Question for EPOX owners

[RichL]

I've got an Epox EP8KTA3+, and according to the Epox site, it will support upto an Athlon 1400, although the BIOS has a feature to identify Athlon MPs ().

However, if I had an EP8KTA3+ PRO it would support upto an Athlon XP2200 with the right Bios.

Does anyone know if its possible to flash the BIOS to PRO spec and gain full XP support?
The motherboard has a 14x multiplier allowing a theoretical CPU speed of 1862mhz (Athlon XP2200).

[MK]

Ask the guys over in the AsusBoards.com forum. Many EPoX board owner hang around there too:

http://www.asusboards.com/vbulletin/index.php?action=forums

I am sure they can answer your question.

MK

[The PIT]

I would say not. Also only one revision of the pro supports the XP which suggests the voltage maybe a problem.

[RichL]

Originally posted by The PIT
I would say not. Also only one revision of the pro supports the XP which suggests the voltage maybe a problem.

That did occur to me too, but according to AMD, the power requirements for an XP2100 are the same as those for an Athlon1400, which my EP8KTA3+ will support quite happily.

[Wombat]

No, it's not just a BIOS flash. The PRO version has newer hardware revs.

I looked online, and found people that did get the new CPUs to work, and people that didn't. My 1800XP didn't work in my 8KTA3. Eventually I found out I had a bum CPU, but not before I had switched to my current MB.

Edit: That supposedly bum CPU would run in the 8KTA3 at 11.5x<B>100</B>. It was odd.

[The PIT]

Originally posted by Wombat
Eventually I found out I had a bum CPU, but not before I had switched to my current MB.

Edit: That supposedly bum CPU would run in the 8KTA3 at 11.5x<B>100</B>. It was odd.

Rebadged CPU ???

[Marshmallowman]

if you have an epox 8kta3+, and you take off the chipset heatsink, if the chip is silver coloured you have an older via chipset which is incompatible with XP's..that is straight from epox.

I have one of the older ones(silver).
and it will only run at 127 FSB reliably
but if you crank the IO voltage up a bit you can get running reliable with a bus speed of 130.

used to run my 1.4 thunbderbird at 11x140...now I am stuck to 130 FSB with my 1500XP->1300=13x10, until I get around to unlocking the multiplier

this is not problem specific to epox, its a via chipset thingy(it occurs on asus abit...etc)

I posted on the epox newsgroup and got some posts from people with the same board/problem

it appears to be PCI thing related to the FSB only....one user had 2000 +xp which ran reliabley if used 130 FSB in windows or 127 in linux.

any bets that the original AMD irongate chipset will run a XP processor properly?

Feck via and the donkey they rode in on, every chipset the ever produced requires at least 2 revisons to get it working properly....

my next chipset will not be via, I hope epox make a sis board soon.

[Wombat]

Rebadged CPU ???

Nah. It was from Newegg, and they replaced it promptly. The bridges all looked in order. It was a retail AMD 1800XP, and an AGOGA core at that. 1800+ is the lowest speed you see that core at, AFAIK.

[The PIT]

Originally posted by Marshmallowman
this is not problem specific to epox, its a via chipset thingy(it occurs on asus abit...etc)

I'll do the Via standard response to that. There is nothing wrong with our chipsets. The problem also occurs on Intel chipsets.

[RichL]

Originally posted by Marshmallowman
if you have an epox 8kta3+, and you take off the chipset heatsink, if the chip is silver coloured you have an older via chipset which is incompatible with XP's..that is straight from epox.

I have one of the older ones(silver) and it will only run at 127 FSB reliably but if you crank the IO voltage up a bit you can get running reliable with a bus speed of 130.
my next chipset will not be via, I hope epox make a sis board soon.

Right, out with the hairdryer tonight then...are you sure about the 133fsb bit? The 8KTA3+ should have the KT133a chipset, which should run 133fsb no problems. Mine was running 145fsb on my Duron for several months.

[Marshmallowman]

yeah mine used to run at 140 100% reliable with my 1.4G thunderbird, 145 not so reliable and it is a kt133a

(hehe you mean a kt133b....%$# via)


with my XP I can't get over 130 without it crashing, 133 with a lot of Vio (3.7) it will get into windows but crash if you run anything.

I was told about the chipset revision by the support guys at epox

and you won't need a hairdryer, its held on by plastic clips, and normal white heatsink goop.

I would have thought you could just look at the board revision number, but the epox dude told me to take the cooler off and have a look.

all said, its still faster than my 1.4G TB using a 1500XP, and runs a *LOT* cooler, it will do until a good sis 746 chipset comes out.

[RichL]

I'll give it a try. The annoying thing is I can get an XP1600 for a pound less than an Athlon 1400, and XP1800s arent that much more.

If it looks like the right chipset I might as well go for broke and order an XP2000, and if it doesnt work I'll get a new Mobo.
I was going to get a cheap mobo to put the reduntant Duron in anyway.
The only bugbear is I'll have to get 512mb of DDR memory, when I've already got 512mb of CAS2 PC133 stuff that'll run at 145mhz


Hmmm, unless I get a ECS K75SA which has 2 slots for each as my main machine and pension off my Epox......

[RichL]

Well, my chip is black, and the motherboard Rev is 1.0.
Now all I've gotta decide is if I go for broke with an Athlon XP2000+ and see if it works, or settle for an XP1600.
It the XP2000 doesnt work, my next major hardware upgrade might come a year earlier than planned!

Thanks for the help everyone

[Marshmallowman]

go XP1600, and wait for the new batches of thuroughbreds...XP3000 + anyone?

[RichL]

Well I just did my sums, and I think an Xp1600 to drop into the Epox board and an ECS K7S5A to accomodate the Duron is going to be the best route.
That way I can save for the rumoured 333mhz FSB Athlons and DDR400 memory for the next stage.

At this rate, I might have to retire one of my P120 machines just to make space