Hello Daniel,
I haven't welcomed you to the thread. WELCOME!!!
Re: I need to upgrade my k62-300. You mentioned that the best choice (vis-a-vis the L2 speed) was an Athlon 700. (I can't wait for the Duron, my system is dead!). What motherboard choice is better, an EPOX w/Kx133 chipset or an ASUS K7M w/AMD751 chipset (or the ASUS K7V)? Would you (or anybody else!) recommend a different motherboard?
Well, Murphy (of Murphy's law) is at it again..."I can't wait for the Duron, my system is dead!". The TBird/Duron platform will be cheaper and better and will soon hit the DIY market. Murphy sure knew what he was talking about!!!
My personal experience is limited to the ASUS K7M and I've had excellent results with this board in terms of quality, performance, and stability. It's a very good board, arguably the best of the first generation Athlon boards. I've used this board with both WIN98 and NT4.0 SP6 Server. I'm was really surprised at the increased performance I got from the Athlon 700 MHz server, I wasn't expecting the performance increase I got. I've also had opportunity to use the 700's on the K7M's as network clients and even some gaming using the Matrox G400 Max video and MX300 Aureal sound card. No problem running FS98, FS2000, Unreal (any), Desent 3, Grim Fandango, Half Life, and the CPU/Video has the power to turn all options "on". For work or play the Athlon 700 and K7M has been nothing but a winning combination (and...no I don't sell ASUS or AMD or anything else, just reporting my experience).
My general impression of the EPOX KX133 is that it probably has less stability, though some boards don't display this instability and some do. I never used it...just what I've gleened from others. If I was going to KX133 (slightly faster but not noticably so) it would be the K7V I'd look at first, ASUS's reputation for quality and stability was confirmed by my experience with the K7M. I've heard talk that the K7V with possible BIOS upgrade will function with the new TBird. Steve Harris recently put together a K7V 700 system and knows more than I about that board.
Hope this helps some, let me know what you decide, I'm interested. Good luk with your decision.
Kindest regards,
CrazyMan |
