ECS K7VTA3 MOBO

[nork]

Ya, i did agree, Peter was a bit out of hand, but he understood that and came back to the business at hand.
So I would like to see you do that , and that goes for me and the rest of us as well.

I do agree that your specific question wasnt answered, so hopefully someone can come up with an answer.

I do know if you go to the website there is a place where you can see a chart re: bios version - what max cpu you can use, and i think it topped out at Athlon xp 2800, again, you need a certain bios version, its either 5,6, or 8, i forget off-hand.

But, if you cant find it let me know as i made a doc out of it for reference.

Can someone give a better answer to his question? Not a general answer, but one that fits his post would be in order!!
And i dont care if my post benefits more than just me, but lets stop the fighting, kay!!!

Thanks

 

[Peter]

For the 5th time in this thread alone, v6 and v8 are functionally identical. How this is not answering rlgd's question is still just as beyond me as it was the 1st time round.

The CPU support tables on the ECS site are for discontinued board models only, listing only the old board revisions up to v5. For current product, refer to the product pages. I collected all the links already, see above. There is really absolutely no need to take this into revolution #6.

 

[nork]

there we have it!
thanks

 

[nork]

http://www2.amd.com/us-en/recmobo/DetailHandler/1,,30_182_869_4348%5e7923,00.html?queryID=66214


and

http://www2.amd.com/us-en/recmobo/ResultsHandler/1,,30_182_869_4348^7923~63674,00.html

 

[rlgdtime]

Originally posted by: nork
http://www2.amd.com/us-en/recmobo/DetailHandler/1,,30_182_869_4348%5e7923,00.html?queryID=66214


and

http://www2.amd.com/us-en/recmobo/ResultsHandler/1,,30_182_869_4348^7923~63674,00.html

Second link is broken.

 

[nork]

So, when i post looking for a cpu for this mobo, would i word it like this:

WTB: Athlon xp up to 2800+ for 166 fsb
or
WTB: Athlon xp upt to 2800+ for 333 fsb


ECS website says you can go up to 2800:

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


Would this be the right XP 2800 to order?

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=19-103-376&catalog=343&manufactory=BROWSE&depa=1

that one says FSB 333, so would that be double the 166 FSB on the mobo?
Im a bit confused on that point

 

[nork]

bump

 

[Peter]

Once again, the table on the ECS web site just lists the old board revisions up to 5.x. You got a v8.x, this information does not apply to you. I told you in my previous post ...

That's just the marketing idiots saying 333 MHz when it's actually 166 MHz DDR. It's the same thing. There's a 3000+ model for FSB333 too, btw.

Remember that the price incline gets steep at the top end - you pay huge extra for very little actual gain in speed. E.g. from 2500+ to 2600+ is $5, 2600+ to 2800+ is $25, 2800+ to 3000+ is $45. All Bartons, all FSB333.
The sweet spot currently is Barton 2600+/333, above that it's getting ridiculous, only interesting for people who must absolutely have THE maximum speed available, whatever the cost.

 

[nork]

ok, thanks for the info.

 

[Peter]

You're welcome. In newegg nomenclature, I'd go with item #N82E16819103417 (2600+) if I were you, add a nice silent cooler, and spend the $30 saved from not buying a 2800+ into your next graphics card upgrade or some nice dinner

 

[WallyKid]

Originally posted by: Peter
You can't change the individual Athlon models to be some other model, no. They're factory preset for a certain multiplier, so if you run them at the wrong bus speed, the core speed will come out wrong too. Athlon 3000+ comes in 200 and 166 MHz flavors.

As for the BIOS not recognizing the "new" Duron models, the ECS site list that explicitly as an addition to the latest BIOSes available there. These are 133 MHz bus, so yes, someone might have missed a step in their setup. That's for Duron-1400 and up though, 1300 and below are 100 MHz bus.

I have an Athlon 2400+ Barton, the motherboard bios is not letting me change the FSB to anything outside 100-132 range....anyone having this problem?

 

[DusterAZ]

Well ... if you really do have a 2400+ with a Barton core then that means you have a Mobile Athlon XP processor because there is no 2400+ Barton for the regular desktop Althon XP. I'm not sure if the K7VTA3 properly supports the mobile processors. But on my ABIT NF7-S 2.0 board it will detect a mobile processor as "unknown CPU type" and will default clock it at 6x100. But since I can change the mutilplier and FSB in the BIOS this is not an issue. I have a feeling that the ECS board doesn't have the mobile processors in its table of supported processors so it doesn't know the proper multiplier and FSB to set it at.

 

[Peter]

2400+ Barton? Sure? Desktop Bartons start at 2500+, so please double check what you have there.

Anyhow ... the BIOS lets you tweak the clock up from the base, non-overclocked setting, which in turn is set by jumper on some board models. RTM.

 

[WallyKid]

Originally posted by: Peter
2400+ Barton? Sure? Desktop Bartons start at 2500+, so please double check what you have there.

Anyhow ... the BIOS lets you tweak the clock up from the base, non-overclocked setting, which in turn is set by jumper on some board models. RTM.

Sorry, its Barton 2500+.

 

[nork]

I was under the impression that for this ECS board you had to use an athlon xp with 266 fsb and i think the bartons are 333 fsb?

YOu can see them here:

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduct.asp?catalog=343&DEPA=1&submit=property&mfrcode=0&propertycode=&propertycodevalue=4159

 

[Peter]

You're correct, there are no FSB266 Bartons for Desktop use. (There are Mobile and MP Bartons with FSB266, btw.) But at least the recent revisions of the K7VTA3 do run FSB333.

