Which Athlon XP board to get, also what Heatsink + fan!!!

[gsethi]

Hello

I am wondering as to which Athlon XP board to get ? I want the best bang for my buck.

I will be using a:
AMD Athlon 1600+ (AGOIA Y stepping - will be overclocking it)
Samsung DDR 333 512 MB Memory (oc's to DDR 400 easily)

Heres what i need:
DDR 333 support (higher with overclocking)
PCI/AGP Bus lock
USB 2.0
Raid (Highpoint preferred)
Onboard Lan (preferred, not necessary, i have a spare nic card though)


It seems like KT 333 chipset is the best solution right now but what about KT 400 ?
Also, which board to get, Epox, MSI, Asus, Gigabyte ? and what model numbers ?
Highest i am looking around to spend is ~$125.

thanks

 

[Technonut]

I would suggest the EPoX 8K5A2+. It is very stable, overclocks well, and is a great performer. It is a bargain IMO at $115 shipped. (Newegg)

EDIT: 8K5A2+ Specs

 

[Insane3D]

I second the 8K5A2+, except Mwave has it for $101.

PCI/AGP Bus lock

No Athlon boards have this feature..

 

[gsethi]

just wondering, does the Epox 8k5a2+ has a 1/6 divider for overclocking beyond 166 mhz fsb ?
also, whats the difference between 8k5a2+ and 8k5a3+ ?

also, can you guys tell me what heatsink and fan to get ? i am going to overclock, so will need a nice hsf but one thats not too loud. Volcano 6+ (7500 rpm fan) is loud for me...something quiter..

thanks

 

[Technonut]

No... The only AMD board that I know of with the 1/6 divider is the IWill XP333/R. I am running my 8K5A2+ with the FSB @ 214.26 / 1928.35 MHz (WCPUID) 100% stable.

As far as HSFs are concerned, I am behind on the latest, greatest performer. About everything I have now is watercooled. 😉 I just use stock HSFs for my customer builds since those systems are under warranty and not OC'ed.

EDIT: The difference between the 8K5A2+ and 8K5A3+ is that the 3+ sports the Highpoint 374 RAID controller that has 4 RAID ports along with 2 ATA100/133 IDE ports.

 

[gsethi]

thanks for the info guys. Seems like i will be getting an Epox 8k5 a2+ or 8k5a3+..

now, i just need a recommendation for a decent heatsink and fan. Looking to spend ~$20 shipped for one that should be good enough for upto 2200+ speeds since i will be oc'ing my 1600+ upto its max.

right now, i am leaning towards the GC68 w/ a good performing 80 mm fan. any other recommendations ?

thanks