Epox 8-KHA+ comments wanted

Hi All,

Just RMA'd my Asus A7V-E board today and have had to step back down to a lowly P2-233...Uggg. Anyway, i was looking for a replacement mobo to put my Duron 900 in and have heard good things about the Epox, both here and at review sites. Ok, so its over the top for a Duron but its an ideal upgrade and gives me an excuse to get a Tbird at a later date :-) I know i'll need new DDR ram but anything else to bear in mind before i buy? Any known probs with Soundblaster Live! cards for instance? Any thoughts or impressions on this board (and this board only, no Abit's, Asus's or MSI's...or owt else!)? :p

Cheers,

Yes, get it! :D

It's not only as of now the highest performing KT266a based board but Epox boards rule. I have an 8k7a+ (8k7a with RAID, AMD 761 chipset) and it's ROCK SOLID, even with an overclock of a 1.4ghz Athlon to 1.6ghz, with mediocre cooling. Haven't had one problem or blue screen with it yet (with the exception of instability because i set my RAM timings too low.).

Only problem I've had is a low 5v rail, but that was fixed by a simple PSU tweak and the issue is supposedly resolved with the 8kha+.

Not sure about the SB Live, I think that problem was resolved with the KT266a..if someone can prove me wrong, then buy the 8k7a (AMD 761), it's pretty cheap.

Epox boards have incredible bang-for-the-buck..again I highly recommend it ;)

The SB Live! problem is still supposedly (I say supposedly as I have never seen it or encountered any of well over 100+ systems all using the combination) apparent with the newer Southbridge.

If you don't wish to hear of better boards avaailable, I won't mention them, but you won't need to be opening your PSU up to tweak a potentiometer in it or solder resistors, etc, to make it stable, with another brand of board using the same chipset :D :D

My Wife's Aunt's company are now regretting ever distributing Epox boards (main UK distributor) as they are having a lot returned to them (not just Athlon/Duron based) with problems ranging from the flaky power issue to totally DOA. All of these boards are coming direct from Epox themselves as well, not a seperate distributor.

The choice is yours though, but the ones I have seen didn't impress me.

[quote]Originally posted by Darren Wilson:
<strong>If you don't wish to hear of better boards avaailable, I won't mention them, but you won't need to be opening your PSU up to tweak a potentiometer in it or solder resistors, etc, to make it stable, with another brand of board using the same chipset :D :D </strong><hr></blockquote>

PSU tweak = about 2 minutes, and totally unnecessary with the model he mentioned.

Even with low 5v rails there are no stability issues. But I'm a performance junkie, trying to get everything I can out of it (it allows for better OCing). (It's a sickness. :D )

[quote]Originally posted by JungleMan:
<strong>

PSU tweak = about 2 minutes, and totally unnecessary with the model he mentioned.

Even with low 5v rails there are no stability issues. But I'm a performance junkie, trying to get everything I can out of it (it allows for better OCing). (It's a sickness. :D )</strong><hr></blockquote>

& voided warranty immediatly on an opened PSU :D

[quote]Originally posted by Darren Wilson:
<strong>

& voided warranty immediatly on an opened PSU :D </strong><hr></blockquote>

Whoops :D

Oh well...I recommend the 8kha+, no 5v rail issue, stable as hell, OCable, and everything else. Darren must've had bad luck with em, sorry to hear that..

No further comments, I hope someone else replies with a 2nd opinion.

Goody. My 8kha+ should be here in about a week. I wonder how WinXP will like it.

Have ya got it yet techs? Still waiting for a refund for the Asus board so i haven't ordered mine yet. CDRW has just gone down too so i'll be getting a Plextor 24/10/40 too...yummy :)

[quote]Originally posted by JungleMan:
<strong>

Whoops :D

Oh well...I recommend the 8kha+, no 5v rail issue, stable as hell, OCable, and everything else. Darren must've had bad luck with em, sorry to hear that..

No further comments, I hope someone else replies with a 2nd opinion.</strong><hr></blockquote>

Ummm... it's a tad late, but I have an 8k7a+, and I love it :) What was that PSU tweak you talked about? And what PSU do you have? I am showing 5.12v on my 5v rail, and 3.47v on my 3.3v... just wondering if that's out of range or anything. Also... core runs at 1.85v as the default. Any ideas why this might be?

1.2GHz Tbird, 256MB crucial c2400, etc, etc. Got an InWin case with a 300W PowerMan AMD approved PSU.

[quote]Originally posted by PitaBred:
<strong>

Ummm... it's a tad late, but I have an 8k7a+, and I love it :) What was that PSU tweak you talked about? And what PSU do you have? I am showing 5.12v on my 5v rail, and 3.47v on my 3.3v... just wondering if that's out of range or anything. Also... core runs at 1.85v as the default. Any ideas why this might be?

1.2GHz Tbird, 256MB crucial c2400, etc, etc. Got an InWin case with a 300W PowerMan AMD approved PSU.</strong><hr></blockquote>

Strange, i and most of the people I have talked to with this board have had problems with the voltages on the 8k7a/8k7a+. My 5v rail was down at 4.87 with an Antec 300w PSU (I also own an 8k7a+)

Basically involves tweaking the POT inside the power supply (be careful), thankfully my Antec was this easy to mod (took about 3 minutes)-- the Enermaxes require a much more complex procedure.

Doesn't happen with the 8kha+ though, from what I've heard.

And, BTW, those voltages are fine. Ever since the PSU mod, I'm getting 5.11 on my 5v.

I'm going to have to agree with Darren on this one. I've had nothing but problems with Epox boards, whether they're socket A or not. I think what's happening is Epox is in such a rush to get their board to market first that they aren't doing a whole lot of testing before they send them out. I've been using Abit boards lately and haven't had any problems yet. The last one I used was a KG7 with a Sound Blaster Live! 5.1. Works great. The new Abit KR7 hasn't made it yet, but I'm not one to go and buy something right when it comes out anyway. That gives them a chance to fix any little incompatabilities and so on. I see that the 8-KHA+ is doing well in reviews, but not good enough for me to try them anymore.

That name sure didn't come out the way it used to. Some kind of a glitch in this new forum? I updated profile, so all is well. I think.

[quote]Originally posted by orange:
<strong>Have ya got it yet techs? Still waiting for a refund for the Asus board so i haven't ordered mine yet. CDRW has just gone down too so i'll be getting a Plextor 24/10/40 too...yummy :) </strong><hr></blockquote>

Yes, I received the board with all the other components. I am going to build it this weekend. Let you know.

I do prefer the Asus boards...........but, my personal gamer has an Epox (8KTA3 1.33 Athlon @266), as do A TON of my builds. I have never had but one go bad in 2 years. Built the box and a tiny cap flew off on power-up?!!?!?!?!?! Had a new board in 4 days with RMA.

I just upgraded my mom's pc with an abit kt7-raid, and an 800 mhz duron.

This is the best board i've ever seen, this blows them all out of the water, it was a decent price also, i paid $80 plus shipping for a new board.

I highly recomend this board