Originally posted by: poolsiddrfter
First, this is a great thread!
I will be receiving my 8k5a2+ today along with a 1600+ and 256mg Geil 3500 Plat memory.
I'm excited to get things rolling and see how far I can o/c this system. I have a question
about the onboard sound which I'll be using. Will there be any problem with the o/b sound card
if I am o/c the fsb and multiplier? Also, I was thinking of using the mobo LAN for hooking up
my cable connection. Will o/c mess with that also? Is the mobo LAN card any good for that
matter? Thanks for any help
Hello. I have never heard of that memory. Is it true PC2700? If so, you'll have no probs. See, the 8K5A2 boards have 1/5 PCI divider that kicks in at 166MHz. So, when you run 10.5 x 166, the PCI/AGP cards are running perfectly at their ideal speeds of 33/66MHz. If you start to get up in the 170's/180's then you MAY suffer instability. Otherwise you'll have zero probs.
The onboard LAN is just dandy. In normal everyday use, you cannot tell that you're using onboard vs. a PCI card LAN. I ran the Network benchmark in SANDRA b/t this box and the server on my LAN. Got better than 10mb/s transfer rate. I'd say that means it's working fine.
AFA the onboard sound goes; I'm not using it. I have a SBLive XGAMER that I've grown fond of. The onboard sound is OK, but IMO doesn't compare to a QUALITY card. Now, if your soundcard is an ancient SBLIVE 16, then you may want to use the onboard sound. It's not that the onboard sound is BAD...it's not....it just is not as good as a good PCI solution. I have sensitive ears, though. YMMV.