versus another is something to worry about. I will put money down that says that nobody - and I mean nobody - can see any real-world differences between the performances of two boards based on the same chipsets, unless there are different Northbridge or Southbridge chips, which are usually reserved for entire chipset revisions (ie. KT266 - KT266A). The most difference I've ever seen between one board and another of the same chipset was ~190 3D Marks, and both boards were above 13000 Marks to begin with.

I agree with you. Like I said, the differences between these two boards probably doesn't translate into much if anything of a "real world" difference. The Chaintech has some of the best packaging I've seen. It looks awesome..

 

[joe4324]

Excellent!!!

Insane3D:
the Epox 8K5A2+ looks VERY promising, Its late I will read the reviews on it again tommorow (I'm sure I read some befor but I dont recall, I told you I had saturated myself! ~ ) The price is right, but I am "VERY" curious about the AGP voltage control. What have your (or anyone else that would like to speak up) experiences been with tweaking this little known adjustment? Have you tried this on some of the more budget but good vid cards out there (ti200's ti4200's and the like) and had real improvements being able to feed the card more juice?


Ilmater
That chaintech looks wonderful as well. I will read up on it more tommorow (its 1am here its a bit pricey but if it will trully satisfy my needs I could justify the cost.



I am an avid budget gamer. I love to play games but I am very fickle with my game hardware. I am using a 1600+ and a leadtek Ti200 64mb right now. I'm running a K7S5A mobo and I've reached the point were this mobo is holding me back. as much as I love it I want to truly unlock the performance of my cpu and video. and this motherboard is not the right platform for that. I indend on holding off on a Hammer system untill its first revision (2nd chipsets, whatever...) so I could be looking at another 6-8+ months and I want the board I get to be able to handle anything I throw at it pre-hammer and let me push my value components to the limit as needed.

I'm curious to hear anymore input anyone has! and thanks to all that have responded!

 

[joe4324]

Ilmater, I know it was slightly more expensive them what I had intended on spending but the packaging for that chaintech board is nothing short of Phenomial!

 

[Dulanic]

If your 1600+ is a AGOIA core (Think thats right) you should beable to just pop your 1600+ into the EPoX board and set it to 166FSB, and youll be running at 1750 and you wont even have to unlock the core. Thats what I did, tho if I ever get better memory Ill unlock and go up to 200 or more FSB. Board can handle it but my Crucial PC2100 was a bit unstable at 210 Cas 2.5 Suprised it actually even booted.

 

[Macro2]

A few questions.
I was leaning to the Soltek board but noticed it had an older version of southbridge and no 2.0.
The newer Epox 8K5A2+ and MSI KT333 Ultra 2 have newer southbridges and USB 2.0.
The Epox can read the Athlon internal diode and the MSI can't?
As far as Raid...the only reason I'd want that is to run some IDE devices on different channels.
Supposedly the MSI Raid board now disables this. Can it be done with the Epox board?

Also in the Epox what the difference between the 2+ and the 3+?

Thanks, Mac

 

[joe4324]

bump

 

[Insane3D]

the Epox 8K5A2+ looks VERY promising, Its late I will read the reviews on it again tommorow (I'm sure I read some befor but I dont recall, I told you I had saturated myself! ~ ) The price is right, but I am "VERY" curious about the AGP voltage control. What have your (or anyone else that would like to speak up) experiences been with tweaking this little known adjustment? Have you tried this on some of the more budget but good vid cards out there (ti200's ti4200's and the like) and had real improvements being able to feed the card more juice?

I have an Epox 4G4A+ for my P4 system, and it has AGP voltage adjustment. I also have a Gigabyte GA-7VRXP KT333 board with a 1800+. On the 4G4A+ I run a 128mb Radeon 8500 and on the Gigabyte system I run a AIW Radeon 7500. On both boards, boosting the AGP voltage has had no effect on the overclocking of the video cards.

I just got my 8K5A2+ today, along with a AGOIA 1600+. I plan on doing an in-depth review of it with my results in the motherboard forum. I should be building this weekend.

 

[Insane3D]

Originally posted by: Macro2
A few questions.
I was leaning to the Soltek board but noticed it had an older version of southbridge and no 2.0.
The newer Epox 8K5A2+ and MSI KT333 Ultra 2 have newer southbridges and USB 2.0.
The Epox can read the Athlon internal diode and the MSI can't?
As far as Raid...the only reason I'd want that is to run some IDE devices on different channels.
Supposedly the MSI Raid board now disables this. Can it be done with the Epox board?

Also in the Epox what the difference between the 2+ and the 3+?

Thanks, Mac

First, the newer 8235 southbridge brings a couple of things to the table. It has an updated V-Link connection between itself and the northbridge. The older 8233A southbridge had a 266mb/s V-Link connection while the 8235 has a 533mb/s V-Link connection.

The second difference over the 8233A is that the 8235 now natively supports USB 2.0. Both the 8233A and the 8235 have support for 6 USB ports, but the 8233A is 1.1 USB while the 8235 is 2.0 USB.

Now, as far as reading the internal diode, the Epox boards have been supporting the TD since the 8K3A, and the 8K5A series is no different. As far as the MSI, I'm not sure. The few reviews I've seen of it don't mention anything, but my feeling is that it probably does. I am not sure however..

Now, as for your question on RAID. The Highpoint 37X series of RAID controllers can be used both as an ATA controller and a RAID controller. Most of the newer boards that use it have three settings in the bios for it, "ATA", "RAID", or "Disabled". Choosing "ATA" makes it act like a add-in PCI IDE controller.


For your last question, please see here. I just answered this same question in that thread in the Motherboards forum.

 

[joe4324]

still curious about more info bump.

 

[joe4324]

Anyone got anything else to add or is this thread officially dead? ~