Asus A7V

[AMB]

Is this any good, I am planning on getting a 950MHz Thunderbird in about a month. Will anymore manufactures sell this like Abit or someone.

Where I live in the UK, I think it will be very hard to get a slot Thunderbird so it looks like it will have to be a socket, this benefical in one way as the KT133 officially supports it.

Is the Asus a good choice, I would prefer 6 PCI slots, but I will put the modem in the other and use ICS I think:

PCI #1 - Sound Card
PCI #2 - Network Card
PCI #3 - SCSI Card
PCI #4 - HW+
PCI #5 - WinTV
PCI #6 - Modem

Is there any compatibilty problems with a GeForce DDR?

 

[AMB]

I have thought of another question, I need a heatsink, and this is another hard thing to get in the UK. I was advised by the supplier where I buy all my equipment and they recommended this:

http://www.coolermaster.com/products/cpucooler/socket/dp5-5g11.html

It states up to Duron 850, will this be enough on a 950 or 1000 T-Bird, if you can use Socket 370's which that is, can you use a FC-PGA?

 

[Marty]

If you can get your hands on it, this is probably your best bet: http://www.arcticooler.com

Marty

 

[corkyg]

If the A7V BIOS is like most of the new Asus boards, you are headed for a mess with that PCI slot array.

I assume you will use the AGP slot for your vid card? If so . . . you will find that each PCI slot has designated "sharing" of IRQs. Some work . . . some do not. Most AGP vid cards cannot share. Neither can SCSI cards. This is what you can expect with a 6-slot Award BIOS:

PCI Slot 1 is shared with the AGP slot . . . so forget about using it.
PCI Slot 2 is not shared with anything.
PCI Slot 3 is shared with the on board USB controller. That shares OK with a NIC . . . put it in 3.
PCI Slot 4 is not shared with anything.
PCI Slot 5 is not shared with anything.
PCI Slot 6 . . . ???

This is only a guess based on the Award BIOS settings for the K7V. The PDF file for the A7V manual is not yet posted on the Asus web site.

I would find out all about this before deciding. Check the same details for the Abit board.

You may end up having to shed one of those cards. I would suggest getting rid of the modem and use an external on Com1. I don't know what HW+ is . . . but I see your biggest problem is the sound card in PCI 1. That shares with AGP . . . not good.

Also, you might check out www.computernerd for cooers, heatsinks, etc. They are excellent . . . especially for overclockers.

 

[AMB]

Corky-g, thanks for the advice, but what you are suggesting I think I will be OK using all 5 PCI slots as I will disable the IRQ's for the LPT1, COM 1 and COM2.

The HW+ is a Sigma Designs Hollywood Plus, a Hardware DVD Decoding card.

I think I will put the modem in another computer and use ICS.

I canot find any information on Abit's web-site with reference to a new KT133 mobo, are many companies reluctant to use this chippist?

 

[Soccerman]

you would be wise to make sure you are scrounging all the IRQ's you can get. looks like you are already thinking about that so good!

I have had experience with 6 devices in my ASUS P5A.

AGP - Voodoo 3 2K AGP (though doesn't use AGP to the fullest)
PCI Slot #1 - Voodoo Banshee (works like a charm with my second monitor)
PCI Slot 2 - Sound card (Aureal Vortex 2)
PCI Slot 3 - ATA-66 Cark (Promise)
PCI Slot 4 - Hollywood Plus
PCI Slot 5 - Modem

As you can see, my 5 PCI slots are loaded, and my AGP slot taken AT THE SAME TIME. I personally had no problems whatsoever. It's more likely that I was lucky.

You have a winTV card right? that most likely won't require an IRQ on it's own, so that will help. the Hollywood + as well might not need an IRQ.

I've looked at my IRQ assignments, and I noticed that 2 or 3 IRQ's are shared between devices. it doesn't matter much, I don't see any errors or the like when running DVD's, unless I try doing alot more at once then just playing the DVD.. hmm, maybe that's the reason why..

Anyway, I wish you luck. You'll need it, you are almost guarrenteed a long hard battle to get the devices working properly! Grr I hate this archaic IRQ..... Mac's are superior in that way! they don't have em!

 

[arthurb1]

Nope, that hollywood plus actually wants an IRQ all of its own...I used to have one, but if you are building a 950tbird, you can ditch the card cause the CPU can soft decode DVD just fine. I ditched my HW+ when I went from my PIII600 (katmai) to my Athlon 600@750 and then to my 700@900. Soon (knock on wood) to be a 700 core tbird at 900+ I want a GIG!

 

[Bakwetu]

There are better alternatives too coolermaster's heatsinks in the UK. Check out http://www.overclockers.co.uk/

 

[AMB]

Is the KT133 compatible with the GeForce

I think I am sold to an Athlon Thunderbird, it is just a mobo to go along with it.