Gone 64 (sort of)

Driver 7 · Dec 6, 2003, 10:29 PM

I walked into my fav PC store this afternoon and inquired about the Athlon 3200 64bit processor and sure enough there it was in my hands within seconds of asking. So I did what ant guy on a mission would do, (I hope). I bought it along with a new water block and a bottle of anti-freeze. They did however not have a motherboard. I dident think that would be much of a problem, but apparently it is. I went to about a dozen different stores and nobody had one. A few said that they were getting some in on Monday. So now I have from now untill monday to pick your brains a bit. I am kinda leaning towards a ASUS K8V. Previously I was liking the sounds of the ASUS 64 bit MAX3 board. Does anyone have sugestions on whhat board to get. I do not want so settle. I definatley want the best.

Driver 7 · Dec 6, 2003, 11:55 PM

Anyone??????????????????

Bane the ECF · Dec 7, 2003, 09:54 PM

You mean comparing the ASUS K8V Deluxe and the Abit KV8 MAX-3? I heard that the ASUS one will overclock much better. The Abit KV8 MAX3 is supremely stable, but it has CPU FSB limitations that limit to like 223MHz or 233MHz FSB or something.

Driver 7 · Dec 7, 2003, 10:27 PM

Well I read a review from today that said The ABIT KV8 MAX-3 has the ability to change the internal processor bus to anything between 200 and 300 MHz.

Then stated there is a multiplier option, but it seems to be locked at the processor default.
If thats the case then when someone figures out how to unlock it Overclockers will be back in business.

Heres the review.

But from almost all the reviews I have seen the ASUS K8V has had higher numbers in all the benchmarks.
Makes it hard to decide.
Then ASUS has wifi, but ABIT has 6x SATA.

Bane the ECF · Dec 8, 2003, 01:26 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Driver 7

Then ASUS has wifi, but ABIT has 6x SATA.

Heh, get the Abit board and go WD Rapter 10000RPM at 6xSATA RAID-0!

Bane

Judas · Dec 8, 2003, 02:49 AM

...the MAX series isn't an OVERCLOCKER... i'll warn you that much.... i'm pretty sure you can overclock alot outa of it... but with what it has for goodies... it'll start falling appart compared to a stripped board..... i suspect you know that... i have a MAX2 board..... excellent.. very much supreme in options.... but overclocking.... i'll blame it on the KT400 via chipset... not 400a..... FSB is sorta screwed as i don't have a ratio selector...... Excellent solid board... with very good results.... and damn. the ram you can pack into them... if i could find a couple of 4gb sticks.. i'd be happy.... BTW, is that highpoint-tech on the max3?

Driver 7 · Dec 8, 2003, 03:37 AM

I have not heard of highpoint before. What is it.
I think you are prob right though man. I think I might get the asus.
And speaking of. I just returned from the most crazy day of shopping ever. And I still have not picked up a mobo yet. I cant believe it's sitting here in my living room. I Bought a 50" Sony GrandWega HDTV, the extremly over priced sony stand for it, A sony 400 disk dvd player, a HDTV cable modem, and to top it all off. About 1200 dollars worth of Monster hdtv cables, audio cables and power bar. Its all a little overwealming. I havent even pluged anything in yet. I think I'm gonna just sit here and stare at it for a while.

***Veridian3*** · Dec 8, 2003, 03:42 AM

Coming soon to your favourite website (yes that means DH :P ) will be a review of the SK8V which is the Socket 940 verison of the K8V. I'm not going to give much away...but the SK8V is one of the best boards i've used, you wont be disappointed if you buy the K8V.

dipstick · Dec 8, 2003, 05:58 AM

I would go with Asus myself, the K8V is a great board indeed. Just make sure whetever you get is based on the KT800(VIA)

Forge · Dec 8, 2003, 06:13 AM

I have the MSI K8T Neo-FIS2R and am very happy with it.

Nobody has figured out the A64 mult lock yet. No boards are hitting much over 230-ish FSB. Many NF3s are showing up with incomplete or disabled PCI/AGP locks. It's a jungle out there.

From what I hear, though, the Asus K8V, the Abit KV8-MAX3, and this MSI K8T Neo are the top three, in three different areas.

I *do* like the CoreCell/D.O.T. stuff on this board. Setting that to 7% gives me 2Ghz flat most of the time, and the board throttles *up* to 2.15GHz when the load gets high, without any software, all BIOS. Very cool stuff for AMD64 Linux users.

Apparently Abit's MicroGuru is the same thing.

Anyways, good luck, and welcome to the club.

P.S. - About that water block... You don't need it. The stock AMD HSF spins at under 3K rpm, so it's quite quiet, and even overclocked and overvolted, I never broke 40C. I put a Zalman 7000A on there, and it's full load at about 38C, and the 1500 rpm fan is silent, probably quieter than most pumps. I'd imagine a socket 754 clampdown might be tricky, too. You don't want to zip tie or similar, you'll bow the board.

Judas · Dec 8, 2003, 11:45 AM

Highpoint-Tech is an excellent HD Controller chip... abit has been using them for quite awhile and highpoint has always givin me a fairly large jump of the competition..... they are one of the first to bring out some of the major raid solutions as well... first to have available onboard... (started with the Abit KA7-100 Slot A mobo) I still have the board with me.... needs new capasitors though... check out there site: http://www.highpoint-tech.com/

Driver 7 · Dec 8, 2003, 04:52 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Forge

Anyways, good luck, and welcome to the club.

P.S. - About that water block... You don't need it. The stock AMD HSF spins at under 3K rpm, so it's quite quiet, and even overclocked and overvolted, I never broke 40C. I put a Zalman 7000A on there, and it's full load at about 38C, and the 1500 rpm fan is silent, probably quieter than most pumps. I'd imagine a socket 754 clampdown might be tricky, too. You don't want to zip tie or similar, you'll bow the board.

Thanks man
I have got a magnet driven water pump. You cant hardly hear the thing when you put your ear right up to it. And Oh Contraire Mon Frair. "I NEED MY WATERBLOCKS"

Could not part with them now.

Forge · Dec 8, 2003, 05:23 PM

Sounds like you've got it covered, just wanted to make sure you didn't think you *needed* the waterblock for cooling purposes.

Driver 7 · Dec 12, 2003, 01:23 AM

I finally got a Motherboard. Had to order it from somewhere in the US. (I forget where) Bastards charge $85.00 for fast shipping. Fast it was since I ordered it Tuesday night it arrived at like 8am this morning. But Probably a waist since I haven't got the energy to install the damn thing. I'll wait till tomorrow night I guess. Takes to damn long especially since I have to change the CPU water block. OH ya... the board I got is the ASUS K8V. Could not go against the advice of DH members. That I'm sure would have only led to regret.