Hello All,
I wanted to share my experiences with building my own T'bird athlon system so others can perhaps learn from some of my tribulations.
Here are the specs of my final working system:
Abit KT7
Athlon 1ghz Thunderbird processor -->oc'ed to 1.15ghz
256MB 128x2 Crucial PC133 CAS 2 model #CT16M64S4D7E SDRAM
Visiontek Geforce 2 GTS -32MB
Seagate Cheetah 18XL -9GB
Western Digital 136RTLBA 7200rpm ATA -13.6GB
Tekram 390U2W LVD SCSI controller
Monster Sound II MX300 w/Roland Sound Canvas daughterboard
NetGear 10/100 NIC
Kenwood x72 True-X
Pioneer DVD Slot
Iomega SCSI Zip
Palo-Alto PA600 ATX case w/Sunon 80mm front & 92mm rear fans
Antex 300Watt P/S AMD approved
OS=Win98 SE
Notes:
1)Linysys Rev2.0 10/100 NIC would install, but would hang network neighborhood. Tried many slots and IRQ combos with latest drivers and it never worked. --Replaced with Netgear 10/100 and Net access worked flawlessly. A 2nd, generic 10/100 exhibited similar behavior to the linksys.
2)Monster sound II MX300 drivers would hard-lock system in games, and intermitantly otherwise. Following a tip, I used the Vortex 2 reference drivers available at:
http://www.vortexofsound.com/drivers/drv_v29x.htm
Don't even try to install the Diamond drivers!
3)Drivers:
VIA 4-in-1 =leaked 425a
USB Filter Fix =1.08 from VIA
Geforce 2 =leaked detonator 6.35
Monster Sound II =Vortex 2 -ver 2048
NetGear =install floppy drivers
Tekram SCSI =Microsoft drivers--could use Tekram's too
Order of Install:
Win98
Partition Magic--backed up install
VIA 4-in-1
USB Fix
DirectX 7a
Geforce Drivers
Net Drivers
Sound Drivers
I did the install with the "setup /p i" option. This installs without ACPI. The first install had many lockup issues, probably due to the 2 incompatibilities above. I therefore cannot be sure if not installing ACPI improved stability or not.
Additional notes:
1)I originally had some PC133 RAM, that although Athlon gauranteed, was not CAS 2. I replaced this RAM with the Crucial CAS 2 memory. This allowed me to turn on ALL of the speed options in the BIOS with full stability. This has translated into a 10% speed increase in Unreal Tournament, a known CPU and memory bandwidth limited game. Thats a better increase than a received from going from 1ghz to 1.15!!
2)1.85v required for overclock.
This system can run Unreal Tournament AND stability test simulaneously for 12+ hours (until I end the tasks myself).
-Reapin
I wanted to share my experiences with building my own T'bird athlon system so others can perhaps learn from some of my tribulations.
Here are the specs of my final working system:
Abit KT7
Athlon 1ghz Thunderbird processor -->oc'ed to 1.15ghz
256MB 128x2 Crucial PC133 CAS 2 model #CT16M64S4D7E SDRAM
Visiontek Geforce 2 GTS -32MB
Seagate Cheetah 18XL -9GB
Western Digital 136RTLBA 7200rpm ATA -13.6GB
Tekram 390U2W LVD SCSI controller
Monster Sound II MX300 w/Roland Sound Canvas daughterboard
NetGear 10/100 NIC
Kenwood x72 True-X
Pioneer DVD Slot
Iomega SCSI Zip
Palo-Alto PA600 ATX case w/Sunon 80mm front & 92mm rear fans
Antex 300Watt P/S AMD approved
OS=Win98 SE
Notes:
1)Linysys Rev2.0 10/100 NIC would install, but would hang network neighborhood. Tried many slots and IRQ combos with latest drivers and it never worked. --Replaced with Netgear 10/100 and Net access worked flawlessly. A 2nd, generic 10/100 exhibited similar behavior to the linksys.
2)Monster sound II MX300 drivers would hard-lock system in games, and intermitantly otherwise. Following a tip, I used the Vortex 2 reference drivers available at:
http://www.vortexofsound.com/drivers/drv_v29x.htm
Don't even try to install the Diamond drivers!
3)Drivers:
VIA 4-in-1 =leaked 425a
USB Filter Fix =1.08 from VIA
Geforce 2 =leaked detonator 6.35
Monster Sound II =Vortex 2 -ver 2048
NetGear =install floppy drivers
Tekram SCSI =Microsoft drivers--could use Tekram's too
Order of Install:
Win98
Partition Magic--backed up install
VIA 4-in-1
USB Fix
DirectX 7a
Geforce Drivers
Net Drivers
Sound Drivers
I did the install with the "setup /p i" option. This installs without ACPI. The first install had many lockup issues, probably due to the 2 incompatibilities above. I therefore cannot be sure if not installing ACPI improved stability or not.
Additional notes:
1)I originally had some PC133 RAM, that although Athlon gauranteed, was not CAS 2. I replaced this RAM with the Crucial CAS 2 memory. This allowed me to turn on ALL of the speed options in the BIOS with full stability. This has translated into a 10% speed increase in Unreal Tournament, a known CPU and memory bandwidth limited game. Thats a better increase than a received from going from 1ghz to 1.15!!
2)1.85v required for overclock.
This system can run Unreal Tournament AND stability test simulaneously for 12+ hours (until I end the tasks myself).
-Reapin
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