The problem with AMD cpu's..., and possibly home-built PC's with them.... :o(

[CannyOne]

My experince leads me to believe that the motherboards produced previously are the greatest cause of problems for Athlon systems. (That and people allways want to skimp on the power supply. It's no wonder they have sudden failures!) It's really a "gamble" when you buy any Athlon motherboard!!! Just make sure you buy either locally (and pay the premium), or from an online vendor you trust and has a generous return policy.

I bought an Asus K7M in January, it was defective out of the box. Very, very, very unreliable. Then I bought an Epox 7KXA six weeks ago. It was "fresh off the boat from Taiwan." It's worked flawlessly. But I keep hearing from people who get bad Epox boards. I'm not sure what to think, except that there might be some bad lots!?!

The story goes on too! The vendor for my K7M, "Altima Solutions", shipped me an MSI K7 Pro. It won't boot at all. Which isn't a really big deal because I have a perfectly functional EP-7KXA. But I'm really tired of fighting with Altima Solutions for an exchange. I'll build another Athlon soon with the MSI board, I don't think it likes, either my o/c 650 Athlon or my PC133 RAM.

I really like Athlon systems. You can overclock with a GFD and not bother the FSB, or run your components out of spec. And the performance is very good. (In the future it will get even better! ) As for systems being "home built".(?) All of mine have been, are, and allways will be! I simply don't want someone else's compromises. I want to choose what goes into the system. I've also worked for Micron PC Tech Support! So I know that even the best "company built" systems have a plethora of failures and problems. I'll have to check the article you mention out. I'm not really sure what this editor is trying to say. But, from the sound of it, I definately don't agree on several points.

[Greebe]

Canny, do you want me to get in touch with my contact at Altima for you?

The K7M (as I stated very early on) sucked grapes!!! The MSI K7 Pro is a very good MB.
Now MSI has another hot puppy coming out called the K7X Pro, it's based on the KX133 chipset fullfeatured (AMR riser slot, etc...) it looks like a winner to me

[wenDigo]

CannyOne: what the author was trying to say is merely that if you wanted to have an athlon system, in the long run you were better off purchasing one from a repuatble retailer basically because of the footwork/trial-and-error that the retailer could AFFORD to go through to get the right config; otherwise for someone else it might be a more costly process. You yourself cited an instance were you've had to go through two different boards only based on the worthiness of the board itslef, a lengthy process I'm sure specially if you keep having bad luck with your search. So you can imagine (if you don't already know)what's it like to blow cash on bad or presumably bad components;returnable/exchangeable or not.

I mean, don't get me wrong here, I build my own PC's and can't stand most of the mudslinging and deception that some retailers do (ie: Best Buy, Gateway...) to make a sale. And your right, some of these same retail systems can sometimes be just as bad when it comes bugs/incompatibility. Like I said before (which I guess someone is overlooking) I merely wanted to bring this up to find out WHAT KIND OF CONFIG has worked perfectly for people and to have them post those configs. This post was NOT meant to put down "home-built" systems, especially since I own one . The PC Excellerator article was just meant to be an Ice-Breaker of sorts to get the ball rolling. So, continue....

[Joel]

That article is nothing but BS.

I have had nothing but AMD CPUs over the past few years, all home built, and the only complaint I have is that the AMD CPUs tend to run 3D games slower than Intel, that is until the Athlon came out. Now it beats the Intel on both fronts, applications and games.

The reason you see so many problems here is because this is a user's forum where ppl come for help. Most ppl who don't have problems have no need to come here, except to maybe chit chat with someone, so you tend to see only one side of the issue.

So maybe it might not be so much a problem with the hardware as it is with the user not knowing what he or she is doing.

Joel

[This message has been edited by Joel (edited 25 April 2000).]

[Targon]

The problem that so many people run into with the Athlon motherboards, in many cases, is caused by either a power supply issue, a memory issue, the mobo having an older BIOS on it, or any combination of the above. I've found that the K7M is a GREAT board, never had a single problem with IT. I HAVE run into power supplies that just caused problems, and also some memory that the board just didn't like. Of course, we are talking about cheap, 10ns SDRAM, CAS 3 memory. MANY memory manufacturers also put markings on their chips that can make the customer THINK it's faster memory, but it isn't. The config I use is the following:

Asus K7M w/ onboard sound disabled. Ver 1.04, BIOS 1007

AMD Athlon 700

256 megs generic 10ns SDRAM(2 64 meg modules and 1 128 meg module)

Creative Labs Live/Value sound card

3Com 3C905B ethernet card

Adaptec 2940U2W SCSI controller

And of course, a G400 MAX vid card.


NEVER had a problem with my setup. I put it all together, replaced the old 235 Watt power supply with a good 300 Watt, plugged in a 19 inch and 17 inch viewsonic, and proceeded to install Win98. Not a single problem. All worked fine. I installed the AGP driver, just to make sure I wouldn't have problems in games, but overall, I didn't have to think about it at all. Basically, those who can't figure out to try using GOOD memory and power supplies before complaining need to get a clue.

[Greebe]

Targon, how long have you had it? Ever been OC'd? What HS?

[Targon]

Overclocked the bus to 105MHz, and overclock the G400, though I don't have the numbers in front of me since I'm at work. Never had a problem. I didn't crack the Athlon open since the 700 is fine by itself for speed. Some people want to get the most out of their system, but when it comes down to it, if your system runs fast enough for what you play, then cracking the CPU open really isn't needed. Now, what I _AM_ waiting for is the AMD 760 so I can move to DDR SDRAM. Hopefully I'll be able to just do a CPU swap and then get a new mobo and CPU, but we shall see.