ECS NFORCE3-A motherboard mini review

[furballi]

You're probably at the limit of the CPU. Try +5.1% for a few minutes. You're already running 2.73GHz at +3.4%.

Also try 133 RAM at 275, 280, 285MHz FSB. Keep Vcore around +3.4%.

 

[Zap]

Originally posted by: CorrND
By turning HT down to x3 (from default x4) I was able to hit the BIOS maximum of 250MHz FSB

Whoops, forgot to mention that part.

 

[CorrND]

Thanks again to Zap and furballi for their advice. I've got a sweet upgrade to my system now.

Zap, my brother's nForce2 mobo does run dual channel in the 256-256-512 configuration. Thanks for the tip. The 1GB stick in my system runs perfectly.

As for my processor, I'm not one for running overclocked systems on the bleeding edge so I've decided to run it at 250MHz with the RAM at 166MHz. That limits the overclocking tools to just BIOS itself and gives the processor a nice 25% upgrade to 2.5GHz. I guess that makes it something like a 4000+, more than enough for my daily tasks. As Zap said, that also keeps the RAM running just a touch above spec at 408MHz.

Just out curiosity, does anybody know if AMD has future plans for Athlon 64, single or dual core, on socket 754?

 

[Zap]

Originally posted by: CorrND
Zap, my brother's nForce2 mobo does run dual channel in the 256-256-512 configuration. Thanks for the tip. The 1GB stick in my system runs perfectly.

Just out curiosity, does anybody know if AMD has future plans for Athlon 64, single or dual core, on socket 754?

Cool deal on the RAM configuration. I'm glad I didn't accidentally give out wrong info.

Socket 754 currently goes up to 4000+. Seriously! Those chips are really pricey though and aren't for the faint of heart because they are mobile chips that may or may not work with your BIOS and don't have heatspreaders (more fragile and some HSFs don't fit) but they should be one fast and overclockable chip. They are basically a socket 754 version of the San Diego core, 90nm and 1MB cache running at 2.6GHz stock!!! Dual core... well dual core Turions are coming out this Summer, but I don't know if they'll be socket 754 or a new socket.

 

[wazzledoozle]

Well I took the leap and flashed the Nforce3-A with the Biostar bios-
http://www.biostar-usa.com/mbdownloads.asp?model=NF325-A7

It went fine, I used the flashing utility from Biostar also. I have my 3100+ running at 2.4 GHz with vcore of 1.55, seems to be perfectly stable. 1Mb superpi is 38s
The bios has a max FSB of 320, and better a better hardware monitor.

I uninstalled the chipset drivers before flashing, and after it booted into windows fine and I just reinstalled them.

 

[JEDI]

Originally posted by: wazzledoozle
Well I took the leap and flashed the Nforce3-A with the Biostar bios-
http://www.biostar-usa.com/mbdownloads.asp?model=NF325-A7

It went fine, I used the flashing utility from Biostar also. I have my 3100+ running at 2.4 GHz with vcore of 1.55, seems to be perfectly stable. 1Mb superpi is 38s
The bios has a max FSB of 320, and better a better hardware monitor.

I uninstalled the chipset drivers before flashing, and after it booted into windows fine and I just reinstalled them.

max fsb=320 now?! how far have you been able to push it?

old max = 250fsb = 2.25ghz. 2.4ghz = 267fsb

were you able to hit 2.4ghz b4 the bios flash?

btw- chipset drivers? you're using nvidia for ide driver?!

edit:
meant "were you able to hit 2.4ghz b4 the bios flash (ie: using clockgen)

 

[furballi]

The BIOSTAR BIOS will accept setting up to 320MHz FSB. The ECS BIOS is limited to 250MHz FSB. I've pushed this MB up to about 280MHz FSB with the Sempron 3100. The only way to run above 250MHz FSB without the BIOSTAR BIOS is with Clockgen.

Use the NF3 chipset driver from the Nvidia website. I'd avoid the IDE driver since it does not provide any additional performance boost.

 

[wazzledoozle]

IDE driver? I am just using the 5.11 from Nvidia's website.

Clockgens never worked for me, so this is the first time I have it at 2.4 GHz.

 

[furballi]

5.11 will work. Need to install Clockgen version CG-NVNF3 (Google search).

 

[Cheetah8799]

Quick question for anyone still reading this thread. Do any of you have issues with your audio or USB? I picked up the AMD 754 3000+ combo with this board, and it runs fine, but I have major issues with onboard audio while play WoW. When I talk into my mic, it brings over some of the speaker audio and is really loud to everyone else I'm chatting with... I've tested with both my case front headers and rear audio headers, same problem. I've since installed a cheap PCI sound card and have no problems...

The other issue is that my wireless network keeps going in/out. I use a USB wireless adapter, and I'm not sure why, but I get worse performance than with my old motherboard. I'm not sure if it's because my router is just kicking the bucket, or if there is something funky with the USB on this motherboard.

 

[furballi]

I use Skype. No crosstalk between mic and speaker. Use the audio driver from the ECS website, then load the Nividia drivers (minus IDE and firewall) from Nvidia.

I try to avoid USB when transferring a large continuous amount of data. If you can't use the LAN, then a PCI wireless card would be best for wireless internet. Most USB devices have very poor reception/transmission capability. You can move the PC closer to the router and retest for stability.

