Printable View
I was just looking at the specs on the EPox mobo and I noticed that it uses SDRAM instead of DDR. Also the EIDE controller is Ultra 66 not 100. Would'nt this hurt performance?
Maybe I should look at the Shuttle board instead.
Is ther only 3 mobo out with the KT266A chipset?
I think you were looking at the wrong Mobo (all the Epox boards names sound the same)
This is copied and pasted from newegg:
EPOX EP-8KHA+ VIA Apollo KT266A (VT8366A) 200/266 MHz Motherboard - For AMD & & AMD XP, Athlon and Duron Socket A.Accepts DDRAM, 3 DDR Slot,1X / 2X / 4X AGP FSB,1 AGP Slot,6 PCI Slot. Support ATA 33/66/100, 2 USB, Ver 1.3, with Sound, - Retail Box. Fedex Saver Shipping $8.00
Soooo you're saying that when I finally put my XP 1700 or 1800 on my MSI K7T266Pro-R mobo that it will be, well, quick? https://discussions.virtualdr.com/Quote:
But Motherboards using the VIA kt266a chipset smoke all the competition (including AMD chipset boards) in ALL the benchmarks. That AthlonXP with a kt266a Mobo....oh mama!!!
I guess I already pasted the correct EPOX board that shows it to be ATA 100 and using DDR ram. The Shuttle board is supposed to be very good too though (but I think the EPOX is a bit better)Quote:
Originally posted by banditcosmo:
I was just looking at the specs on the EPox mobo and I noticed that it uses SDRAM instead of DDR. Also the EIDE controller is Ultra 66 not 100. Would'nt this hurt performance?
Maybe I should look at the Shuttle board instead.
Is ther only 3 mobo out with the KT266A chipset?
To answer your other question, yes, right now there's only three mobos using kt266a available. But within weeks there will be many more. For example, ASUS should be releasing their board in North America (its already available in Europe) in a week or so. Here's the ASUS board:
http://www.asus.com/products/Motherb...6-e/index.html
What's everyones opinion of the following system:
EPOX EP-8KHA+ VIA Apollo KT266A (VT8366A) 200/266 MHz Motherboard - Socket A.Accepts DDRAM, 3 DDR Slot,1X / 2X / 4X AGP FSB,1 AGP Slot,6 PCI Slot. Support ATA 33/66/100, 2 USB, Ver 1.3, with Sound, - Retail Box.
Amd 1700+/266 FSB Athlon XP Athlon XP 1700+/ 1.47GHz, AX1700BOX, Retail Box, 3 Years Warranty.
Enermax / Antec, BLACK, 10-Bay, Enermax 330W P-4 PS, Server Tower Case ATX. 4 X 5.25" Bays, 2 X 3.5" Bays, 4 X 3.5" Hidden. Enermax EG351P VE(2 BB Fans) (AMD Recommended power supply.) 3 Fans installed. Dimensions: W205*D473*H522 (mm).(* Antec SX1030B SX1040B Case + Upgraded Enermax Power Supply *)
LEADTEK WINFAST GEFORCE2 MX SH 64MB VIDEO CARD - RETAIL 6ns SDRAM 4X AGP. Nvidia GeForce2 MX-400GPU, 3-Year MFR's Warranty.
PLEXTOR TX-W2410TA/SW 24x10x40 CD-RW - RETAIL Internal IDE Drive
LITE-ON LTD-163 SPEED - RETAIL16X DVD ROM 48X CD-ROM Access all format DVD-ROM/R/RW
Teac 1.44MB 3.5 Inch Floppy Drive
CREATIVE LABS SOUND BLASTER LIVE! 5.1 - OEM
2 x 256mb Crucial DDR PC2100 • CL=2.5 • Unbuffered • ECC • 2.5V • 32Meg x 72
Everything for $850.00 including frt.
WOW!!
That's an awesome rig!!!
That thing is gonna smoke the 1.8ghz P4 Dell (actually its gonna smoke the 2.0ghz P4 in 90% of tasks) -- and its $9 cheaper...and you got the Cadillac of CD-RWs with that 24x/10x/40x Plextor. I love my 12x/10x/32x Plextor but I gotta say I'm a bit jelous. Oh, and you also got twice as much RAM.
Couple really minor points though: you've chosen a server tower case. Nothing wrong with that -- but it will be huge. Its got 10 drive bays! Its black -- which is very cool -- but you might be happier with a standard ATX mid-tower case. Unless you want to serve a dinner for four in your case, I'd probably recommend the mid-tower. You'll probably save a few bucks too. Excellent power supply though -- make sure you keep that.
Finally, you've got $9 left over. Unless you already have one, you should spend that $9 on a NIC (if you have broadband internet) or a PCI modem (if you have dialup).
Awesome rig. Did I mention I'm jealous?
take care,
Dan.
That system looks great! I recently built my system with the Epox 8KHA (not +), and Epox makes great boards!
