Need advice-Asus K7M

Hey, I've got a K7M board as well. (getting ready to upgrade once I get the ca$h) Checked the manual and here's what it had to say about the 1x/2x deal, "AGP Slot: Supports Accelerated Graphics Port card for high performance component level interconnect targeted at 3D graphical display applications using a 1x or 2x mode bus." I can't find much else about this specific function. B/c I can find no other reference to this, I would have to interpret the above statement to mean that the application determines whether 1x or 2x bus is used. BTW, I've been browsing the bios on my mobo for quite a while now and I can assure you that I have never seen anything that would lead me to think that you could switch on 1x or 2x bus mode on the AGP port.

To answer your second question, from what I can tell the fastest Slot A processor you can get is 1000mhz(max might only be 850mhz :[ ). Is it worth it, some would say yes, others would say no. If you are interested in getting a new processor, make sure you compare the prices b/w a new one and an oldie - ie. the 1000mhz Slot A. This will help you make a more informed decision of course.

To try to answer a future question you might have, how much faster will it be? Well, it would definitely be noticeably faster, but... I'm going to save up my bones and build a new system with some of the newer/est components to hit the market. I've had my computer for almost 3 years now(wow...that's long to me) and it's time for me to upgrade. Games don't run as fast as they used to. hehe

Sorry for the long-winded post, and hope that helps.


<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by Truth0r on 08/18/02 02:18 AM.</EM></FONT></P>

If your current setup doesn't meet your requirements, I would just order a 1600xp ($57 newegg) with a board that uses sdram such as the shuttle ak32L ($49 newegg). This would be a better long term solution than buying another slot a cpu.

Thanks for some answers. What I really wanted to know (at least for the moment), is if my 700mhz Athlon can top 5000 in 3dmark2001SE, but with a new mobo and AXP it looks like I could get at least over 8000, maybe more. But I might not be so cheap to get SDRAM! Is an nForce mobo worth buying? Which one? Thanks for all the help and any more you can give.

Oh, and it's funny you mention an AXP 1600+ from newegg.com, I just mentioned the same thing yesterday to someone else. I might go for an 1800+ though, it's about 12 dollars more.

You only die once, don't mess it up.
<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by mac404 on 08/18/02 10:51 AM.</EM></FONT></P>

5000 in 3D Mark 2001 SE build 330?? doubtfull....unless u overclock ur Processor AND ur Video Card MAYBE....

about the AGP 1x 2x thing....

AMD 751 chipsets had a problem running GeForce based video cards at AGP 2x so the driver automatically disables AGP 2x setting when it finds the video card running on a AMD 751 chipset.....

<A HREF="http://www.anandtech.com/mysystemrig.html?id=13597" target="_new">-MeTaL RoCkEr</A>

Does build 330 lower performance a lot or something? I'm already getting 4700 3dmarks default everything with 384mb sdram. And that's sucky about the AGP2x thing, I feel gipped.

EDIT: Compare URL:http://service.madonion.com/compare?2k1=3874131

You only die once, don't mess it up.
<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by mac404 on 08/18/02 11:37 AM.</EM></FONT></P>

The reason I mentioned the 1600xp is that someone in another forum just got one from newegg's latest batch, and ran it for a few minutes at 166 fsb (about 1750) without raising the cpu vcore.

Yea....i could do that with my XP 1600+ also at defualt voltage if my i had the KT333 chipset and PC2700 DDR..

im on the A7S333 (SiS 745 Chipset) with PC2100 DDR...and i get to 158MHz FSB.....i can go to 160....but i get memory dump errors....so yea......

OH...and about the K7M...yea the AGP 2x thing sux.....but no build 330 doesnt lower scores...infact i think it makes them a bit better as it gives more support for stuff.... =)

<A HREF="http://www.anandtech.com/mysystemrig.html?id=13597" target="_new">-MeTaL RoCkEr</A>

Thanks for all the help. I might try build 330 and see what happens before anything else right now. I don't expect anything huge, or even tangible, though.

You only die once, don't mess it up.