*** Official ABIT IC7/G (875P) Thread ***

[Drcosmos]

Dear Sabreguy, which model of the Zalman NB heatsink are you using? Does anybody know if you can combine the Zalman NB heatsink with the Zalman Cu7000 cpu cooler? I heard that Thermaltake Tiger would fit this moderboard, but would it fit togheter with the Zalman Cu7000 cooler?

Thanxs

 

[gmoss]

IC7-G Sound drivers and Apps from Abit.

Hi All:

I think this is a silly question but I have not been able to find the answer. There are 2 software downloads for the sound on the IC7-G Board. 1) WDM-a345.exe which seems to be drivers only and ap_a345.exe which seems to be the realtek media player.

Question: does the ap_a345 have the drivers also, so that I only need to install that one, or do I need to install the WDM_a345 first?

Thanks.

Gary

 

[Blargh2]

Sorry guys.. i woulda posted sooner... but apparently hotmail email addresses arent allowed here. I had lost my original email addy (the one i made my account with) so i go to switch it over to my current hotmail one in my profile and Zap.. instabanned.

<---is VERY pissed about that, especially considering that nowhere at all in the TOS does it mention anything about hotmail addys not being allowed, or it being a bannable offence.... anyways.

I got the new 3700 corsair. And while it DOES work stably.. it runs at rather crappy timings to do so. Running right now a 2.8v 2.5,7,3,3, Stock cpu speed (2.8) and stock fsb of 200 for ddr400. It wont even run at its spd settings (no post) at 2.5,7,3,2 and if i try lowering the cas to anything lower then 2.5 i get no post. Rather dissappointed with all this... but at least its stable now. And if the marketing is to be believed i should be able to run this overclocked at around these timings at atleast 233 fsb.

But that brings up another concern of mine. Overclocking. Right now i have the stock hsf on with AS3 (screw the crappy thermal pad) and my idle temp is anywhere from 39C-46C (39 being with the AC in the room on and 46 being if i left it on over time with the ac off). And ive seen it get as high as 53C after running a game for a few hours (note this is with the AC on). Now are these temps normal? I dont ever remembering my previous proc getting this not (was a 1.8A OC to 2.4, using a thermaltake volcano 7+ as the heatsinc). I know my heatsinc helped there alot.. lol but my old rig also sounded like a shop vac, whereas this new one is incredibly silent. So im thinking i might get a new HSF when i upgrade my vid card in a few weeks then try the OCing. BTW i got all these temp readings from the winbond hardware doctor software that came with the mobo.

And speaking of hardware doctor, It also lists the readings on all the power rails in the system. Now most of the rails are reading close to spec (lil under or a lil over). Except my 12v line, which reads in at 11.80v at all times. Once again , is this normal? Im using a 550w Vantec Stealth psu, which shouldnt have any trouble providing all the power this rig would ever need, imo it shouldnt be undervolting like this.

Other then that tho things seem to be running ok. Tho i do have this one nagging problem with the audio in my system, it seems to skip fairly often.. sorta like what happens when you hit a bad bump in the road while listening to a cd in your car. I know all about the onboard sound issues in this system, however im not using that, but rather my own sound blaster audigy card. Sofar it seems to be most prevalent while im listening to music in winamp 3, however i have heard it happen while i was playing warcraft 3. Anyone have any idea what is causing this?

 

[Sabreguy]

Originally posted by: Drcosmos
Dear Sabreguy, which model of the Zalman NB heatsink are you using? Does anybody know if you can combine the Zalman NB heatsink with the Zalman Cu7000 cpu cooler? I heard that Thermaltake Tiger would fit this moderboard, but would it fit togheter with the Zalman Cu7000 cooler?

Thanxs

The NB's far enough from the CPU that you'll run into no vertical obstruction even with the 7000cu. I have the 7000 AlCu and they don't get in the way of each other... though getting to that upper left hook/loop will take some fine fingerwork since the fins to get close to the HS.

 

[Kindjal]

I'm thinking about purchasing a IC7-G and had a question.

I plan on purchasing one WD Raptor to go with the new mobo (not ready to leap to RAID just yet). I would still like to use my 3 IDE devices, two CD-ROMs and one EIDE hard drive. Will I be able to use all these drives with the IC7-G and the new SATA drive?

Thanks!

 

[mroleg]

Absolutely. You have 2 EIDE connetors and 4 sata connectors. Total 8 devices.

 

[mroleg]

A little oc info:
p4 2.8C SL6WJ FPO/BATCH L311A772 PACK DATE 05/21/03, 2x256 OCZ pc3700EL Gold@2.5-3-3-8, radeon 9800 pro@398/371(balanced settings)
Prime95 - 12 hours stable.

FSB/Mghz/Voltage/MemSpeed/Ratio
250/3507/Default/250/1:1

Sandra Mem Bandwith:
Buff: 6089
Unbuff: 4778

3dmark01SE:20896

 

[Blargh2]

Originally posted by: Blargh2
Sorry guys.. i woulda posted sooner... but apparently hotmail email addresses arent allowed here. I had lost my original email addy (the one i made my account with) so i go to switch it over to my current hotmail one in my profile and Zap.. instabanned.

