IS it worth it? Upgrade from A7V

[KK]

Can anyone enlighten me as to the benefits of upgrading from a A7V MB to a Abit KT7A-Raid. Right now I have a 1Ghz TBird clocked to 1.25 Ghz via 100x12.5 I have tried to move the FSB up to around 105 and dropping the multiplier down to 10 but at that, it is unstable. Will moving to the Abit board allow the FSB to be 133 or does that depend on the processor. The ram I am currently using is 2 sticks of crucial 256MB CAS2, and one 256MB stick I purchased from Premier. The premier stick was supposed to be CAS2 but it posts at CAS3. When I go into BIOS to change the settings to 2-2-2, it won't post. Is there anything I can do to get this chip to run at cas2?

Thanks
KK

 

[Renob]

I would not change boards if i were you. What longer and the prices will come down. and pull that odd ball stick of ram if you do I bet you can get your fsb to run faster.

 

[bacillus]

stick with the A7V for now. if you need more memory performance, you could try flashing with the A7V133 bios but you'll be unlikely to o/clock futher.
if you're sceptical about flashing with different m/board bios then look here!

 

[Dark4ng3l]

If the ram wont run at cas2 you cant realy do anything about it. I would return the stick for a refund since it was suposed to be cas2.

 

[lundog22]

Thats what I want to ask too. I have the A7V right now. If you set the fsb any higher then hmm 106, the system become unstable. I am using 2 sticks of 128MB Kingmax PC150 too . Thinking of just getting rid of the mobo and RAM and get the new A7M266 and some 2100DDR. What you guys think?

 

[cmaMath13]

Please, don't upgrade now. You need to really think about this: If you make such a small upgrade now (with little performance increase), when will you be satsified? 3 months? 6 months? 9 months?

Do get yourself into a viscious circle.

 

[Dexion]

Well I just upgraded my KT7 RAID to a KTA Raid and thought it was reasonable. I simply sold my old board for a reasonable price. Basically I forked over a little less than $50 for the upgrade, the shipping and I don't think I made a wrong decision whatsoever! Infact, I upgrade often and spend not alot of money doing so, as long as I resell the "Not so old" part to someone who wants it at a better price than retail

 

[chriscraft]

LOL...wish I had your guys money, (If I did I wouldn't spend it on an upgrade...lets see..vacation trip sounds great...LOL)

seriously, how much more performance does anyone really need if the have a 900 or higher system with decent components...

I have a T-Bird running at 900 on my A7V, and I love it...I can't think of a single program or a game I'm running that I'm not happy with it's performance.. suppose I'll upgrade someday, but I'd really need to a ROI,(ReturnOntheInvestment). I can't see where even a 1.2 gig will make my PC work that much better that I would notice or care..

Saying all that, any of the good new KT133A chipset boards that have overclocking abilities is the way to go for overclocking the FSB over 100...

The A7V has the KT133 chipset, and it's not very stable over 103-105 (on any KT133 M/B), including the A7V. The most recent reviews of the Asus and Abit KT133A M/B's are excellent.. you can overclock the FSB up to 150Mhz and still be stable.... At these higher FSB's, their performance is almost as good as the new DDR boards

The Abit KT7A is an excellent choice, up too 150 FSB, and RAID 0, or 1, or 0+1, the new A7V133 has only RAID 0, but also has great performance like the KT7133

Still hard to beleive you don't think an A7V is fast enough, even at CAS 3??

 

[KK]

So upgrading to a KT7A-Raid wouldn't give that big of a CPU preformance boost? How about going raid? Will this be enough reason to justify it. I plan on doing some video capture from my camcorder. Will running two or three drives stripping give a better transfer rate that would be beneficial for this type of use.

 

[The_Lurker]

Basically, upgrading to the K7A-Raid would give u the ability to go to 133mhz bus and raid capabilities.

 

[twong82]

wait until the prices drop

 

[Alfred]

Don´t buy new motherboard, just go and flash A7V with A7V133 newest bios. See detail here
I did that already, it boost memory performance, without loosing any stability.

Alfred

 

[lundog22]

If you got the money or can't wait, then upgrade. If you don't then just wait for a bit.

I just upgrade from A7V to A7V133 because I am not the waiting person.

 

[KK]

Can you flash the A7V with A7v133 bios without screwing anything? What exact benefits would this gain?

KK

 

[lundog22]

yes you can, but the A7V is still no A7V133 when it comes to FSB setting (133-140+fsb)