 

[Cheetah8799]

good point on the wireless. The strange thing is that it worked fine prior to upgrading my system. Same USB wireless adapter, same router, different motherboard. I get an excellent connection and speed normally, it's a generic adapter, but performs suprisingly well compared to most USB wireless adapters. It's just that every so often it seems like it resets the connection or something, or gets a severe dip in quality. Living in a building from the early 1900's sucks, otherwise I'd have run CAT5 cable a long time ago.

 

[furballi]

I have seen similar behaviour from USB wireless devices. If the wireless signal is strong, and you're still seeing connectivity issues, then you should try a PCI wireless receiver. Is anyone else using this network? You can eliminate the modem/router if others see no change in internet performance.

 

[ashanab]

I've got the same package, great deal considering the overclocking capabilities. I got 2259 mhz on the same settings, 250mhz clock, 166mhz mem, default voltage. I wish this had higher settings so I could see just how high the processor can go, and a mutliplier setting would be a nice addition as well. Thanks for the thread, I was running at stock speeds til I saw this lol

 

[Zap]

You're welcome, and welcome to the forums.

Man, Anand should give me something for drawing in new members with my reviews.

If you want to overclock higher, here's some info. The board is almost identical to a Biostar unit. You can cross-flash the BIOS with the Biostar BIOS and get higher clock settings, however you lose the Smart Fan feature. You can also use clockgen software to bring the speed up while in Windows.

I haven't bothered though because the chips that I got weren't capable of much more, so 250MHz HTT is a nice setting because the memory gets slightly overclocked and the system seems to run well within limits. Clocking higher, you'd probably have to drop the memory divider down to 133MHz and thus end up with less memory bandwidth just to get slightly higher clocks. Not worth it IMO.

 

[ElFenix]

what is the safe PCI clock range on this thing?


i'm trying to underclock it, making up for the fact that the processor (S2800+) isn't cnq enabled. and the PCI speed just keeps going lower and lower. i would assume that at some point it gets too low and the devices start messing up.

would the above-mentioned biostar BIOS allow me to just lower the multi or the FSB?

 

[Zap]

If your CPU doesn't support Cool and Quiet, then you cannot lower the multiplier. Most boards (even ones you can undervolt) won't let you lower the HTT below the default of 200MHz. PCI clock should always be 33MHz.

 

[ElFenix]

Originally posted by: Zap
If your CPU doesn't support Cool and Quiet, then you cannot lower the multiplier. Most boards (even ones you can undervolt) won't let you lower the HTT below the default of 200MHz. PCI clock should always be 33MHz.

is it locked at 33 mhz regardless of what clockgen says?

 

[Zap]

I'm not positive, but it should be.

 

[Peter]

Originally posted by: ElFenix
what is the safe PCI clock range on this thing?


i'm trying to underclock it, making up for the fact that the processor (S2800+) isn't cnq enabled. and the PCI speed just keeps going lower and lower. i would assume that at some point it gets too low and the devices start messing up.

"33 MHz" PCI, which is what we got here, is originally specified for 20-33 MHz operation. All PCI devices are (by the book) obliged to not care about the exact frequency - however, given how long it's been that nobody made chipsets that /regularly/ run at anything but 33 MHz exactly, you might find that some chips don't like it.

You'll have to try, but by what the papers say, it should be safe. (It is at the expense of bandwidth, obviously.)

 

[ElFenix]

Originally posted by: Zap
I'm not positive, but it should be.

ok

Originally posted by: Peter

Originally posted by: ElFenix
what is the safe PCI clock range on this thing?


i'm trying to underclock it, making up for the fact that the processor (S2800+) isn't cnq enabled. and the PCI speed just keeps going lower and lower. i would assume that at some point it gets too low and the devices start messing up.

"33 MHz" PCI, which is what we got here, is originally specified for 20-33 MHz operation. All PCI devices are (by the book) obliged to not care about the exact frequency - however, given how long it's been that nobody made chipsets that /regularly/ run at anything but 33 MHz exactly, you might find that some chips don't like it.

You'll have to try, but by what the papers say, it should be safe. (It is at the expense of bandwidth, obviously.)

interesting

 

[bamx2]

I purchased one of the Fry's combos last summer with the intention of using it with my extra pc parts to put togeher a cheap system for my kids . I recently got around to putting something together so I way past Fry's 30 return .

The problems -

1. Only one memory slot works only with an old Crucial drr stick ,. My other good Kingston and Centon sticks don't work at all .
2. Sometimes on boot it will get to the memory test but stop not getting to the part about the drives ,
3. When it does get past the mem test and post the drives . No floppy disk drive is intalled . I get the (40) floppy error press F1 to continue . Floppy is disabled in the BIOS boot sequence menu .
4. Sometimes I can press F1 and could could get all the way to Win2k bootup only to have it lockup further in the process .

Updating the BIOS did not help . Neither did a new Antec PSU .

Any suggestions before I give up on this motherboard ? So much for my cheap system . - Thanks

 

[Undersea]

I would try to clear CMOS and update bios!

 

[bamx2]

I tried those things . It looks like a bad motherboard.

Originally posted by: Undersea
I would try to clear CMOS and update bios!