**Official Epox 8K5A Series (KT333) Thread** (Files, Reviews, and Info Inside!)

[RideFree]

Sorry about taking so long to get back to the memory issue(s).

256MB Kingmax TinyBGA true PC3200 DDR400 CL2.5 (CAS2.5) 184pin non-ECC DIMM

but this is what is available at the same price as the Samsung PC2700 at Kommax.com (per your post, Insane).

What do yer think!

 

[Actaeon]

Originally posted by: ridefree
Sorry about taking so long to get back to the memory issue(s).

256MB Kingmax TinyBGA true PC3200 DDR400 CL2.5 (CAS2.5) 184pin non-ECC DIMM

but this is what is available at the same price as the Samsung PC2700 at Kommax.com (per your post, Insane).

What do yer think!

I'm running an AROIA-Y 1600, 8K5A2, and that same Memory.

I can run Turbo settings, except at CAS 2.5, at 181mhz FSB, 100% stable, making 1.9ghz. Using a 2.8VDimm,

I havn't tried to get much higher, as 1.9 is fine for me, and not sure whats holding me back... (cpu/ram/mobo/pci/agp)

I personally like the memory, though I hear mixed reviews about it. Some people say its junk, other say is great.

 

[Athlonstein]

FYI

Latest VIA 4in1 Drivers (v4.43)

released today (9-13-2002).

 

[bcmind]

What's the different between these 3 boards?

8K5A2+
8K5A2+ B1
8K5A2+ B2

 

[Insane3D]

Originally posted by: bcmind
What's the different between these 3 boards?

8K5A2+
8K5A2+ B1
8K5A2+ B2

B1 comes with this Bluetooth module.


The B2 comes with this Bluetooth dongle.

Also, they have the following posted below the B2 boards specs...

For reference only. This product not sold in the North American region.

 

[Mem]

There`s a EPoX 8K5A3+ motherboard review at TweakTown .

 

[RideFree]

Act , Insane,

I'm running an AROIA-Y 1600, 8K5A2, and that same Memory

Sorry for the confusion, here's what I meant...
Samsung PC2700 vs the Kingmax PC3200 at the same price...
Which do you buy?

 

[TvE]

I'm about to order an 8K5A2+ with an XP1900+ and am looking around for memory. Two questions: (1) is there any performance advantage of getting PC2700 over PC2100? And (2) can anyone recommend MWAVE/MULTIWAVE memory (e.g. 512MB PC2700 for $129 in stock)? Thanks much!!!

 

[Technonut]

Sorry for the confusion, here's what I meant... Samsung PC2700 vs the Kingmax PC3200 at the same price...Which do you buy?

If you are planning to really OC the FSB, I would go with Corsair XMS 3200. (Either CAS2.5 Rev. 2.1 or CAS2. Rev. 1.1.) Corsair guarantees their RAM at the specified speed. If it does not, they will allow you to RMA it. If the Samsung 2700 does not go past PC2700, you are stuck with it. I have 2 sticks of Samsung PC2700 DTL that will not OC much at all. The Samsung CTL was very good at OC'ing, but very difficult to find now. I have not tried the KingMax TBGA 3200, but did have a few sticks of the 2700 that did not impress me much at all.

EDIT: The 512MB Corsair XMS3200 Rev. 2.1 (Winbond chips) runs at a 214FSB in my 8K5A2+ at CAS2.

EDIT: Corsair also has a very good support forum Here That has a Corsair rep on hand to address issues.

 

[Actaeon]

Originally posted by: Technonut

Sorry for the confusion, here's what I meant... Samsung PC2700 vs the Kingmax PC3200 at the same price...Which do you buy?

If you are planning to really OC the FSB, I would go with Corsair XMS 3200. (Either CAS2.5 Rev. 2.1 or CAS2. Rev. 1.1.) Corsair guarantees their RAM at the specified speed. If it does not, they will allow you to RMA it. If the Samsung 2700 does not go past PC2700, you are stuck with it. I have 2 sticks of Samsung PC2700 DTL that will not OC much at all. The Samsung CTL was very good at OC'ing, but very difficult to find now. I have not tried the KingMax TBGA 3200, but did have a few sticks of the 2700 that did not impress me much at all.

EDIT: The 512MB Corsair XMS3200 Rev. 2.1 (Winbond chips) runs at a 214FSB in my 8K5A2+ at CAS2.

