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ECS NFORCE3-A motherboard mini review

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Hello,

Just bought one of these boards on ebay.

http://img489.imageshack.us/my.php?image=pc2173690za.jpg
http://img481.imageshack.us/my.php?image=pc2173700ir.jpg
http://img481.imageshack.us/my.php?image=pc2173730rs.jpg
http://img481.imageshack.us/my.php?image=pc2173748xf.jpg


I have a DO stepping 3000+ semp (Non 64). Awaiting video card. Will post results next week. Anyone run a Super PI on there rig?

The total build cost $260 reusing optical drives & Windows XP.


Also see: http://forums.pcper.com/showthread.php?t=409285&page=1&pp=15


PS: IDE placement stinks, and come to think of it so does front audio. If overclocking functions are not shown with this chip I'm selling the board. I have a nice chaintech via board. It will be interesting to see if this board will do better then the great VNF3-250.

 
For any that are interested Speed fan and MBM5 work poorly with this board. Everest Home Edition on the other hand seems to work great.

I upped CPU volts +1.7 which is 1.47 volts. Memory is at 2.6. I don't think this board has chipset voltage settings. The chipset heatsink is hot to the touch, Not burning but very warm.

I would recommend this board with the Fry's bundle

http://shop2.outpost.com/product/4705559.

The 3100+ should pull 2.2 no problem. Now if higher then 2.2 is wanted which might be nice another MB is in order. I can confirm the 250 HTT is max, with no chipset voltage corrections you probably won't get much higher anyway.

For $89.99 this bundle can't be beat. It's a tray CPU though. Wish I had know about the deal but for a $300.00 computer I am very satisfied.
 
That bundle is also available in-store at Fry's on 12/26 only with (hopefully) a retail box CPU. You can get higher than 250MHz by using Clockgen on this board. Some people have gotten as high as around 280MHz.
 
I picked up the same package, but with a Semperon 3100.

I'm happily clocking along at ~2200 rate and stable as a rock. All for the the price of something like $79 bucks...what a deal.

I've configured the box as video editing system with 1 Gb of memory, all in wonder 9600 AGP and 1 Gb of memory. The sofware I am using is Pinnacle Studio 10.

As a question, anyone know if going to 2 GB of memory would give me any extra omph in with Studio 10?

Steve
 
Which Sempron 3100 did you get? Mine was the oldest SDA3100AIP3AX with CG stepping so I returned it. The board does up to 250MHz which will net you 2250MHz CPU speed, which is probably nearing the max of the CPU, but I was hoping to use the CPU on a "better" board. 😛
 
Originally posted by: Zap
Which Sempron 3100 did you get? Mine was the oldest SDA3100AIP3AX with CG stepping so I returned it. The board does up to 250MHz which will net you 2250MHz CPU speed, which is probably nearing the max of the CPU, but I was hoping to use the CPU on a "better" board. 😛
Click to expand...



Guys,

I think you should get at least 200mhz more with that cpu. 400mhz won't suprise me. My machine runs nice at 2200. I'm running 166 mem divider. I would need better ram to really run faster on this board.

So if max overclock is the goal this board ain't for you.
 
CPU Z says

Parris Core
Model C Stepping 0
Revision DH7-CG
0.13u

Running at 2249.5, which is as high as this ECS board will go.

For $89 bucks, a real bargin.

 
Yep, that's the oldest core. Nice that the CPU and motherboard maxes out around the same speed and yes it is a bargain. However, I was specifically wanting a 90nm core so I returned mine. I even told the CSR at the return line and they happily refunded to my credit card.
 
Yep, but the next step is to put a full 64 bit chip in when they fall in price. For $89 bucks, I'm happy.
 
I just picked up this combo to upgrade my dual p2 400 server at home. $89 for the board and a 64bit 3100 sempron. I picked up their $79 deal on 1gb corsair value ram last week to go with it.
 
You got a 64 bit CPU with the combo? Lucky you. If I had, I would have kept mine. 😛
 
yep. I loaded 64 bit version of Vista, Ubuntu, and XP just to see how they ran. Mine also clocked to 2.25ghz stock voltage and cooling
 
It is a nice board. Nice little overclock bump. Very happy with it. Would have been happier if I had know about outpost before.

But all in all a very nice $300.00 computer
 
Outpost doesn't always have the same deals or same prices as in Fry's stores. Also, sales at one Fry's store may be different (or priced different) than at another Fry's store.
 
1) What's the difference between 1T and 2T? And which is better?

2) Why HTT = 4x and mem=166 instead of HTT = 3x and mem= auto? Why is one better than the other?

3) what's the downside of setting HTT=1x and using Clockgen to ramp up speed?
 
1T and 2T are the command rate. 1T is a faster setting, 2T is more stable. Older Clawhammers do not have 2T settings.

HTT or LDT which is the setting for the Hyperlink. There is not much performance Difference between X3 or x4. It is a setting if overclocking. If not overclocking keep settings on auto.
 
I just wanted to point out that if you picked up the 2800 sempron then it is probably 64 bit enabled, even if it isn't labeled as 64 bit. Not too sure about the 2600's though. Run the amd cpuInfo utility and it most likely say 64 bit enabled. my 2800 (BA stepping) wasn't labeled as 64 but it is enabled.

I got the ecs nforce3-a and 2800 sempie for 79.99 from frys. I also got the patriot memory 2x512 (2,3,3,6 timings) pack, which, seems to be holding back my oc attempts. I can only be stable below 2.2 ghz or 275fsb for some reason...

 
Originally posted by: JEDI
2) Why HTT = 4x and mem=166 instead of HTT = 3x and mem= auto? Why is one better than the other?

3) what's the downside of setting HTT=1x and using Clockgen to ramp up speed?
Click to expand...

