Wait for Epox 8RDA3+ or what's best NOW?

[bupkus]

What the best mobo for my (2) OCZ PC3500EL 256=512MB memory modules?
Was gonna get the 8RDA+ but...

Wanna run my XP2100+ Thoughbred 'B' all with a fsb of 200/400.
Best board for me? Sound? yah, 2 or 3 speakers. Lan? yah, cable. Dual boot XP/RedHat.

Whadda yah think?

 

[chibchakan]

Bump, cause I wanna know too.

 

[bupkus]

Finally a reference on Epox's local website to their new 8RDA3+ mainboard in banner ad.

Epox.com

 

[Sheriff]

FYI it's been on Epox German Site for months ...I've been waiting, best now is probably the Abit Rev 2.0

 

[chibchakan]

I decided to buy one of the new 8RDA+ from Newegg. The 8RDA3+ isn't worth the wait.

 

[ianching]

bupkus,
If you just want 200FSB straight out of the box and don't need the added feature of 8RDA3+, get the latest 8RDA or 8RDA+, they now have the newer A1/C1 chipset stepping which runs at 200FSB without any mod, but then you probably have to hand pick your board.

 

[bupkus]

Originally posted by: ianching
bupkus,
If you just want 200FSB straight out of the box and don't need the added feature of 8RDA3+, get the latest 8RDA or 8RDA+, they now have the newer A1/C1 chipset stepping which runs at 200FSB without any mod, but then you probably have to hand pick your board.

I got one here in a box waitin for my friend's hsf. Can I tell what stepping there is by just looking at the board?

 

[ianching]

Just glance through the northbridge heatsink (or just uninstall the heatsink), if it has the same old aluminium heatspreader, then it's the older A2/A3 stepping. If what you see is all black, then it's the newest A1 (aka C1) stepping!!!

Or you can also fire up the board and run WCPUID to check for the chipset revision, older ones will say A2 while the newer one will be reported as C1.

Also, you could also check out the week number on the southbridge, if it also says A1 on it, there's a high probability the northbridge is of the A1 stepping as well.

 

[bupkus]

Originally posted by: ianching
Just glance through the northbridge heatsink (or just uninstall the heatsink), if it has the same old aluminium heatspreader, then it's the older A2/A3 stepping. If what you see is all black, then it's the newest A1 (aka C1) stepping!!!

Or you can also fire up the board and run WCPUID to check for the chipset revision, older ones will say A2 while the newer one will be reported as C1.

Also, you could also check out the week number on the southbridge, if it also says A1 on it, there's a high probability the northbridge is of the A1 stepping as well.

What the southbridge chip says is FB3327 . 1 0306A3
Does that mean it's 2003 week 6? And what's an 'A3'? Thanks, Newegg!

 

[m1ke101]

Originally posted by: bupkus

Originally posted by: ianching Just glance through the northbridge heatsink (or just uninstall the heatsink), if it has the same old aluminium heatspreader, then it's the older A2/A3 stepping. If what you see is all black, then it's the newest A1 (aka C1) stepping!!! Or you can also fire up the board and run WCPUID to check for the chipset revision, older ones will say A2 while the newer one will be reported as C1. Also, you could also check out the week number on the southbridge, if it also says A1 on it, there's a high probability the northbridge is of the A1 stepping as well.

What the southbridge chip says is FB3327 . 1 0306A3 Does that mean it's 2003 week 6? And what's an 'A3'? Thanks, Newegg!

Too bad, you got the older stepping. When did you get the board?

 

[bupkus]

Too bad, you got the older stepping. When did you get the board?

From Newegg,
Your Sales Order Date is:4/2/2003 12:43:26 AM
Shipping Date: 04/02/2003

It's not too late to return.
However, it's going into my friends pc and he's gonna run it at fsb 333 and his HyperX PC3000 UNLESS... hmm.
Would you return it for a Soltek nforce2? or just for another 8RDA+?
CPU: XP 2100+ TBred 'B' so he's thinking of overclocking, but his hs is a Thermalright SK-7 with a Zalman F1 fan.

 

[m1ke101]

Ah, if thats the case, I wouldn't worry too much about it. It should be fine at the speeds that you want to run it at. The reason that people want the new a1/c1 stepping on the northbridge is because it is much more likely that you'll get at least 200fsb with it. Many people have had problems hitting 200fsb with the a3 core, but since you only want to run it at 166, you should be good to go. You may even get lucky and be able to hit 200.

 

[bupkus]

What the .... is happening with Epox??? I thought the 8RDA3+ was to be released mid-April. I've had my OCZ PC3500el sitting in a box for 5 weeks for this damn board.
I should just order the 8RDA+ and the h... with it.
Da.n epox! I need chocolate.

 

[MARMADUKE]

that is a C1 NB ya got there!..
look in the manual section 2 page 1 and it will say crush 18D chipset!

 

[bupkus]

Originally posted by: chibchacan
I decided to buy one of the new 8RDA+ from Newegg. The 8RDA3+ isn't worth the wait.

Smart move. I've waited and now if my OCZ PC3500el doesn't perform as hoped I'm stuck past my 30 day return window.

Anyhoo, here's the latest.
EPOX