EDIT: Corsair also has a very good support forum Here That has a Corsair rep on hand to address issues.

Technonut, I think he wants to compare the Kingmax and the Samsung as both are at the same price.

I believe there are 2 types of Samsung Memory. Geninue (100% made by Samsung), which overclocks extremely well. And the other memory, is just Samsung chips on 3rd party PCBs. I hear those don't OC very well.

I'm happy with my Kingmax... though I'd say, it's your call.

 

[Technonut]

I believe there are 2 types of Samsung Memory. Geninue (100% made by Samsung), which overclocks extremely well. And the other memory, is just Samsung chips on 3rd party PCBs. I hear those don't OC very well.

The CTL and DTL versions of Samsung that I am referring to is genuine Samsung chips on Samsung PCBs. (Not 3rd party)

I realize that ridefree wants to compare the Kingmax and the Samsung. I am just making a suggestion in case he may want RAM that is guaranteed to run at a 200 FSB, and has excellent support. It is his call. The 8K5A2+ is capable of a very stable, high FSB. It takes very good quality RAM to get the most out of it.

 

[RideFree]

"Bleeding Edge" is always a day late and a dollar short

I think you should change this to: ("Bleeding Edge" is always a day late and costs at least an extra hun.)

 

[Technonut]

I think you should change this to: ("Bleeding Edge" is always a day late and costs at least an extra hun.)

Sometimes if you wanna play, you gotta pay...

 

[Hankysmoo]

I'm in the market for a new socket a motherboard and was wondering if I should buy the epox 8k3ae for $14 cheaper or just get the 8k5a2? USB2.0 doesn't seem like a feature that I would need so it basically boils down to the onboard audio and performance of the two. Any advice? TIA

 

[bcmind]

Originally posted by: Hankysmoo
I'm in the market for a new socket a motherboard and was wondering if I should buy the epox 8k3ae for $14 cheaper or just get the 8k5a2? USB2.0 doesn't seem like a feature that I would need so it basically boils down to the onboard audio and performance of the two. Any advice? TIA

I would recommend the newer one (8K5A2) since you're upgrading the whole system (I assume).

 

[bcmind]

They finally have the VT6103 driver correct!

VT6103 Driver

EDIT:

somehow i still couldn't get device manager to show VT6103.

 

[mooo]

bcmind, have you been having any problems with the VT6103? if so what kind?

Would anyone happen to know if the VT6103 supports full duplex operation even at 100 Mbps? I am trying to find out how this transciever compares to a Broadcom transciever or even a 3Com NIC. Would it be better to get a 3Com NIC rather than use the onboard LAN provided by the 8K5A2+?

 

[Mem]

Short review of EPoX 8K5A2+ & EPoX 8K5A3+ range here .

These top quality EPoX 8K5A2+ & EPoX 8K5A3+ motherboards with excellent stability and overclocking can only be a top choice for anybody looking for a KT333 AMD Athlon XP motherboard for either everyday use or overclocking. Because of their quality and performance we are awarding these EPoX motherboards two of our Gold Medals.

 

[rcraig]

Aarrrggghhhh!!!
I got the 8K5A2+ and all seemed well. I hooked my hd to the raid and started a clean install of WinXp Pro, loaded the drivers and installed the OS. After I finally made it to the desktop the mouse was skipping around so I applied the critical updates and rebooted. Nothing but hangs on boot. I changed to the IDE controler and it booted perfectly. The board worked for two days then on Saturday, nothing. No fans, post, or anything. Just silence. After plugging/unplugging everything I tried the PS cable and when it was half off, a fan kicked a little. I found if I plug the PS in all the way, the board was dead. If I pull it half off and wiggle, some things would start. I tried another PS and the same result. Time to RMA to Newegg. Still, the features on this board are great. I hope the replacement works. I need this system up and running. My old mb is dying a slow but painful death and I don't know how much longer she'll last.

RCraig

Update:
I received my replacement from Newegg and all is well. The raid is working and everything is stable. Now for the long process of installing all my programs...

 

[bcmind]

Originally posted by: mooo
bcmind, have you been having any problems with the VT6103? if so what kind?

I wouldn't say it's a "problem", everything works great except on "Device Manager" under "Network Adapter" it shows VT6102 as the adapter, but the 8K5A2+ comes with VT6103 chip. It works fine with VT6102 tho...

