So...new Athy 64 board then....?

[Mattsky]

Hi folks,

I'm new to this forum. (what a well-informed bunch you lot are). So hello from London.
Down to business...

I've just got my mitts on an Athy 64 3200 and have been doing quite a bit of rsearch on what 754 board to stick it in - an am still no closer to making a decision than I was 3 weeks ago....

Basically, it's the battle between the VIA K8T800 Pro chipset or the Nvidia nForce3 250GB chipset.

Bearing in mind on-board sound isn't that important (I have a SBlaster Live! Plat 5.1 anyway) and that I have a Radeon 9800XT (no problems withthe Nvidia chipset, right?), I'd like the possibility to OC the board, so I guess a working lock would be good. 1000MHz HyperTransport bus would be nice, I suppose. (Do the 754 boards support this - I'm not sure....)

So do we favour the Nvidia or VIA way....? It's a shootout between Abit's KV8 Pro or the Asus K8Ne Deluxe I guess. (Though I haven't found a review on the latter)! Anyone any opinion on either? Or am I barking up the wrong tree with either of these...?

Thanks for any thoughts, folks.

 

[o1die]

Tom's hardware guide did an article about a month ago, comparing socket 754 boards with different brands of memory. Some newer boards are not included, but it still might help you make a good choice, and determine which brand of memory you'll need.

 

[Mattsky]

Cheers, oldie. I've had a good gander at that one. Very useful, but like you say, it doesn't include the newer boards (as I recall, some of the locks weren't functional on the VIA boards...or that may have been another review article) However, that's a good place to start, and the memory advice is great.

 

[imported_MrMorden]

I could also use some info on this...I plan to do a A64 3200+ system soon for gaming...I need to know what MBs and memory will give me the best bang for the buck.

 

[Mattsky]

Yup, gaming's my priority too
Let me know if you find any useful info out, MrMorden!

 

[csrx]

Best bang for your buck (in terms of motherboards) would be the brand new Asus K8V Se Deluxe I'm selling in the "for Sale/trade" forum for $80 shipped! =)

Originally posted by: MrMorden
I could also use some info on this...I plan to do a A64 3200+ system soon for gaming...I need to know what MBs and memory will give me the best bang for the buck.

 

[Mattsky]

Nice opportunistic sell there, csrx

However, now I'm seriously looking at the Epox 8KDA3J or the 8KDA3+

They've had some good reviews.

Looks like the difference between the 2 is the lack of RAID support on the 'J'. If I'm right.....

 

[jkresh]

asus k8n-e is out now, similar in price to the more expensive epox, and has more features, plus asus name.

 

[Mattsky]

...ah heck. Yet another contender. Cheers for the heads up jkresh......any reviews around....? Seem scarce......anyone heard anything? *sob*

 

[bucd]

Epox 8KDA3J or the 8KDA3+


I would go with the 8KDA3J. You only get some extra SATA connectors, IEEE 1394 and a screwdriver with some small memory heatsinks with the +, i dont' think that's worth the $50-$60 extra.

I have my on order from newegg and should be here Monday.

I can't wait.

-D

 

[Mattsky]

Yeah, good point, bucd. Well, I guess it's the Epox 8KDA3J or the Abit Kt800 Pro. (If the latter actually has a working PCI/AGP lock and ratios for the CPU).

Be good to know what your first impressions of the 8KDA3J are.....

 

[grohl]

I researched this topic for a while. Based somewhat on the Anand review of the MSI K8 Neo Platinum, this is the one I chose. Firewire was something I wanted natively, so this was the way to go for me. Also because it seems to have a reliable AGP lock.

Before purchase, I was swayed on the hot deal forum for a ASUS K8V(sock 939) and 3500+ combo for a good deal. That's what's coming in the mail this week.

Good luck!

 

[AMDScooter]

I researched this topic for a while. Based somewhat on the Anand review of the MSI K8 Neo Platinum, this is the one I chose. Firewire was something I wanted natively, so this was the way to go for me. Also because it seems to have a reliable AGP lock.

I had owned the MSI K8N Neo Plat./ GF3 250 board. It OC'd great and has a nice feature set, but online gaming with a ATI video card was suck(9800 Pro). Massive video studdering, still no fix or even admittance from MSI that there is a proble. Take a look at the MSI forums. I'm looking at the Abit KV8 Pro as a replacement but need to be sure I can get my hands on a v1.1 board as the v1.0 PCI/AGP lock seems to be hit and miss... my2c

 

[jkresh]

for anyone having problems with the msi or any nforce3 board and an ati card, go back to the drivers from the motherboard instead of nvidias newest chipset drivers, havnet tired the 4.27 but the 4.24 definitely caused problems.

 

[AyashiKaibutsu]

I ordered a Asus K8n-e and it will be at my home on tuesday.... My BFG GT (ordered the same day from different place) comes monday... *Throws out hands looks up and shouts "NEWEGG!"* I can tell you if it runs satisfactorily then

 

[cheapherk]

My Chaintech VNF3-250 is wonderful and not too expensive.

 

[Shimmishim]

i have the epox 8kda3j and it's a great board!

the vcore and vdimm options are a little limited (1.7 vcore and 2.8 vdimm)....

but i don't know how high of an overclock you are shooting for....

as for a 1000 mhz HTT....

it's possible but it may not be stable...

the highest i've been able to run on this board (and i'm pretty sure i was ram limited) was 245 x 4 = 980

others have been able to run over 250 stable which would give you that 1000 you are looking for

epox has great support and releases new bioses to help out performance or compatibility....


and you are right about the difference between the + and the J versions... + has ability to do raid with IDE's as well

 

[Ariste]

Mattsky,

I am in the hunt for a socket 754 mobo too. Right now, I'm leaning towards the Epox 8KDA3J. The board seems to be great for overclocking (although I'm not sure how limiting the 1.7 vcore and 2.8 vdimm limits are) and otherwise pretty stable board. I am going with the "J" version because I really don't need the 2 extra SATA connectors or firewire.

