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Anyone got the P4 1.8a GHZ northwood yet?

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Well, my GA-8IRXP and Intel 1.8aGHz processor are here and installed. I am currently formatting the 80GB hard drive that I got for 89 bucks after rebate thanks to OfficeMax and you guys here. I am then installing Windows XP and if all goes well, I will start mucking with the bus speed and see what this thing will do.

By the way, MWave has a combo of the 8IRXP for 149 and the 1.8a for 216. Ordered on Wednesday with 2 day and it was here today. Very happy with that transaction.
 
schmo -

picked up the exact same combo, went with 3 day though. shipped today and should be here on tuesday.

EtOH
 
Well, I can get 2.2 stable at 1.6V but can not seem to get to 2.4 even with 1.7v. I am tired of playing around with it tonight but I did get to 2.1 with default and 2.2 with 1.6V, that may be good enough for me. I will play with it some more tomorrow.

No matter what, it is fast. 😉
 
Schmo, everything I am reading says do not run at 1.7volts as you may drastically damage the chip...be happy with 1.6 or maybe 1.65....

I am looking at getting an msi ultra aru and the 1.8aghz northwood...I am sure hoping I can get to 2.1 at default and 2.2 at 1.6v...I would be happy...


Hell everybody who gets to 2.2ghz for a 220.00 dollar investment should be happy.


Did you look at other items limiting such as power supply or ram voltage??? may want to adjust those up a bit....
 
Well, it seems I can get ~2.25GHz at 1.6V stable with no problems. Above that I get a couple of weird things.. once i get above the 125MHz CPU Host Speed any time I do a soft reboot, like shutting down and restarting from windows... when the computer attempts to boot, the BIOS never comes up, no beeps, monitor goes into sleep mode and the computer just hangs... I have to manually power down and restart. Although, I can run stable at 127MHz at 1.6v but this weird shut down thing happens at any bus speed above that. I could also run stable at about 2.35GHz with 1.7v but the same shutdown problem. Any ideas?

I am really interested at why the computer doesn't shutdown and restart properly when I have the CPU Host clock set higher than 125MHz.

All of this is with the stock heatsink, themal tape and fan (only 2500RPM). I am thinking I should be able to do better with a real HS/Fan combo.

I am not totally impressed but not disappointed either... unless the I can resolve the annoying reboot problem, I will stick with 2.25 at 1.6V
 
Schmo,
What is your cpu temperture? Too bad this 1.8A GHZ doesn't come with OEM, have to get retail. I heard the AVC Sunflower is a good hsf.
 
What is the cost of a avc sunflower????

Sh^t at 2500rpm that most be rather silent....My tbird HSF does 5400rpm
 


<< Schmo,
What is your cpu temperture? Too bad this 1.8A GHZ doesn't come with OEM, have to get retail. I heard the AVC Sunflower is a good hsf.
>>



It appears to get up to about 43C, I really am not sure what is hot for a P4 but that doesn't sound ridiculous. The reboot weirdness really bothers me, that doesn't sound like a heat issue, more of a motherboard issue. There is a new BIOS for the 8IRXP but it doesn't look like it addresses anything like that.
 
What is the cooling solution on the board's chipset???

Try boosting ddr ram voltage to 2.6v...Just a try but it is safe...

 


<< What is the cost of a avc sunflower????

Sh^t at 2500rpm that most be rather silent....My tbird HSF does 5400rpm
>>



I have found the avc sunflower for around 33 bucks Here. There was a review Here that showed it reducing CPU temp by about 4C under stress from the stock HS and fan.

Yes, the stock ~2500RPM fan is basically non-existant sound wise, and suction wise. 😉

 


<< What is the cooling solution on the board's chipset???

Try boosting ddr ram voltage to 2.6v...Just a try but it is safe...
>>



Cooling solutions for the chipset is just a heatsink of decent size. I already have the DDR set to 2.6v. I have the memory currently at 250MHz (2 * CPU Host Clk) CAS 2. The PCI/AGP is running at 41.6 and 83, respectively. I tried bumping to the 1/4 multiplier to get 31 and 63 but that didn't help any. I tried upping the memory to 2.5 CAS but still no improvement.

Like I said, I can get above 125MHz on the CPU Host Clk at higher voltages and run stable (like 2.35 at 1.7V) but the weird reboot problem exists. Who the heck knows.

