On Thursday 29 November 2001 05:37 pm, Alan Wilter Sousa da Silva
wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I'm still looking for a proper mobo to run Athlon 1.4Ghz + DDR
> mem, however I don't have many options. I would like to know from
> your experience if all asus mobo A7?266 has the "clock bug"
> (related to Winbond), or just some has the bug. Actually, I cannot
> accept a 15-40min delay per day in my computers.
> Here in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, is quite hard to find up-to-date
> hardware, mobos almost only from Asus, so others brands could take
> too much time to appear and I cannot wait much. So if I buy an
> A7?266 mobo, what are my chances to get the "clock bug"? 100%? Or
> can I be luck enough to get a bug-free one?
The 'clock bug', VIA-IDE issues, SB Live! and other PCI issues
aren't necessarily inherent to the chipsets used on the motherboards
(which, BTW affect the latest Intel based systems just as much). Any
chip ever made has errata associated with it. Most all Tbird boards
use VIA, and/or AMD, and yes, the Winbond chipsets. Just as, if not
more important is the engineering, design and quality of the
motherboard in general, and particularly the trace layout and PCB
implementation.
While AMD never says why they recommend some boards and not
others, I believe engineering, design and quality are paramount. More
so than the chipsets they use. In the case of Asus, it's pretty much
common knowledge that their once superior quality, has been
sacrificed some in recent years, mostly due to economic pressure and
competition. They've also started disappearing from AMD's
recommended list, as did the Abit's.
Still if you can't get an AMD recommended board for that 1.4
Tbird, I wouldn't hesitate go with an Asus. MSI and Epox would also
be good choices, even Biostar or Gigabyte (but most of those are AMD
apprv'd ;) There's several things you can do to ensure stability, no
matter what board you get, or even if you overclock.
Make sure you can increase Vcore (cpu) and IO (ram) voltages, or
that they're supplied a little over default on the board you choose.
That's long been possible with an Asus board, so it shouldn't be a
problem. Run the Tbird at 1.82 to 1.85V, and if you can run the IO at
3.4 to 3.7V. (both 1.85 and 3.7 are on the high end acceptable spec,
and _will_ provide increased stability)
Next is environment. You must move a lot of air thru the case.
These high wattage, high Ghz cpu's generate a lot of heat, as do the
high performance video cards and power supplies to go with 'em.
Keepin case temps at or near room temperature is foremost. Any
inexpensive heatsink/fan will do just as well as the touted, fancy
expensive, gimicky hs/fans ... any of them will need you to provide
proper case ventilation.
Next, but not least is power. You will need a high quality power
supply, at least 300w, preferably again one that is AMD approved. Pay
more attention to model numbers, as PS's are often marketed under
several brand names. EG, I have a Powerman PS, but it has the same
model number, is the same unit as the one Sparkle makes, and is AMD
approved for the 1.4 Tbird.
To go along with the power supply, you should ensure that it gets
the right power. For this you need an UPS. I recommend an APC. I'm
not stickin my neck out here ... APC is widely recognized as the best.
I bought a BackUPS 500 several years ago for $120. I have no dea what
they are now or what you can get one for in Brazil.
All this said, I've been runnin a 1.4 Tbird oc'd to 1.55 Ghz for
many months now, on a Soyo K7VTA Pro. AMD apprv'd, but it's an SDRAM
board, not what you're looking for. If you could get your hands on a
Soyo Dragon+, well then I'd think you'd have the best of what you
want. I have had absolutely no VIA, IDE, or 'clock' problems. Not
even the hint of any, even tho my cpu, and FSB are overclocked, and I
run my IDE HDD's at udma5 -ata100 ;)
Once you get it all together, if you can run 'memtest86', 'mprime
(torture test), and cpuburn's 'burnK7' on it with -0- errors, and
keepin the cpu temperature under 55°C max .... Then I doubt you'll
ever have a hardware related problem with the system other than years
of wear'n tear.
--
Tom Brinkman Galveston Bay, USA
Want to buy your Pack or Services from MandrakeSoft?
Go to http://www.mandrakestore.com