 

[WallyKid]

Mine is actually a 333fsb version 8.0c

 

[Peter]

Resurrecting this thread, here's another sibling from the brotherhood of almost-identical boards: Shuttle AK32VN. Looks very suspiciously like an identical twin of the PC-Chips M811 aka ECS K7VTA2pro - only the color differs, PC-Chips red, ECS violet, Shuttle blue.

Here

 

[nork]

are these the same as the K7VTA3?

 

[Peter]

Please see my model summary many posts further up for a precise table of what's what.

 

[tlingit1492]

Interesting that no-one has talked about using the 400fsb xp's. If you set the onboard jumper to 166 and go into bios, you'll see a bios setting upto 199 I do believe. And with that set to 199, you can use the 3000&3200 xp's w/400fsb. I emailed an ECS tech about this and he stated that ECS has successfully used the 3200 on this board (K7VTA3 v8.0c) and that it was safe for me to use this xp version. But to get more bang for the buck, I'd rather buy a 3000 w/400fsb. This is not much slower than the 3200, and is 20% cheaper on pricewatch.com, 3000@$143 and the 3200@$183. I did email the ECS tech about a month ago and have since deleted the email he sent me back about this(actually the question I sent him was about somethingelse and he added this bit of information to my original quation) I think someone should email the ECS techs and ask for the max cpu usage for the 8.0v just to verify my information. The more people that get the information from the tech's, the faster we can spred the word right? This board really isn't bad. My only complaint is that I can't use the Ati 9600 series cards. I bought a built by Ati 9600xt for $150 at bestbuy and had to return it because it wouldn't run on this board. But to be fair, it was more of a via incompatability issue, but ECS stated that they won't develop a bios to correct this issue where other board makers using the KT333 chipset have.

 

[Peter]

The problem with cranking the FSB speed up in BIOS is that other busses see a climbing clock frequency too. PCI and AGP cards may or may not like this. YMMV.

 

[cobraR22]

hey , i have K7VTA3 V5.0 , can i also use an Athlon 3000+ in this board ? , i now have an 2000+ but i want to upgrade it to eather 2800+ or 3000+ if this board support it. ,
I am kinda confused al these different revisions ,this board K7VTA3 V5.0 support FSB up to 166 right ? so 3000+ should work or not ? please if somebody knows it reply.

thanks a lot.


at the usa ecs website the cpu support page says that the board support up to Athlon 2800+ ,
But the JP website of ECS they DO say in the CPU support 3000+ so now i am verry confused...

http://www.google.nl/search?q=cache.../socketA.htm+k7vta3+3000++????&hl=nl&ie=UTF-8


(excuse my english)

 

[nork]

well, i just got a real steal on a xp 2600 + so i am waiting for that to come in, will install it on this board and the old 1900 on another board. I was planning on getting a 2800 or 3000 but this was a great deal.
I do charity work, put units together and they go to schoolkids who dont have a puter at home, i make future AT members lol !!!! So i always have lots of stuff around to play with and the 1900 will go in a charity unit!

I have received a lot of help for my charity from forum members at AT. ars, tech imo, amdmb, you guys are really generous!! Thank God i get free or cheap cpu/hs/fans, mobos, ram, drives of all types, etc, as i still have to buy monitors and printers, things that are too expensive to ship, so most of our money goes into those things.
Before anyone starts thread crapping, yes, my charity is totally 100% legit, charit org receipts, charit org #, the works.




Anyway, i see that people are still using this thread so lets get back on topic and no in-fighting please!!!!



I would like to know who has what cpu in this mobo.



I will have xp 2600 fsb 133 (266) in my v 8 mobo shortly, right now i have xp 1900 with same fsb, with latest bios, 8c i believe.


To Cobra
You should be ok as long as you get the cpu with the 133 (266) fsb and you have the latest bios installed.

 

[WallyKid]

Originally posted by: tlingit1492
Interesting that no-one has talked about using the 400fsb xp's. If you set the onboard jumper to 166 and go into bios, you'll see a bios setting upto 199 I do believe. And with that set to 199, you can use the 3000&3200 xp's w/400fsb. I emailed an ECS tech about this and he stated that ECS has successfully used the 3200 on this board (K7VTA3 v8.0c) and that it was safe for me to use this xp version. But to get more bang for the buck, I'd rather buy a 3000 w/400fsb. This is not much slower than the 3200, and is 20% cheaper on pricewatch.com, 3000@$143 and the 3200@$183. I did email the ECS tech about a month ago and have since deleted the email he sent me back about this(actually the question I sent him was about somethingelse and he added this bit of information to my original quation) I think someone should email the ECS techs and ask for the max cpu usage for the 8.0v just to verify my information. The more people that get the information from the tech's, the faster we can spred the word right? This board really isn't bad. My only complaint is that I can't use the Ati 9600 series cards. I bought a built by Ati 9600xt for $150 at bestbuy and had to return it because it wouldn't run on this board. But to be fair, it was more of a via incompatability issue, but ECS stated that they won't develop a bios to correct this issue where other board makers using the KT333 chipset have.

how do you sent onboard jumper to 166? Currently, i have a 2500+ barton which is suppose to run at about 1.8ghz, however, since the multiplier is lock at 11, and the FSB option is only from 100 to 132, it is not allowing me to clock it to the right speed. Another thing is, i hear that this motherboard can only take PC 2700 rams, and so i got a kingston one at 2.5L . Any suggestions will be appreciated. Thank you.