Oh yeah, if I were you, I would stick with the full tower case. I bought a midtower, and find I'm cramped when working on the "innards". I'm going to be upgrading to a full tower soon (Lian-Li PC70), and I can't wait for the extra space! The PSU looks good (I went with the 430 Watt Enermax).
That looks like a Newegg.com order...I got most of my components from them, and the service and prices are great!
Good luck with the new system.
------------------
Specs:
Skyhawk Aluminum case
Athlon [email protected]
Epox 8KHA mobo
768Mb Crucial PC2100 DDR
Enermax 430 Watt PSU
Win XP Pro
Acer 56x, Acer 20x10x40
2 30Gb 7200rpm WD HDD's
[This message has been edited by adam9977 (edited 11-01-2001).]
Your right adam9977 I'm ordering everything from newegg.com. I hear they have great service and fast delivery. I guess I could try to price everything individually and buy the lowest priced but I'd rather pay a little more and get everything from one good reseller.
I think I will get the Antec case. It has gotten some great reviews, $99.00, it's black, 3 fans installed, 330w power supply included and it's really not that much bigger than my Dell (XPS-T)that I have now. I just hope with 3 fans it won't be to noisy.
Thanks Dan, I can't wait for the Plextor cd-rw drive. I'm using an HP writer right now with a 8x write speed and it takes over 20 minutes (test and burn)to burn a mp3 (on the fly) CDR.
My cable company has provided me with a nic card so I don't need one.
One question, I'm going to use my existing hard drive for this pc and it is partitioned into three sections.
Do I need to repartition and reformat the whole hard drive or can I reformat the first section and not reformat the other two partitions? I have close to 12GB of mp3's that I don't want to lose and it would be to much to back them all up.
My other option would be to get another hd and use my existing as a slave then I shouldn't have to reformat I think?
thanks, Tony
I think any of those options would work.
If it were me though, I'd bite the bullet, buy a couple boxes of CDs, back up the MP3s, and wipe the drive clean for the new box. I think the cleanest Windows install is done on a fresh formatted drive.
Whether you should buy a new Primary hd though depends on the specs of your existing hd.
If its 20+ GB, ATA66+, and 7200 RPM I would probably use it.
If its a small drive running at 5400 RPM I'd buy a new one because that hd would become a bottleneck in such a fast system.
My hd is a 40GB 7200 ATA100.
Wouldn't reformatting the 1st partition and reinstalling windows be a fresh install? I only use the other 2 partitions for file storage. No programs loaded on them just mostly mp3's. I figure I could back up the data I need from the 1st partition to the other partitions too. (plus I will back those files up to cd-w but not the mp3's)
Hey Tony.
You can't really do much better than a 40gb, ATA100, 7200 rpm hd so I would just use that one.
And if your second two partitions are storage only, no programs, you can just re-format and install windows on the first partition and you should be fine.
take care,
Dan.
Thanks for everyone's help, I placed my order today with newegg.com and should have everything early next week. I ordered what I listed previously except I changed the video card to a VISIONTEK Xtasy 5632 GEFORCE2 GTS-V 4X/2X 32MB AGP - (a little less money but great reviews)
and I changed the sound card to a VOYETRA TURTLE BEACH SANTA CRUZ oem card
I might need some help next week when I try to put everything together. Hopefully I'll have no problems.
Couple of more questions, I bought the AMD 1700+ retail which comes with a heatsink and fan.
Should I get a different heatsink and fan or is is the one that comes with the AMD ok? I probably won't be overclocking, at least not for a while.
And what's a cpu shim? And do I need one?
Thanks, Tony
Hey Tony.
You'll want to keep the heatsink and fan that comes with the retail processor. Since it comes with the chip, it will be rated as adequate for cooling the CPU. And I believe it will come in the box pre-installed so it will just be a matter of plunking it in the socket and plugging in the fan. Since your not overclocking (yet) the retail heatsink will be fine.
If you were to replace it with a different heatsink/fan you would automatically void your warranty -- which would make buying a retail chip pointless (since the difference between retail and OEM is the heatsink/fan and warranty -- and a cool AMD sticker). By the way, overclocking the chip also voids the warranty. So at a certain point, if you do decide to overclock you will be voiding the warranty anyway -- so at that point you might want to buy a new hsf if you need more cooling.
Similarly, you don't need a CPU shim. Its an overclockers thing. Like the other stuff, installing a shim would void your warranty (and I don't think you need one anyway....I overclock and don't use a shim). Here's a good description of what a shim is:
http://www.ocia.net/reviews/purpleshim/purpleshim.shtml
I'd recommend that when you do start putting your new box together, if you have any probs, you start a new thread. We're not really talking about the difference between a 1.8 and 2ghz Dell P4 anymore. If you ask me, we're talking about something alot cooler.
cheers,
Dan.
Hi all,
one quick tip.
Don't ever put power onto the mobo without the CPU heatsink and fan being properly mounted onto that AMD...
nice rigs, yada yada...
------------------
I think we forgot to ask you a question...
Besides, it's only free advice...
Kind regards, Jaak