My first CPU Overclock: 1.8A SL68Q

[Mikki]

I noticed that too. There's probably something on your card that 3DMark takes advantage of that the game benchmarks don't.

When you get around to tweaking a bit more, lower your fsb a bit and play with the memory settings again, then run your benches and see what the difference is. It may be that your memory is maxed. Looks great tho, nice job!

 

[Mikki]

You've got some AWESOME memory scores, mate, jeez! Mine @ 163fsb: 3135 / 3132
and that's comparing XMS2700 to XMS3200...

 

[rogue1979]

Sorry I'm late to the thread, but nice overclock. There must be a video issue going on though, you 3DMark and Quake 3 framerates are low for a Radeon 32MB DDR. On a Morgan @1330MHz running 180/180 I have a Radeon 32MB DDR that scores 3800 and framerates in Unreal Gold average about 65 at 1024 x 768 x 32 with 2X FSAA. Never checked Quake 3, but I think it is on par with Unreal Gold for taxing a video card. Using the Catalyst 2.3 on Win98SE.

 

[Technonut]

Good going CrazySaint! Keep on tweakin'....

 

[Duvie]

Does this sound like the refresh rate bug to anyone else???? Or is that just an nvidia thing???


Nice oc...I think the temps may be a bit high for an asus mobo especially with thug's insane temps!!!!

 

[CrazySaint]

Thanks guys I think maybe I'll try some different drivers and see if that helps my framerates any. I checked Prime95 when I got up and it had failed after only 47 minutes, so I decided to see memtest86 running and see how it did, it had only one error through 6 passes, but went nuts on the seventh pass spewing forth errors as fast as a 2.7GHz CPU can spew 'em. I backed it off to 2.61/DDR386 and it made 7 passes with no errors, so it looks like I'm stuck at 2.61/DDR385 for a while. I'm gonna play with my case cooling a bit and see if I can get the RAM to take the 2.65vdimm, and try again for some higher speeds/better timings. As for my temps, don't forget I'm using the stock Intel HSF. Does anybody think I'd get any benefit from scraping the thermal pad off the northbridge and putting some AS3 on there?

 

[Mikki]

Yeah, I do, a nice thin layer...

 

[PaveGuy]

Hey Mikki,

You got any spare AS3? I'll need 2 thin layers cause I ordered my other Proc today.

Wish I had a P4 Oh well, I'll get by with the ol dual P3s

 

[Mikki]

Hey bud!
Yeah, I have some, gimme a call or stop by tomorrow, I'll bring it with me...

 

[PaveGuy]

Ya Thanks Mikki,

I got this Dell laptop I can trade for AS3

See Ya tomorrow bro

 

[SupermanCK]

the refreshrate bug was my first instinct...
crazysaint - when you load memtest86...press c-2-3-0 and it will run all 11tests...for quick result...just run 1 pass...for security later on...run as many as you run any program would run in windows...

 

[CrazySaint]

SupermanCK, yeah, I run all 11 tests

I took the intake fan out of the front drive cage and put it on the side panel blowing directly over the video card (and thus, much closer to the CPU) and also took both fans off the "fan only" temp-controlled PSU connectors so that they would run at full speed. I left the PSU running in temp-controlled mode, though. My motherboard temps dropped to 28c under full load and I can now run my RAM at 2.65vdimm. Unfortunately, I couldn't tighten my timings any (running 2.5-3-3-8), but at least I'm back at 2.7GHz/DDR400 I ran memtest86, all 11 tests, two passes with no errors. As hot as my RAM is getting, I'm half thinking about trying to get some RAMsinks to stick on there, or possibly cutting up an old P75 HS I've got laying around. Now I'm gonna see if switching to an older Catalyst driver will help my video scores any...

 

[CrazySaint]

I think I've come down to the root of my problem - I'm an idiot I forgot to set RadeonTweaker to enforce the 183/183 clockspeed at Windows startup! New benchmarks up and they're much more in line with the video clockspeed increase

 

[CrazySaint]

Now, if I could just figure out what's wrong with my onboard sound. So...who wants to see what my 4G4A+ can do with this chip? Since they both have the same chipset, I should be able to use the same Windows install and just remove the drivers for the onboard NIC and sound right?

 

[Duvie]

I want to see it!!! If I wasn't so lazy I would use my 4g4a I have here so I can run the 4:5 ratio and 400mhz ddr while running 171fsb.....

 

[CrazySaint]

Alright, you talked me into it Btw, I've been using the IACs and INFs off the CD-ROM, are the ones off the Intel website any newer/faster?

