also, just out of curiosity I went to see if abit had updated any of their downloadable files for the IC7 series lately. They haven't since around march. However.. MSI seems to have already released their 3rd bios revision for their canterwood boards; the latest one being just a couple days ago. Wondering if this is good(MSI being aggressive about fixing/tweaking issues with their boards now that they are getting into customers' hands) or bad(they are discovering lots and lots of bugs).
Nice work on the testing, I've been following your post over at AsusBoards.
A couple of questions:
What is the % performance diff. with the slower timings? Granite Bay has the same problem and was originally "fixed" with WCPRset and eventually with a modded BIOS, correct?
Lastly, is the defect GB has with running the newest video cards at 8X present in the Canterwood chipset? (yes I know there is no appreciable perf diff between 4X and 8X right now, but at these price ranges I feel that the feature should work as it will be needed in the future)
If the mem timings problem has at least a possible fix and the 8X AGP bug isn't present, these Canterwood are definitely a better buy than GB.
Mike G
PrometheusN - Will Sandra will givie you your memory timings? Check to see if its telling you the same thing as CPU-Z
Since the IC7 has the RJ-45 plug, would it be possible to take the CSA chip from another board (like one that died) and solder it on to the spot where its supposed to go and have it work?
I've got Kingston PC3500 coming too so this is something good to hear. But, the motherboard set PrometheusN's OCZ at less aggresove timings too.
Nice overclock too! What stepping code is that C1 P4 and what kind of cooling are you using?
Thanks. 
It's a SL6EF C1 stepping. I'm using AquariusII H2O kit with Koolance water block. It's not a high powered kit. According to reviews, equivalnet of ThermalTake Spark-7? (but with lot less noise... )
It's a SL6EF C1 stepping. I'm using AquariusII H2O kit with Koolance water block. It's not a high powered kit. According to reviews, equivalnet of ThermalTake Spark-7? (but with lot less noise... )I hope my SL6EF OCs as much. I'm just waiting to unleash it. Its sitting my 850E motherboard right now so I cant really OC it that much.
Is anyone else getting a hardware incompatible message with the IC7 (non -G) when trying to install the Intel Application Accelerator?
It sounds like this board supports SATA RAID but not EIDE (PATA) RAID. Is that correct? I have two WD Caviar's (the 250gig monsters) that I want to run in RAID mode. Can I do it on this board without adding a controller?
Also, what's the CSA stand for in the Intel CSA Gigabit LAN?
I've been reading the manual and trying to make sense of it. Thanks for all the info!
Also, what's the CSA stand for in the Intel CSA Gigabit LAN?
I've been reading the manual and trying to make sense of it. Thanks for all the info!
I have a couple of questions on this subject. I was going to go with either the low end version of the MSI or Abit board until I realized that neither included pata ide raid. So, I'm definitely set on one of the higher end boards; the IC7-G or FIS2R Neo.
Now my questions are as follows. From an overclocking standpoint the MSI board seems to be the better option with its extra built in memory settings and higher voltage ceiling. However, would these extra bios options ever be used?
Ram settings. The MSI board claims support for up to DDR 532. I thought that DDR2 was supposed to take over around the DDR 400 mark. IF this is the case then the extra ram settings would be useless in my opinion. Am I wrong?
Voltages. The MSI board has lots of extra voltage settings than the abit board. Cpu volt up to 2.30, ram volt up to 3.30, agp volt up to 1.7? At what point in voltage raising are you seriously flirting with overcooking your cpu/ram/agp? With that in mind would these higher voltage settings ever be used? If not then what's the point of having them?
Any answers or thoughts on this are appreciated. Thanks
Now my questions are as follows. From an overclocking standpoint the MSI board seems to be the better option with its extra built in memory settings and higher voltage ceiling. However, would these extra bios options ever be used?
Ram settings. The MSI board claims support for up to DDR 532. I thought that DDR2 was supposed to take over around the DDR 400 mark. IF this is the case then the extra ram settings would be useless in my opinion. Am I wrong?
Voltages. The MSI board has lots of extra voltage settings than the abit board. Cpu volt up to 2.30, ram volt up to 3.30, agp volt up to 1.7? At what point in voltage raising are you seriously flirting with overcooking your cpu/ram/agp? With that in mind would these higher voltage settings ever be used? If not then what's the point of having them?
Any answers or thoughts on this are appreciated. Thanks
I don't think IC7-G has PATA RAID. It has extra s SATA ports.
Overclocking? Abit. period.
IC7 has vcore up to 1.9v & vdimm 2.8v, which I think is more than enough.If you're planning to go DDR2 (if and when it comes out), I guess it may make sense...
IMHO, I don't think I'll ever use more than 1.7v for vcore (right now, my limit is 1.6v). It might be a good idea to have vdimm more than 2.8v, but I think it should be enough. It's been tested that extra voltage actually diminishes performance...
There is a new version of IAA that comes on your IC7/IC7-G CD - and it installs perfectly.
If you have been following my review at AsusBoards, I found the memory timings are dramatically affected by the setting of the N/B Strap option with the lowest setting providing the best memory timings. Also Corsair 3200LL, which is a problem on most Canterwood boards, works really well on the Abit. At 533 N/B strap, 194FSB on my 2.4 SL6RZ on air and 1:1 (DDR380), I was able to set AND actually run (confirmed by v1.17 CPU-Z) Corsair LL at 2,5,2,2. Sandra 2003 memory was over 4700 standard buffered and over 2700 UNBuffered. The same exact settings at 800 N/B strap shifted my 2,5,2,2 settings to 2.5,6,2,2.
We have confirmed this is an Abit BIOS issue and NOT a Canterwood issue. The AOpen AX4C MAX Canterwood shows the same settings in CPU-Z in Windows that are set in BIOS.
If you have been following my review at AsusBoards, I found the memory timings are dramatically affected by the setting of the N/B Strap option with the lowest setting providing the best memory timings. Also Corsair 3200LL, which is a problem on most Canterwood boards, works really well on the Abit. At 533 N/B strap, 194FSB on my 2.4 SL6RZ on air and 1:1 (DDR380), I was able to set AND actually run (confirmed by v1.17 CPU-Z) Corsair LL at 2,5,2,2. Sandra 2003 memory was over 4700 standard buffered and over 2700 UNBuffered. The same exact settings at 800 N/B strap shifted my 2,5,2,2 settings to 2.5,6,2,2.
We have confirmed this is an Abit BIOS issue and NOT a Canterwood issue. The AOpen AX4C MAX Canterwood shows the same settings in CPU-Z in Windows that are set in BIOS.
PrometheusN, I've read your excellent work over @ Asusboards and I have a question or two. You've put in the time with both the IC7 and AX4C. These are the two boards I'm considering. I haven't seen a better board yet. Which is the better one for 533 MHz P4 overclockers? How about 800 MHz overclockers? Why? Any input is appreciated.
So basically the only difference between the two boards is that the IC7-G has 2 more SATA Ports and built in LAN?
The 71 dollar difference seems a pretty big premium for those features. Is there anything I am missing?
The 71 dollar difference seems a pretty big premium for those features. Is there anything I am missing?
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