Well, some boards don't seem to POST with HTT below 3X, and there is no point to it since boards can't run that high speed anyways.

Between 3x and 4x, the ECS board doesn't give any higher overclock for me, so 4X is theoretically higher (though in real life probably makes no noticeable difference).

Mem = 166MHz, I like to set things manually so I know what they are doing. Auto won't get the memory to run any faster.

Originally posted by: trevor2k
I just wanted to point out that if you picked up the 2800 sempron then it is probably 64 bit enabled, even if it isn't labeled as 64 bit. Not too sure about the 2600's though...

I got the ecs nforce3-a and 2800 sempie for 79.99 from frys... I can only be stable below 2.2 ghz or 275fsb for some reason...
Click to expand...

My 2600+ is 64 bit according to the Epox BIOS on my 8KDA3I and according to CPU-Z. It isn't labeled as such on the box. Mine is a D0 stepping so it is the equivalent to the socket 939 Winchester, not Venice, thus having x86-64 but no SSE3.

Someone else (in some Hot Deal thread) mentioned getting up to around 275MHz on the ECS board using Clockgen. Perhaps that is a limitation of the board?
 
if htt=4, then i set mem to 166. the bios bootup screen says ddr333, 2T.

if mem is on auto, then bios bootup says ddr400, 2T.

wouldnt htt=3, mem=auto be better since memory is running at 400?
 
Are you overclocking or not? Now, POST will always say 2x what is set in BIOS. On Auto, BIOS chooses the SPD setting programmed into the RAM.

Let's say you overclock your system to 240MHz system bus. If you set memory to 166, POST will report DDR333, however your memory would actually be running at DDR400 because 166 is the 5/6 divider, so 240Mhz times 5 divided by 6 equals 200. Double that for "DDR" and you get DDR400, regardless of what POST and BIOS says.

The HTT affects overclocked stability and has no effect (beyond stability) on RAM speeds and multipliers AFAIK.

If you are running your system bus at default of 200, then setting it to Auto is best since there is no manual 200MHz setting (for DDR400).
 
Well, I played a bit more and was able to get the processor up to 2.4ghz, at 300fsb. The mem was set at 133 (so it was at 200mhz oc'd), but, I had to turn the timings down to 3,6,6,10. I really don't know all that much about properly setting mem timings, so, once I read up on that, and set it appropriately, I'll report back. It's not prime95 stable even at those timings, so, we'll see. It looks like the mem is definately what's holding me back.

So, sys setup: 2.4Ghz @ 300 FSB

Sempron 2800+ (BA Stepping) - 64 bit enabled
ECS nForce3-a 1.0E Bios (have the f, but haven't flashed yet)
1gb (2 x 512) Patriot PC3200 memory (2,3,3,6 stock timings) currently at 3-6-6-10 for testing
Ultra 500w PSU

Temps @ 36 idle, 40 load with stock hsf.

 
Originally posted by: Zap
Are you overclocking or not? Now, POST will always say 2x what is set in BIOS. On Auto, BIOS chooses the SPD setting programmed into the RAM.

Let's say you overclock your system to 240MHz system bus. If you set memory to 166, POST will report DDR333, however your memory would actually be running at DDR400 because 166 is the 5/6 divider, so 240Mhz times 5 divided by 6 equals 200. Double that for "DDR" and you get DDR400, regardless of what POST and BIOS says.

The HTT affects overclocked stability and has no effect (beyond stability) on RAM speeds and multipliers AFAIK.

If you are running your system bus at default of 200, then setting it to Auto is best since there is no manual 200MHz setting (for DDR400).
Click to expand...

ahhh... gotcha... mem x clock speed, reguardless of what bios bootup screen says.

so for a sempron 3100, default is 9x200fsb for 1800mhz. if mem=200, then 200 x 200 = 400mhzm which is the normal speed of pc3200.

if i want the sempron to be 2400mhz (2.4ghz), then i need to set fsb to 267. to keep the same 400mhz mem, then 400/267 = 150mem. the nforce3-a doent have that setting. it only has 133 or 166.

166mem x 267fsb = 443mhz, and my el cheapo pc3200 memory would probably crash. so i need pc4200, but all pc4200 i see on sale is ddr2, which will not fit on this board.

133mem x 267fsb = 355mhz, which means my system will be slower?!
 
Originally posted by: trevor2k
So, sys setup: 2.4Ghz @ 300 FSB

Sempron 2800+ (BA Stepping) - 64 bit enabled
ECS nForce3-a 1.0E Bios (have the f, but haven't flashed yet)
Click to expand...

Good job on the high system bus. Clockgen?

Originally posted by: JEDI
166mem x 267fsb = 443mhz, and my el cheapo pc3200 memory would probably crash. so i need pc4200, but all pc4200 i see on sale is ddr2, which will not fit on this board.

133mem x 267fsb = 355mhz, which means my system will be slower?!
Click to expand...

Your math is pretty much right on. Setting the memory to 133, yes it'll be running SLOWER than spec'd but you may be able to run tighter timings.

You attempt to run your memory faster at the 166 setting by lowering latencies (3,3,3,8,2T or whatever) and raising memory voltage to the max.

You can get PC4000 DDR (not DDR2) which will let you hit DDR500 speeds at the relaxed timings, but I don't know if you would want to pay that kind of price for such a budget setup. There's also PC3700 which will let you hit 466MHz and PC3500 which will do 433MHz - so a slight overclock will hit your 443MHz plus you can find low latencies with PC3500.

GigaRAM 1GB PC3500 CAS 2.5 $84

That stick of RAM may be a reasonable choice for you. Just bump voltage a hair and overclock it a hair and you can run 166. A single stick is a better choice for socket 754 than two sticks of 512MB.
 
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