Abit KT7A useless at high speeds, 1.5Ghz+?

[MCS]

I have an Athlon 1.4 guarenteed to 1.6 which I am having problems running at its guarenteed speed. I am already at max voltage and Prime95 still will not run. I have pretty much ruled out every possibility except for two things 1) The chip is just not going to run at 1.6 and I should return it or 2) Its my Abit KT7A. Now I was told by the place I ordered the chip from that every single chip in the batch did 1680Mhz at least. I have read before about people not reaching very good speeds on the Abit and getting 50Mhz+ on say the IWill boards. Currently the chip is stable somewhere around the 1550Mhz mark. Should I keep the chip, get a different board and sell this Abit? Or should I return the chip and perhaps risk getting another one that doesnt run at 1.6, proving that is IS my board?

Thanks

 

[DonNiggera]

Make sure you have good enough cooling w/o that, you're SOL...

Also, your memory needs to be able to run that high too... bad memory = bad overclocking.

Post more specs about your computer...etc..

 

[ndee]

I'm wondering why anandtech made the System Rig Feature....

 

[DonNiggera]

Oh piss...yeah I guess I forgot about that :/

 

[DonNiggera]

welp, beats me then

 

[jimmygates]

Have you tried unlocking the multiplier of your CPU and running your chip at 12x133mhz? I have to admit, Abit motherboards don't really overclock very good in the FSB department compared to the likes of IWill. It the board will run at 12x133mhz then it might be your board is fussy with any mhz over the default 133mhz FSB. If it still can't do 1600mhz at 12x133mhz then you might want to consider returning the CPU.



-jimbo

 

[MCS]

12x133, 1.85V, 3.5V I/O is what I am trying to run. I just dont think these Abit boards cut it at these speeds. I know someone who has one of the same chips from the same batch and he says he can get 1680Mhz @ 1.8V on a IWill.

 

[Insane3D]

MCS:

The thing you heard about Abit's KT7A not overclocking as well as other boards is true. Let me give you an example of what happened to me. I have a 1.2ghz AVIA and I originally bought a couple KT7A-R's when they came out. The highest speed I could get the AVIA stable at was 1.35ghz @ 1.85v. So, I kept hearing how great the Iwill board was, and I finally decided to try one. I expected to get a higher FSB with the Iwill, but I really didn't expect anymore out of my AVIA. I get everything switched over to the Iwill, and like I expected, I get much higher on the FSB (168mhz). Here's where it got interesting though, on the Iwill, the exact same chip kept overclocking past 1.35ghz...all the way up to 1.45ghz...and it only needed 1.8v to do it stable. So, ignoring the higher FSB, I got an extra 100mhz out of the same chip that would not go over 1.35ghz on two KT7A-R's...and at .05v less! I wouldn't normally believe that the Abit's would be outperformed by so much in the o/c'ing department, as I had almost exclusively used them up to that point...but my results proved otherwise. I have had some conversations with compuwiz1 about this very topic, and he says he regularly gets 100mhz+ more out of chips on the Iwill than on the Abit. I would suggest you send him a pm and ask him the same question...he can give you a better idea since he does o/c'ing test with so many chips.

 

[MCS]

Thanks Insane3D

We spoke about this on the weekend, you had a very positive experience switching from the KT7A to the KK266. The thing that nags me in the back of my mind is that the chip is "guarenteed" to 1.6Ghz, meaning I shouldn't HAVE to change boards. But then again I can always get the KK266, try the 1.4 @ 1.6, if it doesn't work return it and still end up with a better motherboard I can sell my KT7A to somebody I am sure. OR I can just return the 1.4, have my money back and stick with my KT7A and old TBird chip...

Decisions, decisions...

 

[MCS]

Have ordered the IWill KK266, might as well go for the best.

I will return the 1.4 if it doesn't overclock on the new board, but I will keep the IWill anyway (hopefully running at a nice 150Mhz+ FSB).

 

[TripleJ]

Hmmm, that's strange. I have run my KT7A-RAID with a Duron 800MHz to 150 x 6=900MHz and at default voltage. This means that I should easily run an Athlon 1.4 at 150 x 11=1650 with some extra power.

 

[loosbrew]

dont forget also that durons overclock much better than the athlons due to the L2 cache. one thing to remember is that your board really shouldnt have any problems handling 133 fsb, but at the default MHZ. so if you had a 1.2 try it at 9x133, if that doesnt work than i would think it was your chip. i can get my tbird 900 upto almot 1.1, well 7.5x145 on my iwill, but i am using cheap Kingston valueram.

loosbrew

 

[Insane3D]

MCS:

No problem...I am sure you will like the Iwill. The thing that is tricky with gauranteed o/c'able chips is that they test in one particular board usually, and not all boards are created equal. In fact, Compuwiz1 has a disclaimer that says something to that effect on his site. You see, as the speeds go up, the components, traces, etc of the motherboard get more and more important. If the board can't supply the CPU with a steady current or signal, it will crap out at a certain speed. Another board can just have a better design and/or components that will keep that juice flowing better @ speeds of 1.5ghz+. Another problem may be your PSU. I know you were using a 300W model..AMD suggests a 400W for a stock 1.4ghz chip, so maybe @ 1.5ghz+, your PSU just can't handle it. Is there someone you can borrow a 400W from to see if it helps? You also might want to check Newegg too, they have the 430W Enermax's for ~$80, and if it doesn't help, they shouldn't hassle you if you want to return it. Good luck though..either way I think you will be very impressed with the Iwill.

 

[MCS]

My KT7A will run stable on a 140Mhz FSB, but is shakey at 145Mhz and as unstable as a one-legged chair at 150Mhz...

 

[MCS]

Insane3D

Thanks. Yes I still have the 300W PSU, I do have a very kind friend who will be sending me a 330W Enermax soon, but I don't think it's the power supply causing the problem. All my voltages check out in MBM, and when set at 1.89V the voltage does not fluctuate ONCE even after being on for 12 hours. The High/Low/Average are all at 1.89V. The Enermax will be a better PSU though. I just think that this KT7A of mine is showing its weakness as a stable overclocking board at these extreme speeds. It's served me well for 6 months though.