This article was done by AnandTech a little while back. It's a great comparison of the socket 754 boards, although it doesn't have the Asus K8N-E. Still a good read though.

If you plan on overclocking, I wouldn't go with the K8N-E... I think that in order to unlock the vcore, HTT, and multiplier settings you have to enable Cool N' Quiet, which can limit your overclocking.

Also, Shimmishim, I have a question:

What exactly are the vcore and vdimm mods for the 8KDA3J? I plan on overclocking my 3400+, but I don't know how limiting the 1.7 vcore and 2.8 vdimm settings will be, so maybe those two mods would be a good idea.

 

[User5]

Im thinking about going with the new Asus board that just came out, despite it being butt ugly

The thing is, I have been tearing my hair out (or whats left of it) trying to figure out what motherboard to go with. But it seems like the second I have my heart set on getting one, I hear a bunch of problems. Then a couple of good things, then a couple bad things. Then I start thinkning about another mobo, and the same thing happens. For example, I originally wanted the MSI K8N Neo But I am hearing WAY too many problems about this board which is making it really hard to consider. I dont play any offline games, all I play is online games! So stuff like that isnt going to cut it for me! Same with the false temp readings and other random problems people seem to be having with this board.

Maybe Ill wait until the new Asus gets more popular and see how people like it, if not I think I may even just buy a last gen mobo like the K8N Deluxe from Asus, or MSI FIS2R, because atleast they have been around for longer and arent in such beta-like stages like the MSI board is.

 

[Shimmishim]

Originally posted by: Ariste

Also, Shimmishim, I have a question:

What exactly are the vcore and vdimm mods for the 8KDA3J? I plan on overclocking my 3400+, but I don't know how limiting the 1.7 vcore and 2.8 vdimm settings will be, so maybe those two mods would be a good idea.

there are just mods to allow you to get to higher vcores and vdimm

2.8 is very limiting for vdimm so there is mod to jack up the voltage

mine is setable between 3.2 to 3.5 for vdimm

and my vcore is 1.6 is 1.77 on load...

but vcore goes up on load for some reason...

1.6 goes to 1.7ish on load w/o the mod

 

[Mattsky]

Cheers for that, Ariste and other folk. I'm now leaning towards the Epox 8KDA3J too. More RAM memory slots, but perhaps not as good as an overclocker as the Abit KV8 Pro. Cheese or peas, really, innit. They're both great boards (providing you get the 1.1 ver of the Abit board). The K8n-e I suspect will be great too, but more pricey.
I too have been mulling this over for weeks......sheeeesh.........

I've a Radeon 9800XT. I'm wondering whether it'd be better on the Abit (with the VIA chipset) or the Epox? (With the Nvidia chipset). From what I can gather, there's no advantage to either board, though there's supposedly a performance advantage if you have an Nvidia card married to an Nvidia chipset, but I've never seen any confirmation of this.

Oh, another thing - memory. Thinking of a Gig of this cheeky little stuff: OCZ 3500 DDR

http://content.guru3d.com/article/review/16/1

 

[Mattsky]

Pah! Right! That's it!

I'm going for the KV8 Pro.


All the new boards should be the 1.1 version with working locks now. I reckon they're faster than the Epox which has had good, but not great OC'ing results.
I like the idea of the uGuru overclocking chip on the KV8. Only having 2 RAM slots is a pain, but I'll get 2x250mb sticks and maybe replace one with a 1Gig stick in a year or so....

 

[Ariste]

Originally posted by: Shimmishim

Originally posted by: Ariste

Also, Shimmishim, I have a question:

What exactly are the vcore and vdimm mods for the 8KDA3J? I plan on overclocking my 3400+, but I don't know how limiting the 1.7 vcore and 2.8 vdimm settings will be, so maybe those two mods would be a good idea.

there are just mods to allow you to get to higher vcores and vdimm

2.8 is very limiting for vdimm so there is mod to jack up the voltage

mine is setable between 3.2 to 3.5 for vdimm

and my vcore is 1.6 is 1.77 on load...

but vcore goes up on load for some reason...

1.6 goes to 1.7ish on load w/o the mod

No no, that's not what I meant. I know what the mods
do, I just don't know how to do the mods. Like what would I have to change on my board to do the mods?

Thanks for your help with this, Shimmishim.

Also, just to torture you a little bit more, Mattsky...

There's a new DFI Infinity board for socket 754 which is supposedly coming out in a few weeks. xTremeSystems.org has a sneak peak of the board. From the thread over in the forums there on it, the board apparently blows all of the other 754 boards away when it comes to overclocking. Some guy reached 425 HTT! I think that's a world record or something.

So if you are willing to wait just a little bit longer, you might want to consider getting the DFI Infinity board for overclocking.

Anyway, good luck with your new system.

 

[Mattsky]

Ahhhh, sheeeesh. *slaps head*

Just as I was about to grab that KV8......

I'll hold on and wait for further reviews....

Well, thanks for the heads up, Ariste. I think.

 

[Mattsky]

Well, I've gone for the KV8 Pro 3rd Eye. (rev 1.1) Hoh yes.