Athlon 64 Help...

[charloscarlies]

I picked up a A64 3200 w/ a Gigabyte K8N Pro (nForce 3) yesterday from Fry's. So far the stock performance has been great, but I found that there seems to be a significant lack of overclocking features. No agp/pci lock, no ram timings, etc. This isn't common to all the Socket 754 boards is it? I was in such a hurry to get everything up and running that I didn't really get to research the board much.

I'm pretty set on taking this one back, but what should I get instead? My local Fry's only carries an Abit (KV8-Max3), MSI (I believe it's the K8T800) and an FIC board. Needless to say slim pickings....so I'll probably get a refund and order online. I would definitely like a lot of overclocking features, and stability is obviously a plus. I definitely would like control of my mem timings because otherwise it's pointless to have my HyperX (this Gigabyte forces it to read the spd rating which comes out to 2.5-3-3.8 for some reason). What should I buy?

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Shuttle AN50R or AOpen AK89 Max are the best overclockers around right now.

 

[charloscarlies]

Yea I'd heard good things about the Shuttle. Stupid Fry's doesn't carry it or the Aopen.

 

[arod]

Theres a reason everybody was waiting for nforce 3 250 boards.... but seriously AMD64 3200+ isnt enough for you?

When I get mine I wont be overclocking it because theres no need to.

 

[charloscarlies]

Yea I wish I could have waited until the 250 came out. What are the main differences supposed to be?

I found the Shuttle for sale locally for $143...which doesn't seem all that bad. I just might have to pick one up whenever I get the chance.

I paid $150 for this Gigabyte that has very little overclocking features. I figure why not upgrade and save $7 dollars. And yes the 3200 flies stock, but it's always nice to know that you CAN overclock it later down the road. Plus why not make my 3200 run like a 3400 for a hundred bucks less?

If you guys had a choice....Aopen or Shuttle?

 

[cowdog]

Working pci AND agp locks have not been conclusively shown for any A64 socket 754 mobo out there right now. NF3 250 boards may have working pci AND agp locks and might come out soon, although they seem to have been coming out soon for a rather long time, longer than I would call soon.

I am waiting for NF3 250, or so goes my latest thinking.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Shuttle, the Abit K8V-Max is the Via which lacks AGP lock and is likely to limit your overclock in and of itself.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

I can't say absolutely that there's AGP lock on my AN50R, but right now I'm evaluating/stability testing 2.4ghz 1.648v actual SETI load with my 3000+ and it wouldn't even post past 233fsb on my K8USA with all identical hardware besides the board. I can get to windows@2.5ghz on this AN50R but my CPU needs more than 1.698v actual to run that speed stable so I'll either have to overvolt mod the board or live with less.

 

[charloscarlies]

That's a pretty nice overclock though. More than I would probably be doing. What kind of temps are you getting?

 

[DAPUNISHER]

I use a Venus 12 and she ain't quite at 5000rpm, but with a room temp of 24.5c and a case temp of 33c the CPU temp is 48c under 24/7 SETI load. I'm not certain it's completely stable right now but I'm endeavoring to determine that as I type this.

 

[Lyfer]

Originally posted by: cowdog
Working pci AND agp locks have not been conclusively shown for any A64 socket 754 mobo out there right now. NF3 250 boards may have working pci AND agp locks and might come out soon, although they seem to have been coming out soon for a rather long time, longer than I would call soon.

I am waiting for NF3 250, or so goes my latest thinking.

Agreed.

 

[XBoxLPU]

I am happy with stock

 

[zodder]

Originally posted by: Lyfer

Originally posted by: cowdog
Working pci AND agp locks have not been conclusively shown for any A64 socket 754 mobo out there right now. NF3 250 boards may have working pci AND agp locks and might come out soon, although they seem to have been coming out soon for a rather long time, longer than I would call soon.

I am waiting for NF3 250, or so goes my latest thinking.

Agreed.

I agree with everything accept the last line. I caved and bought a A64 3200+ and a MSI Neo. I'm so weak.........

 

[charloscarlies]

I caved too

I still don't have anything to complain about so far...other than the lack of serious overclocking features.