ECS K7VTA3 MOBO

[nork]

The website seems to say that i can use a maximum of athlon XP 2800 cpu for version 5.0 of that mobo.

http://www.ecs.com.tw/support/techcpu/athlonxp.htm


I have v8.0 and i wonder if i can run a higher mhz than 2800? Is there higher than 2800?
thanks

 

[nork]

gotta be someone out there with the knowledge i seek!

 

[pspada]

I don't see why it would not support a 3000+.

 

[nork]

Me too, but im hoping to here from someone who knows for sure, somehow.

 

[MrCodeDude]

You can probably OC and achieve a higher FSB of 166, but I highly doubt that the E7VTA3 will take anything higher than a 2800+.

My reasoning for that is that the Tbreds last CPU was the 2800+.

Fry's bundles the K7VTA3 board with pretty much every CPU combo they have other than the 2500+ Barton. So I don't know. I'm just throwing in my two pennies.

 

[pspada]

Originally posted by: MrCodeDude
You can probably OC and achieve a higher FSB of 166, but I highly doubt that the E7VTA3 will take anything higher than a 2800+.

My reasoning for that is that the Tbreds last CPU was the 2800+.

Fry's bundles the K7VTA3 board with pretty much every CPU combo they have other than the 2500+ Barton. So I don't know. I'm just throwing in my two pennies.

Your reasoning is specious. Besides, I've got one running a 2600+ Barton chip just fine.

 

[DusterAZ]

Yup, they are advertising a 2600+ Barton + K7VTA3 this week at Fry's and I picked up the combo. Haven't tested it out yet, but I'm sure it will work fine. As far as I know this board supports all CPUs up to 333 FSB.

 

[nork]

Guess i asked the "appropriate" question here as i am getting polite answers.
I asked another question in another thread and got mostly thread-craps, lol. Not a prob as i have another place or two i can go to for answers.

But this thread is producing some good info for me, so thanks very much guys!!

 

[o1die]

If you get this board with a Fry's combo deal, be aware that the Fry's version of this board already has a newer bios than the one on ecs's website.

 

[nork]

My mobo had v8.0c, which is the last one listed on ECS website.

 

[Peter]

... which is quite a bit different from the older v5.x. In fact, it's an all different board layout, v8.x being much smaller.

 

[nork]

yup

 

[nork]

If you get this board with a Fry's combo deal, be aware that the Fry's version of this board already has a newer bios than the one on ecs's website.

If someone could zip that newer bios for the v8.0 board and email it to me i would appreciate it very much, kingbee@cogeco.ca

I dont know if the new bios is already installed, or if there is a copy of the bios on the cdrom supplied with the mobo, but if there is one on the cdrom, and its v8.0, it should work on any v8.0 board?

 

[Peter]

For the latest BIOSes, go to the ECS global web site www.ecs.com.tw or even their file server ftp.ecs.com.tw

Latest BIOS there for v6 and v8 boards is from 3 Oct 2003.

 

[nork]

ok, i have already done that, its just that someone said there is a newer bios that is not listed at ECS, it comes from fry's and i was wondering about that one.

 

[nork]

going to the server site: ftp://ftp.ecs.com.tw/bios/mb/k7/k7vta3/
it shows a list of bios, including v 8.0c, 3/10/2003.
I have that one installed on my board.
Can i install the latest bios, which is K7VTA3 70a.EXE 11/04/2003 ?
Is that a bios for my board v8.0? Or is it a bios for another version?

thanks

 

[Peter]

No, that BIOS is for v7 boards, as the name suggests.

 

[nork]

I made a mistake and posted the wrong one, i meant to post a different one, still, i think the v8.0c is the latest anyway and i already have that.

But i heard there is a newer one from fry's for version 8 that is newer than the 8.0c that i have. 8.0c is the latest on both ECS sites.

 

[o1die]

As I stated earlier, the bios on the Fry's mobo is newer than the one on ecs' website. When you download the ecs bios upgrade from their website, it doesn't even recognize the newer duron. You get "unknown cpu" when posting. If you go for the 2800, it may work, but you may get "unknown cpu" when posting.

 

[Peter]

Model Name : K7VTA3
PCB Version : 8.0
File Version: 8.0c
File Name : k7vta3_80c.exe
Release Note: BIOS CheckSum:A000H
1.Support 0.13 New Duron FSB 133Mhz CPU.

This is the release note for the 2003/10/3 release, straight from the ECS web site.

 

[nork]

Would be nice if someone would zip the newer fry bios and email it to me at kingbee@cogeco.ca.
I would appreciate it.

thanks

 

[MrCodeDude]

Originally posted by: nork
going to the server site: ftp://ftp.ecs.com.tw/bios/mb/k7/k7vta3/
it shows a list of bios, including v 8.0c, 3/10/2003.
I have that one installed on my board.
Can i install the latest bios, which is K7VTA3 70a.EXE 11/04/2003 ?
Is that a bios for my board v8.0? Or is it a bios for another version?

thanks

Also, I think ECS does their dates differently than people in the US do.

I think they go

DD/MM/YYYY

So April 11th, 2003 would be 11/04/2003

 

[Peter]

To make that absolutely clear, the 8.0c release is from October 3rd, 2003.

 

[stevenboy]

Is there any difference in performance between ver. 6 and ver.8 . Do motherboards have different chipsets ?

 

[nork]

I dont know about that, but in this case I have heard that version 8 is a totally different looking mobo, but it may very well have same exact chipset anyway.
I would say that with a pc chips brand mobo one never knows, ECS being a member of the pc chips family.