Athlon 1.3 and Epox 8KTA3+ board

[jjob]

I'm writing this on an Athlon 1.3 and Epox 8KTA3+ system, and to be honest, I wish I'd never heard of either of these. I bought a pair of barebones systems some time ago to act as servers, and I've had nothing but problems with them. Left in DOS with nothing running,they appear fine, attempt to load any Windows OS and the things crash every time. The only way I managed to get an OS on to one of them, was to pay PC World to load it. Even then, it is unreliable, I get regular blue screens, and IE and WIndows explorer bomb out regularly. I've run the various temperature checkers and hardware test systems recomended here, I've downloaded the latest software/bioses etc from Epox, applied all the MS patches, but no improvement in reliability and no indication that something is wrong.

I've got one in the corner gathering dust, and this one has just occupied some 3 hours of my time rescuing it after it hung during a reboot on an installation. Before I scrap the thing I thought I might as well see if there is someone in here who may have a useful suggestion. In my present frame of mind, "bin them and avoid Epox and Athlons" would be considered a useful suggestion.

I'm running WIndows 2000 Server, or in this machines case, I'm hobbling along with Windows 2000 server.

TIA

8-(

John

 

[crazy888s]

Have you tried some different RAM in the machine that you're sure is good and compatible?

Also, next time you get a "blue screen of death," write down the error code #'s that it gives you and do some research at

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/

with the error code as a search string. That could give you some hints...

 

[jjob]

TVM for the reply.

I've tried swapping memory between the two systems, as both were identical, the "barebones" systems were supplied with MB, Case, Memory, Processors and Coolers that were all supposed to be compatible. I added IBM drives, Creative DVD drives and standard Trident Video cards, one does have a Zoom wireless network card, but both machines behaved as 'badly as each other'. I've also checked the Blue screen messages and they consist of "memory" or "hardware" blue screens - I've run exhaustive tests on memory and hardware and all tests pass - I've used 2 different sets of software at least. I will, however look at trying out memory from another machine, in case the suppliers didn't actually know what they were on about.

I did wonder if power lines were the problem, but I've a spike suppressor and Pentium systems run happily under the same conditions, although they are either older DIY systems, or factory built portables.

 

[crazy888s]

First thing to check: I think with the Athlon 1300, your going to want to make sure the FSB in your bios is set to 100MHz.

Next: Try the memory from another machine and let us know the results.

Your board seems to support 1.5 GB total of High Density SDRAM....PC100 or PC133....sticks can be anything from 64MB to 512MB each.

 

[jjob]

TVM again, but what is FSB, I can't see any entry in the BIOS to change.

regards

John

 

[paparazi]

Poor quality memory would be my guess, barebones systems tend to be supplied with the cheapest generic memory available to keep the price down and competative.
Next would be heat, although the 1.3 Thunderbird is a couple of years old now it was and is a HOT CPU, unfortunately this wasn't recognised at the time and the size and efficiency of supplied heatsink/coolers were often inadequate at that time. If you compare a basic cooler NOW to what you have fitted, I bet they are half the size and doughtless struggle to keep a 1.3T/bird cool and stable. just a foot note* don't forget you must use a small amount of thermal compound on the raised core of the Athlon (recess in the heatsink base must also be positioned over the socket"A" writing to avoid overheating)
The Via KT133a motherboard chipset was a very stable platform and every bit as solid as Intel chipset platforms of the same year.
Last but not least are the power supplies and the same rules that I mentioned with the memory, cheap barebones kits come with cheap cases that come with cheap power supplies, the last thing you want in a server is a cheap PSU, by there very nature the voltage they supply is often not regulated as well and the capacity to supply under load is often suspect, only quality PSU's are recommended for stability and that rule doesn't just apply to servers.
Don't blame the Athlon or the Epox but the supporting cheap generic components.
Martin

http://www.overclockersonline.com/index.php?page=articles&num=76

Replying helps further our knowledge, without comment leaves us wondering.

 

[jjob]

Heat doesn't seem to be a problem, 47C seems to be the highest CPU temp, which I'm told is OK. The rest is worrying, it would suggest that you need to pay a premium for stuff to work - the memory says NCP, but as yet I've no checked the PSU manufacturer.

The instructions I received on setting up the CPU and cooler ( a large cooler I hasten to add) made no mention of thermal compound, indeed the CPU had a plastic cover over it that was to be removed, and an oily substance was underneath, which I assumed was some form of thermal conductor.

I'll check on the PSU and look at other memory,I have some from Crucial, which is compatible, I'm assuming Crucial supply decent chips?

 

[paparazi]

47C is fine, anything under 60C should be stable.
No you don't have to pay a premium for reliable parts but buying barebones generally means the cheapest of the cheap, even the actual memory modules are non descript.
The phase changing pad on the heatsink isn't the best but should be fine given the temperatures you are quoting.
Crucial is a good reliable supplier.
You only need to ask a custom builder if he uses generic memory in his own PC or if he is using a cheap generic PSU in his tower to realise that those in the know pay that little bit extra for branded components.
Antec, Enermax or PSU's for example
Memory modules using Samsung, Winbound, Hynix chips
Top brand HD's Maxtor, Seagate, IBM, Western Digital, samsung
ETC ETC
Given that there are no particular reported problems with your motherboard and that from a clean install you cntinue to have problems I can only conclude that your problem is hardware related and memory is always No1 suspect given your symptoms.
Martin


Replying helps further our knowledge, without comment leaves us wondering.

 

[jjob]

I thought I'd round this thread off with a very interesting update - as usual every few months I have another go at getting these damn machines running, but this time I decided to try Windows 2003 (I'm an MSDN subscriber so I have a choice) - lo and behold, BOTH machines are currently running with Windows 2003 Standard Server, I had (so far) one blue screen and that was on install, the message said if this was the first BSOD restart the install, so I did and now I have 2 running machines!!!

If they fall over, I will post here - strikes me it was drivers of some shape or form! It could be temperature but as the house is centrally heated and I'm not suffering from cold, and I've NEVER in any conditions ever had the second of the machines running, I doubt it.

 

[BionicJohn]

Hi, jjob,

Good to hear you're happy!

I've had a Epox 8KTA3+ for about 18 months and it's being boring because it works. I have the FSB set at 133MHz and a Athlon 1900+. I choose it on the strength of several very positive reviews, and it's fine with Win2K pro.

The CPU is not located in the best position for maximum cooling, so I run the PC with the case's side door off resulting in a displayed CPU temp of between 41° and 50° with the ambient temperature being a major factor. Closing the case up can easily raise the temp by 10°.

Iechyd da! John
Glannau Mersi, Lloegr.