Athlon 64 overclocking motherboards

[hurtstotalktoyou]

Hey, all.

As most of use know, certain motherboards are made to overclock. The DFI Lanparty line, ABIT KV8-MAX3, etc. However, to get a CPU to maximum load, you don't need a fancy motherboard, but instead four simple features...

1) Adjustable HT bus
2) Adjustable CPU voltage
3) PCI/AGP lock
4) Asynchronous memory bus

Unfortunately, not all motherboards that boast overclocking abilities can actually overclock. For example, one board claimed to have a special feature called "ntune," but closer inspection revealed the CPU clock could only be raised by 4.5%.

Is there an easy way to determine if a motherboard has these four features? Can I get such a motherboard for less than $100?

Thanks in advance, guys!

 

[Tbirdkid]

yea, they say DFI on them

 

[Ike0069]

It depends on the socket and if you want AGP or PCI-e
S754 - DFI lanparty
S939 AGP- MSI Neo2 Platinum
S939 PCI-e - DFI again

All are over $100 though.

 

[w00t]

Originally posted by: Tbirdkid
yea, they say DFI on them

lol not exactly but good one the lanparty series oc's good.

 

[knothead34]

warning though ntune is not recommended for dfi nforce 4 boards. dfi recommends you not over clock using ntune on there nforce 4 boards. some have ruined there boards using ntune.

 

[MDE]

Epox also makes solid AMD boards. My 9NDA3+ has been great, and has run up to 320HTT (that wasn't stability tested though) and runs 280 all day long without a single issue.

 

[hurtstotalktoyou]

So how do I identify them without downloading the pdf manuals to every single board?

 

[The Pentium Guy]

Originally posted by: hurtstotalktoyou
So how do I identify them without downloading the pdf manuals to every single board?

You download the pdf manuals to evrey single board of course.

Heh.Post on theforums andwe'll help you if you need thatinfo.

 

[Goi]

Originally posted by: Ike0069
It depends on the socket and if you want AGP or PCI-e
S754 - DFI lanparty
S939 AGP- MSI Neo2 Platinum
S939 PCI-e - DFI again

All are over $100 though.

The Chaintech VNF3-250 costs <$70 and provides all those features. They also overclock great. Silver Award on AT's S754 shootout says it all.

 

[GamesMasta]

I purchased the DFI Lanparty NF3 when it first came out and I'm still proud of myself for making that purchase Love its overclocking capabilities.

 

[SrGuapo]

Originally posted by: MDE
Epox also makes solid AMD boards. My 9NDA3+ has been great, and has run up to 320HTT (that wasn't stability tested though) and runs 280 all day long without a single issue.

ditto. My epox maxes out at 330 HTT (as in won't go into windows). Right now, I am just limited by my chip. I would say the MSI and epox nf3 ultra boards are tied for the best OCers...

As far as knowing how a board OCs, I don't know if you can tell by the feature list alone. You have to read a few reviews and ask around on forums like these for the advice. People will tell you there max HTT/FSB, any issues with the board, etc.

 

[cryptonomicon]

ntune sucks dont use it. no one uses that to overclock anyways

as for recommendations.. DFI lanparty 250gb is the best board I have ever owned. overclocking is almost a simple, predictable process with it.