maxing out an epox 4g4a

[CU]

I have a 4g4a running 1.8@2.4 with 512megs of cosair xms pc3200c2 ram. I am thinking about getting a 2.8ghz cpu in a month or two and overclocking as high as possible. This seems like the cheapest/easiest way to upgrade my computer. I don't really feel like changing MB's and reinstalling XP. So, what is the highest anyone has ran a P4 on the 4g4a? I would like to hit atleast 3360ghz at 160fsb w/ 400mhz ram. Has anyone overclocked a 2.8B to this speed with the stock heatsink? I hope to get a D1 stepping. Is there an online store that will guarantee which stepping I get? Does this sound like a good/reasonable upgrade? Also which ram divider works best when overclocking? The 4:5 one right? Would putting a fan on the northbridge heatsink help much? My other option is going the AMD 2500+ Barton route and trying to reach 3200+ speeds, but that cost almost the same and means changing MB's and reinstalling XP. Does XP handle MB changes?

 

[canadianpsycho]

I don't think many 2.8Bs will hit that speed.

Any motherboard switch and you should reinstall XP, or you'll have a mess on your hands, especially if you switch from an Intel to an AMD platform.

 

[CU]

I know the early ones couldn't, but I would think some of the newer C1 or D1 could come close. On overclockers.com's forum people seem to be able to get new 1.8 and 2.4B up to around 3+. But I didnt' see anything about a 2.8B. Most seemed to like the 2.4B better and run a higher fsb on newer MB's, but I was going to play it safe and say my MB could on do 160 max. Thus the reason I don't want to use the 2.4B. Although maybe I should stay where I am and wait a year or so till I can buy a 4.8ghz cpu that would be double of what I am at. But you know how it is. You read about all these 3+ghz and sometimes low 4ghz overclocks and you want some of the action to.

 

[Ketchup]

I owned a 4G4A a year ago, and it was a great board, as long as I used the 4:5 memory ratio. With the 3:4 and my 2.4B I coud only get the board into the 150's, so I sold it and bought an Abit IT7 where I got up to 2.96 GHz and was able to use the 3:4 memory ratio at 164 FSB. If you are going to spend the money on a 2.8, I would also get a newer board, something with the 865 chipset. You are going to stifle your CPU somewhat running single-channel DDR, even with the 4:5.

 

[CU]

This was only going to be alittle upgrade to hold me off for a year or so till pci express, 64bit cpu's, and DD2 became more standard. As for the duel channel thing. That would help but I only have one 512 stick right now, so that is not real important now. Besides with a new MB I would also get P4C not B or move over to AMD Bartons to save money. I plan to get new video card when HL2/Doom3 comes out. My 128meg 8500LE running at 300/300 is starting to show its age. I can score 10300 in 3Dmark01 and 1679 in 3Dmark03. Not bad for my setup and the card only cost me $115 about a year and a half ago. I guess I will just see how those games play on my 2.4ghz/new video card and what the price of the 2.8B is at that time.

 

[Duvie]

I found my 4g4a mobo was only good for about 170fsb max but that was able to get my 2.4b to 3.06ghz....I knew the board was holding me back so I jumped to a better i845pe chipest and albatron mobo and hit 185fsb.....The fact is I never saw these chipsets ever do much better then 170's often times less....


I think you should try to pick up a cheap used IC7 or IS7 and upgrade to the world of dual channel DDR and the latest i865/i875 chipsets...I noticed 5-10% gain going to dual from single channel and then get a 2.8c which is not much different then the 2.8b in price but with HT can have benefits in the range of an additional 10-25%.....

 

[CU]

Yeah from my reading the 4g4a's don't get much over 160fsb. I would get a is7 and go duel channel now, but I only have 1 512meg stick, so it wouldn't help me any now.

 

[Duvie]

Any plans to get another 512mb stick??? Do you need 1gb of ram?? Maybe just see if someone will trade 2 sticks of 256mb for the 1 stick....

Basically at this point I don't see recommending any non HT, non 800fsb, non C chip.....The 4g4a will not support HT, 800fsb chips, etc so really in my opinion this weak component is forcing you to make an upgrade choice that will only leave you upgrading even sooner again.

Either way get a dual channel board now and grow into it with another stick perhaps later.

 

[CU]

I mostly play games and surf the web, so I don't think I really need gig of ram yet. But games are starting to use that much now. I think I might just keep my cpu, and if Doom III or Half Life 2 really need a gig of ram I will just get another stick of 512 and a cheap 865 board that will support a prescott. I newer MB and using duel channel ram should give me nice alittle speed boost even on 533bus and cpu at 2.4ghz. Any benchmarks showing the difference in using duel channel on 533fsb? Who knows I might be able to overclock my current cpu alittle more also, but I doubt it. Also, I should be able to "really" upgrade the cpu down the road with a new MB. Any clue what the max speed Intel plans to release that will fit in a 865 like the IS7 (seems to be great board).

 

[CU]

After looking at prices and some reviews. I think it is almost a tie between getting a B model P4 and getting new MB and going dual channel. A 2.8B runs about $167 I would think it would atleast hit 3.0ghz @ 143fsb. That should give me around 20% increase in games assuming the video card doesn't hold it back. Does that sound about right? This would max out my current set up. Even adding more ram could cause problems due to the 845g's having problems with 2 sticks of ram when overclocked. The IS7-E cost $87. Duel channel should would give me about 6% in games based on anandtechs review of the 875P chipset. I would also have to sell my XMS PC3200C2 512meg stick and buy two 256meg sticks or trade for 2. I would also probly have to reinstall XP. Price to performance ratio and ease of upgrade goes to the 2.8B. But, cheapest, and ease of future upgrades goes to new MB. With new MB chipsets, PCI-Express, DDR2, BTX, and 64bit cpus about to come out and become mainstream the 2.8B starts to looks like a better option than a new MB. I could also always move to dual channel after the cpu upgrade. I don't think HT would help much in gaming anyway.

 

[Duvie]

If you are waiting for a lot of these newer components to arrive then I guess you were relegated to upgrading soon again anways....

I agree then get the best B you can....I have heard of some good 2.66's that were hitting the 3.2ghz level like the 2.4 and 2.53 c1 stepping chips and the fsb would stay quite low.....

 

[CU]

Yeah if I could get around 3.2ghz that would last me for a year or two. Just long enough to let the first way of new stuff clear out the bugs. My 1.8A will be 2 years come Sept. Yeah I though about the 2.66B chip, but they are hard to find and cost alittle more than the 2.8B. Know any place that you ask for a specfic stepping? Also it looks like THUGSROOK proved HT doesn't help gaming. Atleast until they start threading the games.