Would anyone happen to know if the VT6103 supports full duplex operation even at 100 Mbps? I am trying to find out how this transciever compares to a Broadcom transciever or even a 3Com NIC. Would it be better to get a 3Com NIC rather than use the onboard LAN provided by the 8K5A2+?

IMO, you can hardly ever max out or reach your LAN speed to 100 Mbps if it's just for gaming and file transfer at home. So it didn't matter much 3com or VIA's as long as a branded name, you will be fine!

 

[Insane3D]

Updated Links above for all 8K5A boards... If you come across any new reviews or other relevant information, please post a link so I can add it. I haven't seen too much user feedback yet...

I have been running two of the 8K5A2+ boards for a couple weeks now, and they have been fast, stable, and just an absolute pleasure to work with. The systems are as follows...

System 1

AGOIA 1600+ XP @ 166mhz FSB, 1.75ghz, 1.75v
Taisol Copper Bottom HSF
512mb Samsung (OEM) PC2700 @ 166mhz
Radeon AIW 7500 (passive cooled)
Philips Seismic Edge (PSC 705)
80gb Maxtor D740X (Fluid Bearing)
Pioneer 16X DVD (Slot Load)
Enermax 431W PSU

System 2

AGOIA 1600+ @ 172mhz FSB, 1.8ghz, 1.80v
Alpha PAL8045
512mb (2 x 256) Kingmax PC3200
128mb Radeon 8500 (Retail) (passive cooled)
Philips Acoustic Edge (PSC 706)
80gb WD "SE" (8mb Cache)
Lite-On 48X CDRW (Flashed 40X)
Pioneer 16X DVD (Slot Load)
Hollywood Plus DVD Decoder (For TV Output Only)
Antec 350W PSU

I will be posting some benchmarks and such comparing both systems soon, and I also have flashed to the 9/5 beta bios on "System 2" and it seems a bit faster. I will hopefully be able to include a bios comparison soon too..

 

[Mem]

New Epox 8K5A3+ KT333 Motherboard Review here ,another one for you to update Pete .

The 8K5A3+ is an excellent replacement for the aging 8K3A+. It offers a number of new useful integrations, e.g. 10/100 LAN, USB 2.0 and the debatable 4-channel raid. 8K5A3+ offers the highest level of performance in the KT-333 motherboard, just like the 8K3A+. We have no hesitation in recommending this board to anyone who is looking for a fast, stable and highly overclockable KT-333 motherboard.

 

[MaxDSP]

Im thinking of buying the 8k53+, XP 1400+, and 256-384 MB PC2700 RAM. what are the best places to buy this stuff from? For the RAM, crucial has a lifetime warranty on its chips, so should i pay the extra amount and go with crucial?

 

[Insane3D]

Originally posted by: MaxDSP
Im thinking of buying the 8k53+, XP 1400+, and 256-384 MB PC2700 RAM. what are the best places to buy this stuff from? For the RAM, crucial has a lifetime warranty on its chips, so should i pay the extra amount and go with crucial?

Ok, first of all, before you go with the 8K5A3+, let me ask you a question. Do you need 4 RAID IDE ports vs the normal two on the 8K5A2+, and do you plan on filling up more than three memory slots with Registered DDR? The only difference between the 3+ and the 2+ is one extra memory slot that would require registered memory to fill all four, and the extra two IDE ports. If you don't plan on doing a 4 HD RAID array, the 8K5A3+ seems like overkill for you.


Now, I'm assuming when you say 1400+, you mean the 1.4ghz 1600+. So I'll quote prices on the 1600+ since there is no such CPU as the 1400+. Also, all memory that I have seen, even generic, usually comes with a lifetime warranty...that's not exclusive to Crucial by any means. One other thing with the memory, do you plan on running speeds in excess of 166mhz? If not, regular Samsung DDR will do you fine. If you plan on running really high speeds, like 180mhz +, you will need to get some of the more expensive Corsair DDR.


Here's a nice little config for you...


Epox 8K5A2+ @ Mwave - $99.51

Athlon XP 1600+ @ Newegg - $56 (Free Shipping)

512mb Samsung PC2700 @ Kommax - $126

Total: $281.51

 

[Blain]

The FedEx man should be dropping off my 8K5A3+ today. It looks like it will be a good match for my Corsair PC3000C2
My water block and system are all ready and waiting!