Motherboard

Mon Nov 10, 2003 2:41 pm

Anyone know a good motherboard for an Athlon XP 2800+ CPU?

RAM: 2700 DDR
Video: 4x or 8x AGP (I'd like 8x if possible)
FSB: 400Mhz or 333Mhz

Mon Nov 10, 2003 3:01 pm

Looks like SharkyExtreme recommends the Epox 8K3A. Tom's Hardware had this to say about the 2800+:

The latest Athlon XP CPUs, 2700+ and 2800+, only work with boards that have a 166 MHz FSB clock. This means that your only choices are VIA KT333, KT400 or SiS 746. Older motherboards with VIA KT133A, KT266, KT266A or SiS 735 won't work with the new Athlon XP processors. On the one hand, the FSB clock is not supported with these boards, and on the other hand, the power of the voltage converter is not enough for operation.

All in all, we have a situation that is similar to that of Intel's P4: backwards compatibility is limited. Furthermore, you have to ask whether it makes sense to run an old KT133A board and SDRAM (PC133) with an Athlon XP 2800+ and hope that you're lucky.

Mon Nov 10, 2003 3:16 pm

Hmm. I've heard that the Athlon XP 2500+ would be better than the 2600+, 2700+, and 2800+. What do you have to say Folic?

Mon Nov 10, 2003 3:45 pm

Well, if you're not looking for the top of the line, I'd think it looks like the 2800+ is probably your best bet - it's old enough to be relatively cheap, but still is a good performer.

Mon Nov 10, 2003 3:57 pm

Originally posted by Folic_Acid
Well, if you're not looking for the top of the line, I'd think it looks like the 2800+ is probably your best bet - it's old enough to be relatively cheap, but still is a good performer.

This doesn't answer the question, but I was just wondering if you're going to go with a 2800+ why not switch to the p4 line? Or do you already have the 2800? As far as I know, at the 2.8 p4 vs athlon 2800+ point is where amd no longer beats out intel.

Mon Nov 10, 2003 3:59 pm

Well, I don't have the money to go the P4 route!

Still, I've head the 2500+ stock can fly circles around the 2800+ stock and is better for overclocking.

Mon Nov 10, 2003 4:07 pm

Well, I'm not one to answer overclocking questions - I'm too much of a chicken for that. I've also heard that the 2500+ had an excellent clock speed though - better than 2600+ or 2700+. IIRC, the 2800+ was slightly faster than the 2500+ clock, but the better price of a 2500 might be enough to offset the faster 2800 clock.

<shrug> Since I'm not an overclocker, my own preference would be to go with the stock 2800+, but the 2500+ might be more your style.

Mon Nov 10, 2003 4:09 pm

Thanks Folic. I need a new computer and AMD seems to be the route I want this time. With the proper cooling of course

Mon Nov 10, 2003 4:16 pm

Good luck there - I have no clue about cooling, other than to figure out a decent airflow scheme and hope it works.

Mon Nov 10, 2003 11:29 pm

See sig.

Abit NF7-S, friggin awesome board, very robust, onboard audio will make you forget about creative, and is well known to overclock to FSB's over 250MHz with proper mods, well over 200MHz without any mods.

If not, basically ANY nforce2 board is the best AMD platform out there, VIA cannot compete. period. I'd personally suggest you stay VERY far away from anything made by SOYO, my experiences with them were HORRIBLE. ASUS, ABIT, MSI, EPOX, are all good brands, no way to lose there. Check out http://www.nforcershq.com, especially the forums, for more info.

As for AMD procs, the 2500's are supposed to be the best overclockers, altough supposedly all AMD XP's come with locked multipliers. I would personally make sure you get a Barton core, since it's the newer variant, with an improved cache (if I recall right).

What memory do you have now? Are you considering upgrading it as well?

Tue Nov 11, 2003 3:34 pm

Bull, the 2500's were the last one's to not have a multiplier lock. Since I'm not overclocking, and the 2500 is better than the 2600+ and 2700+ (from what I've heard) I'm going with the 2500+.

I already have an ASUS A7N8X ordered since last night. I plan on having 1 GB (2x512) of PC2700 333Mhz Dual Channel RAM.

Tue Nov 11, 2003 3:41 pm

actually, the current rumours running around state that even the 2500's now (basically, ALL xp's) have locked multipliers, essentially trying to force us to buy FX-51's......but I don't really know, since I don't own one

Good board, although I'd really suggest some good PC3200 if you're planning on overclocking (I can't run my FSB much of any higher than 205-208 with issues in memtest86 or prime95, b/c of my pc2700). just my 2cents though

Tue Nov 11, 2003 3:42 pm

Overclocking is not my thing