 

[SupermanCK]

yes...intel has newer...
just check the sticky link above

 

[CrazySaint]

They're newer...but are they better? I've got the 4G4A+ in now. I must say, I love this board so far. Everything is very clearly marked on the motherboard, which is good because I didn't have a manual. Every time you boot, it shows your system health monitor. The onboard sound doesn't have the "staticky" problem I was complaining about with the P4B533-V. I like how you can manually enter an FSB speed instead of having scroll through a huge list of FSB speeds. This board allows for finer control of vdimm than the P4B533-V, so I can use 2.6v instead of 2.65v. This board also has the interesting option of underclocking - you can lower your vcore and run your FSB as low as 90. I probably won't be posting too many benchmarks unless they're noticably higher or lower than the ones already posted.

 

[CrazySaint]

It passed 2.52GHz/140FSB on true default voltage, but 2.61/145FSB failed within 1 minute. I've upped the voltage to 1.525 to see if I can get 2.61 on that. Few more observations...this thing boots fast! Probably 2-3 seconds faster than the P4B533-V. While I like the BIOS options in the 4G4A+ better, the BIOS layout in the P4B533-V is cleaner. I took the opportunity to re-apply AS3 on the CPU (also added some to the NB) my load temps dropped ~3C to 50C

 

[CrazySaint]

145FSB failed at 1.525, trying at 1.55v. Btw, I'm using the 6/17 BIOS...I'm gonna have to check the 4G4A+ thread to see what the best OC BIOS is, I think the 4/29 BIOS used to be best, so I'll have to see if that's changed. If any of you have any ideas, be sure to post them

 

[CrazySaint]

This board undervolts a tad so I had to set the vcore to 1.625 in order to get an actual voltage of about 1.6-1.61v so I could run 2.7GHz and 155FSB failed. I can still only run 2.5-3-3-7 at DDR400. So it seems that my OC results with this board were absolutely identical to what I got with the P4B533-V. So it seems that there is no difference between the two boards as far as OC ability, so it comes down to the boards themselves. As is, I would probably take the 4G4A+ over the P4B533-V. If I could get the sound issues worked out with the P4B533-V, I'd probably choose it since the sound seemed "fuller" except for the static. Also, I can NOT get the floppy to work on this board. I tried the floppy cable every way it would go, and the floppy still didn't work. Btw, does anybody know how to run *just* the flyby or *just* the botmatch in the UT2003 demo?

 

[CrazySaint]

Ouch, I can't do 2.7GHz@DDR400. The CPU passed prime95 at 2.7GHz/DDR300 but I can't even do one hour at 2.7GHz/DDR400. So I can either back it off to 2.7GHz/DDR375 or 2.61GHz/DDR387...hopefully I'll be able to run the RAM at better timings to make up for it.

 

[Mikki]

Tweak the heck outta that thing CrazySaint!!

 

[Duvie]

I got one for you crazysaint....

I ran prime95 for 10hours at 166fsb or 2.65ghz with 442mhz ddr at cas 2.5,3,3,6 yet I cannot run at that speed because I have a 50/50 chance the system will post on a warm restart.....I would gladly be running there at 1.68v then where I am now, but I can't...Therefore the cas 2 and 2.736ghz is slightly better in apps I run....

THE OLD TRADE-OFF GAME!!!!

Actually I can prime pass everything up to 442mhz ddr yet can't get past starting issue unless I run at 161fsb....I think it is the epox...I hear it is more sensitive to ram timings and then the fact it undervolts everything...I am talking about my 4bda mobo which undervolts severely...I need to test the 4g4a since you show a small undervolting...

 

[CrazySaint]

Originally posted by: Duvie
I got one for you crazysaint....

I ran prime95 for 10hours at 166fsb or 2.65ghz with 442mhz ddr at cas 2.5,3,3,6 yet I cannot run at that speed because I have a 50/50 chance the system will post on a warm restart.....I would gladly be running there at 1.68v then where I am now, but I can't...Therefore the cas 2 and 2.736ghz is slightly better in apps I run....

THE OLD TRADE-OFF GAME!!!!

Actually I can prime pass everything up to 442mhz ddr yet can't get past starting issue unless I run at 161fsb....I think it is the epox...I hear it is more sensitive to ram timings and then the fact it undervolts everything...I am talking about my 4bda mobo which undervolts severely...I need to test the 4g4a since you show a small undervolting...

From what I've read, undervolting seems to be somewhat hit and miss on the 4G4A series boards. Some people report serious undervolting, others report less serious undervolting so it seems to be somewhat luck of the draw. T seem to be one of the lucky ones, the only serious issue I've had with this board is its apparant refusal to run a floppy. Or it could be a bad cable. Its the same cable that the floppy wouldn't work on in the P4B533-V, but I can't use the cable that worked because it has a blocked pin and the motherboard doesn't. I'm still trying to decide which board I'm going to go with. I'd rate them both at about 9/10, with each one slightly better in different areas.