Hi Tom, Thank you very much.
I'm quite familiar to some notes that you emphasised. I also well
know how bad are Asus becoming. Soyo-K7V (Dragon+ I think) is my first
option but here it is not easy to find (and I'm not question about
price!). Another option is MSI KT266A mobo. However Via KT266A (also
present in SY-K7V) seems not to be supported by MDK 8.0 (only 8.1). This
computer it for my Lab, and it has to work uniniterruptely. We use APC
since ever. We also use big tower cases with powerful case coolers in a
very refrigerated room. We already had a bad experience with cheap
coolers. My complain about Via chipsets (that I know well from
experience) is they don't work with Zip Drive. But I won't have one on
this new computer.
Our biggest problem here is to find all desired hardware at the
same shop. If you buy here and there, shops only offers the half of the
original warranty. Anyway, I'll consult my favorite dealer about the
desired hardware and see how long he'll take to prepare it (if possible).
On Thu, 29 Nov 2001, Tom Brinkman wrote:
> 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.
>
--
-----------------------
Alan Wilter S. da Silva
-----------------------
Laboratório de Física Biológica
Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho
Universidade do Brasil/UFRJ
Rio de Janeiro, Brasil
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