I think I may just "settle" for 2.25GHz at 1.6V rock solid, no reboot issue. Not bad for 216 bucks.
 


<< The Sun Flower is one of the better option. It cools the highest OC air cooled P4 at this overclock database.
>>



Nice price, only 24 plus shipping.

Darn, what is a safe voltage for these things... I see some bumping it all the way to 1.9V with air cooling and some well into the 2 volts with water or LN2 cooling.
 
I think this is a limitation caused by mobo cooling...My old kt133 board was like that until I put a better hsf on it. Then it booted fine at same fsb. I think it maybe a chipset heating issue...


I notice in many reviews the msi ultra I am looking at did the highest fsb overclock...I will have to look at what is the chipset cooling there...
 


<< where is the sunflower available? and who makes them? >>

AVC makes them. The best price is $19 shipped from PC Power and Cooling. They call it the CPU-Cool 478, not the SunFlower.

There is only ONE AVC Sunflower, but it comes with different fans. The 5000 RPM fan is the highest speed one.

I am using one from PC Power and Cooling. It comes in a white box without the AVC logo on the outside. Inside, it has the same AVC installation instruction booklet.

The Sunflower is what Intel calls their P-4 "reference heatsink" design. The Sunflower pictures are used all Intel technical papers. Incidentally, Asus also uses the Sunflower picture for their MB manuals too.
 
well i figured what is $20 when all is said and done and ordered the sunflower as noted in the previous post.

the specs look right. air flow, copper core, blah blah blah. No note on fan speed though.

EtOH
 


<< well i figured what is $20 when all is said and done and ordered the sunflower as noted in the previous post.

the specs look right. air flow, copper core, blah blah blah. No note on fan speed though.
>>

The one (from PC Power and Cooling) used in my system is rotating at 5200 RPM. It is the 5000 RPM fan that runs a little faster because my Enermax PS is slightly over-voltage on all rails.
 


<< The only diffrence between the Intel stock hsf and Sun Flower is the speed of the fan? >>

The Intel stock HSF is an aluminium straight fin design. The SunFlower has a copper core with curved radial fins. AVC makes the stock HSF for Intel which is equiped with a 2700 RPM fan.
 
For reference, I got the Thermaltake P4 Volcano for my P4. I read all the reviews, and except for the Global Win, they all perform pretty much the same under full load. The retail intel chokes a bit under full load with a decent gap between it and the after market coolers. The Volcano is also very easy to put on and gives you the best chance of not messing up your thermal seal.

I have my 2.0a@2.2 default. I just installed it a few days ago and have not tried anything higher. I am pretty confident I can get to 2.5 or 2.6 at default voltage (based on what I have read about my chip and the specs). The 2.0a is only $100 more than the 1.8a.
 
i just got my 1.8a and im not entirly thrilled with it.
itll only do 2106mhz/117fsb on a system that i know can run @ 126fsb.

i get a weird NDIS windows protection error @ 118fsb.
i can "safe mode" boot upto 2400mhz on default voltage easy tho - very weird.
 
Well mine just showed up tonight along with an 8IRXP and I should have prelim results in an hour or so. Gonna get some drinks in with my neighbor while we build the machine out. The wives are at his house, and the geeks are at mine 🙂

EtOH
 


<< i just got my 1.8a and im not entirly thrilled with it.
itll only do 2106mhz/117fsb on a system that i know can run @ 126fsb.

i get a weird NDIS windows protection error @ 118fsb.
i can "safe mode" boot upto 2400mhz on default voltage easy tho - very weird.
>>



Hmm, mine is only doing 2.2 at 1.6V and it will do 2.3@1.7 and I wasn't entirely thrilled, maybe I should be. Of course this is with stock cooling, I ordered a Sunflower from PC Power and Cooling so we will see. Although at 2.3GHz I get the shut down problem where it doesn't totally shut down and reboot.... it just hangs which is very weird so I am leaving it at 2.2GHz @ 1.6V for now.
 
ok i found the NDIS problem.

win98 needs an updated NDIS.vxd file or it wont boot @ over 2.1ghz.

im running fine right now - 2.25ghz 125fsb/166memory default voltage.

of course im gonna try higher!
 
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