Building a Thunderbird

[snoturtle69 0]

Hi

I just wanted to get everyones recommendations on what MB and processor to get.

I was thinking about getting a Abit KT7-Raid and a 1ghz thunderbird.

also would be a HSF combo for this?

 

Thanks

[miku 0]

Get this

 

Asus A7V (better than KT7-Raid in 3d Graphics)

 

Thunderbird 1 Ghz.

Geforce 2

SB Live!

[snoturtle69 0]

I have a geforce mx 2

but I always here alot of junk about SB cards and Win2k

[clutch 1]

I have an Apollo Pro 133A based board, and my SB Live! works great with it. That, and my ASUS P3B-F (Intel BX-based mobo).

 

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Regards,

 

clutch

[Kyosho46vr 0]

The Asus A7V is rock stable with The T-Bird 1.1 GHz. I have a Radeon 32DDR and SB Live! and no issues, I was really impressed with the board, it has alot of features and is foward thinking, I had switched from a slotA AMD 750 in an FIC SD11 to the SocketA Asus A7V with minmal effort and in short time, my sound card now passes the ATi test in the DVD applet, and I have no popping or sound distortion at all, I feel the board is much speedier and the layout is great, overall, now I feel I can sit on system for awhile and be content with '0' issues!!

 

Ned

[tristan777 0]

i would go with the Asus A7V. also for the HSF get a Globalwin FOP-38. nearly everything i have read says this is the best Socket-A HSF money can buy. i'm going to be getting one for myself to replace the one i have, and trust me these things put out alot of heat so u want a good HSF.

 

Processor is really up to you. if your wanting to OC alot then obviously go with the duron, but if u want the best performance go w/ the Athlon.

 

also, i'm not sure about the KT7, but i know that the A7V can handle a FSB speed of up to 145 MHz and maybe even higher but this is the highest setting in the bios. just something to think about.

 

[This message has been edited by tristan777 (edited 26 November 2000).]

[GHackmann 0]

The KT7-RAID is the overclocker's choice motherboard. SoftMenu III is great for tweaking bus speeds and the like. It lets you go up to a 183 MHz bus speed (but something tells me that's kind of a moot point, since I doubt anyone could run it stably at 183), and if you unlock your TBird with a pencil then you get multiplier settings right in the BIOS. Plus you can change the voltage (I/O and core) in 0.05V increments, which is great for tweaking. They also throw in heatsinks on the KT133 chipset for good measure.

 

DMA100 is a nice bonus, with the possibility of IDE RAID arrays . . . [drool]

 

Seriously, either the A7V or the KT7-RAID are good choices, but I like the KT7-RAID better because of SoftMenu and the extra two DMA100 channels. You can never have too many IDE channels.

 

Wow, I just found out that there's a SoftFSB plugin for the KT7-RAID. Bonus points!

[someone_nt 0]

Sorry, can't help you. I'm sticking to my k6-2 350 mhz for another year...

(where do you guys get so much money to expend in a GHZ CPU &Mobo? :-( )

[STi Sev 0]

Quote:

Originally posted by snoturtle69:
Hi
I just wanted to get everyones recommendations on what MB and processor to get.
I was thinking about getting a Abit KT7-Raid and a 1ghz thunderbird.
also would be a HSF combo for this?

Thanks

No No No!

1.2ghz Thunderbird = $500.00 = ABSOLUTE fux0ring steal!!!!!

Get that with a K7V or something along that line.

[terrahwk 0]

I just azzembled an A7V with a Tbird 900 and was expecting all sorts of problems.. but haven't had any yet!

 

IMO, A7V vs KT7 is a bit of a moot point- both boards look good. The ide raid of the KT7 is almost pointless- I've yet to see any benchmarks that indicate any advantage.. it is a shame.. Methinks sharkyextreme did a review on the ide raid of the kt7

 

Multiplier in bios (KT7) would be nice- but the dip switches on the A7V really aren't that difficult to work with. From the benchmarks Ive seen, I tend to think the A7v has better ram access speeds, in general. But I am biased since I just love the A7V! And any differences are very unlikely to be noticed IRL.

 

My advice: A7V, _Quality_ RAM (Im using PC150- runs fine as PC133 CAS2-2-2), IBM Deskstar 7200/udma100, [insert fav. gfx card], Bios 1005_03e (latest)

 

The RAM is important- don't get that cheap stuff.. My T/Bird 900 is running at 1050 using an elcheapo fan with no temp probs, and is rock solid.

 

Just my 2c..

 

 

[This message has been edited by terrahwk (edited 30 November 2000).]

[clutch 1]

There are some pretty good benchmarks for imbedded IDE RAID in this month's Maximum PC Magazine. In RAID 0 (striped, no parity), the imbedded controllers worked very well. This was done with 2 IBM 75GXP Hard Drives (UDMA/100). What controller is used on that motherboard?

 

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Regards,

 

clutch

[GHackmann 0]

Well look at what came up on Anandtech today: a Socket A motherboard roundup. The winner really surprised me, because it's not one of the big two (A7V or KT7). Hopefully this is helpful.

 

And I agree that with terrahk you need good RAM. I've had some good experiences with Crucial Technologies RAM, and there's plenty of other good choices out there.