What are your opinions about an Epox 8KTA3?

[NateSLC]

I have an AMD Athlon 850 system with an Epox 8KTA motherboard. It does not have any clock multiplier switches or BIOS options. The only O/C option I have is to up the FSB (which I was able to get to 112 with my Duron 600, but creates an unstable system if I overclock at all w/ my Athlon 850).

I like the Epox motherboards, especially for the price. However, my system does crash a couple times a day if I'm doing much multi-tasking. I've kind of narrowed the crashes down to the stability of the board. Is the 8KTA3's stability significantly improved from the original 8KTA? Are the new Asus boards worth the price premium?

Any advice would be appreciated!

 

[Dulanic]

The EPoX should be stable, even a poor quality board shouldnt crash that much (I'm not implying EPoX is poor quality either, they are decent). IMO yes an Asus board is worth the extra money.... for the premium you pay what can you buy? Half a tank of gas maybe?

 

[NateSLC]

I hear a lot of good things about Asus, but have never tried them. I guess I'm hesitant to jump brands because I've been burned by the hype machine before. Maybe what I should really ask what people's experiences with the Epox 8KTA3 has been, then I'll know if I'm ready to jump ship.

 

[randomlinh]

build a system for a friend of mine. doin the 975mhz dance@133fsb. The cpu should hit 1ghz (it's from compwiz), but the cooler on there is a taisol... i'm pretty sure it's a heat related issue, cause we can get into 1ghz, but if we try to do something, bsod'd.

 

[NateSLC]

<< build a system for a friend of mine. doin the 975mhz dance@133fsb. The cpu should hit 1ghz (it's from compwiz), but the cooler on there is a taisol... i'm pretty sure it's a heat related issue, cause we can get into 1ghz, but if we try to do something, bsod'd. >>



Huh?

 

[Dulanic]

<< I guess I'm hesitant to jump brands because I've been burned by the hype machine before. >>



Asus has to be one of if not the best brand overall out there. Noone will deny that, on other platforms where others have failed to make a stable MB, Asus has basically always sucedded.

What was considered one of if not the best AMD Irongate chipset board? Asus
Intel 850? Asus P4T
Intel 815? Asus CUSL2
Heck even all the way back to Socket 7... Asus P5A was considered one of the best.

There are always good boards out there, but Asus is by far the most consistent... noone can deny that.

I may sound like a Asus zealot, But what I say is true. And BTW Im not a Asus zealot... Ive used other brands before, and will probably do so in the future. But in many years Asus has yet to let me down thats for sure.

 

[Mandlf]

I have the 8KTA3 and I love it. This is my first EPoX board. I did a lot of research when I bought it and I heard good things about Asus (and others like Soltek.) I went for it because there happened to be a sh*t load of reviews for it just as I was shopping and they were all very positive. I find it very stable, easy to use and a good performer. I'm running a TBird 900 @ 1ghz (7x133) and it rocks. I find their tech support unusually responsive also. If you are into heavy OC'ing you may be disappointed becuase above 133 FSB there are not 1x increments, but for my humble purposes I does very well.

 

[Killrose]

I love mine. And I've tried all kinds of multipliers/bus speeds. I've run mine at 155MHz as well, stable. I like it, though it lacks 1MHz increments for extreme overclocking, But that is just a bios away....

 

[goggleax]

I researched a lot and ended up selling my MSI Pro2A for this Epox. It is every bit as good as the MSI. Setup was simple and the board is rock solid! IMHO EPOX is THE best bang for the buck available, so many people jump on the hype (MSI/Abit) myself included. I hated both Abit boards I had, well actually the KT7 Raid wasn't bad but the BP6 was more like an old Harley, lots of tinkering to keep it performing well.

Anyway back to the point, Epox's are great boards this is my third one and it's funny because I try the other boards but keep coming back to Epox.
They aren't THE fatsest, but I'd say most folks would be pretty hard pressed to show you any sort of real time difference between the 8KTA3 and the Asus or Abit boards.

By the way, my other system runs a MSI Pro2(no-A).

Good Luck.

 

[NateSLC]

Great!

I have been happy with Epox, and their web support has been wonderful. Sounds like the 8KTA3 is a winner! Especially for the price. I know Asus does well, however, I think if you do a search on this forum, there's more trauma over the A7V than the 8KTA, or at least as much. Food for thought, Asus followers!

Thanks for all the input everyone.

 

[Cyberclix]

I have been using several versions of Epox boards for 3+yrs. They are stable with decent overclocking potential. Good layout, good support and bios upgrades, very solid boards. Not always the flashiest but I will settle for stability and good price

 

[webmonkey8888]

I'm going to build a computer in a few weeks. Do u recommend an Asus or the Epox?

 

[Biggs]

As of right now, I'd go with the Asus.

 

[RacerX]

I am really pleased with my Epox 8KTA3 (got rid of my MSI K7T-pro2a for it)
With the voltage all the way up (core and I/O) I am running a Duron 600 @ 1050 (150fsb)
It never crashes even playing Counterstrike for like 3 hours straight or looping Unreal forever.
Maybe I got lucky on this particular board but I never expected 150fsb. I was hoping for the best of 7 x 143 (1001) then realized there was no 143fsb and next higher was 145/150 so I just tried those.
I guess that would be a minor complaint is the fsb's don't go up in increments of 1, but otherwise I have no complaints about this board at all. Plus it was only $124 shipped when I bought it a month ago and the Asus was selling for about $40 more

 

[KevinH]

I just got the epox today in fact. Unfortunately, my ram is either shoddy or something's wrong but lowering the multiplier and jumping to 133 isn't working. Barring that my 950 is @ 1113 right now. What a sad, pitiful overclock ...me so sad. I must this thing is absolutely rock solid. Playing mp3's and looping 3mark all morning without a hitch.

 

[ErikaeanLogic]

I've got 2 and I love 'em!

 

[CichliSuite]

The 133 boot problem is common to all KT133a boards. It has to do with the default voltage level - All boot ups run at the Cpu defaults (which results in insufficient voltage to run at 133mhz) before shifting to Bios settings. Connect your L7 bridges and you'll boot at a default of 1.85v which will allow you to run at 133 and beyond with no problem.

Not the board's fault!

 

[Regalk]

Now why the heck did Dulanic stick his neck out and mention the P5A? That board should have been sent to the dumpster from day 1 - Ali was a disaster from day 1. The Via chipset is the recommended SS7 board e.g. Epox MVP3G2. Anyways thats history now.