<---is VERY pissed about that, especially considering that nowhere at all in the TOS does it mention anything about hotmail addys not being allowed, or it being a bannable offence.... anyways.

I got the new 3700 corsair. And while it DOES work stably.. it runs at rather crappy timings to do so. Running right now a 2.8v 2.5,7,3,3, Stock cpu speed (2.8) and stock fsb of 200 for ddr400. It wont even run at its spd settings (no post) at 2.5,7,3,2 and if i try lowering the cas to anything lower then 2.5 i get no post. Rather dissappointed with all this... but at least its stable now. And if the marketing is to be believed i should be able to run this overclocked at around these timings at atleast 233 fsb.

But that brings up another concern of mine. Overclocking. Right now i have the stock hsf on with AS3 (screw the crappy thermal pad) and my idle temp is anywhere from 39C-46C (39 being with the AC in the room on and 46 being if i left it on over time with the ac off). And ive seen it get as high as 53C after running a game for a few hours (note this is with the AC on). Now are these temps normal? I dont ever remembering my previous proc getting this not (was a 1.8A OC to 2.4, using a thermaltake volcano 7+ as the heatsinc). I know my heatsinc helped there alot.. lol but my old rig also sounded like a shop vac, whereas this new one is incredibly silent. So im thinking i might get a new HSF when i upgrade my vid card in a few weeks then try the OCing. BTW i got all these temp readings from the winbond hardware doctor software that came with the mobo.

And speaking of hardware doctor, It also lists the readings on all the power rails in the system. Now most of the rails are reading close to spec (lil under or a lil over). Except my 12v line, which reads in at 11.80v at all times. Once again , is this normal? Im using a 550w Vantec Stealth psu, which shouldnt have any trouble providing all the power this rig would ever need, imo it shouldnt be undervolting like this.

Other then that tho things seem to be running ok. Tho i do have this one nagging problem with the audio in my system, it seems to skip fairly often.. sorta like what happens when you hit a bad bump in the road while listening to a cd in your car. I know all about the onboard sound issues in this system, however im not using that, but rather my own sound blaster audigy card. Sofar it seems to be most prevalent while im listening to music in winamp 3, however i have heard it happen while i was playing warcraft 3. Anyone have any idea what is causing this?

Hm i actually think i fixed the sound issue, seems there was a new audigy driver posted on the soundblaster page on june 25th, which according tothe page "Imporves performance on machines with hyperthreading" sofar i havent heard any skips.. tho sound quality doesnt seem the same... i dunno.

 

[Thor86]

Originally posted by: 5150Joker

Originally posted by: roystarman
:clock:

No posts for 2 days? All of a sudden everyone is happy Great.

System is working great for me, no complaints here. Completely stable at 280 fsb, def. voltage, memory at 5:4 2632 (ddr 448 and sandra scores of >6k/6k). BTW 1.5 bios sucks, it didnt let me o/c as good as 1.4

Which cpu are you using in your OC? And what was the highest FSB you were able to go stable using 1.5 bios?

 

[Thor86]

Originally posted by: mroleg
A little oc info:
p4 2.8C SL6WJ FPO/BATCH L311A772 PACK DATE 05/21/03, 2x256 OCZ pc3700EL Gold@2.5-3-3-8, radeon 9800 pro@398/371(balanced settings)
Prime95 - 12 hours stable.

FSB/Mghz/Voltage/MemSpeed/Ratio
250/3507/Default/250/1:1

Sandra Mem Bandwith:
Buff: 6089
Unbuff: 4778

3dmark01SE:20896

:Q :Q :Q

Very nice!

 

[5150Joker]

Originally posted by: Vonkhan
heheh, same here

try modding it at the same time!

lost a lit bit of a finger tip to a dremel

a knuckle split open courtesy of a hi powered 80mm fan

and of course, the mandatory scratches

did i mention the *shocking* experience while I was modding my PSU?

Jeez man I hope you don't work with heavy machinery for a living!

 

[5150Joker]

Originally posted by: KillerBob

Originally posted by: 5150Joker
BTW 1.5 bios sucks, it didnt let me o/c as good as 1.4

I completely disagree. 15 has solved all my stability problems in Memtest and Prime95. I am happily OCed at 225 now, with DRAM 1:1, and the Performance Mode set at Streetracer. I'll try out F1 tonight, and continue to raise the bar.

Different strokes for diff. folks, it sucked for me. I could no longer do 290 fsb stable on default vcore with 1.5 bios. Soon as I reverted back to 1.4 all was well again.

 

[5150Joker]

Originally posted by: Blargh2
Sorry guys.. i woulda posted sooner... but apparently hotmail email addresses arent allowed here. I had lost my original email addy (the one i made my account with) so i go to switch it over to my current hotmail one in my profile and Zap.. instabanned.

<---is VERY pissed about that, especially considering that nowhere at all in the TOS does it mention anything about hotmail addys not being allowed, or it being a bannable offence.... anyways.

I got the new 3700 corsair. And while it DOES work stably.. it runs at rather crappy timings to do so. Running right now a 2.8v 2.5,7,3,3, Stock cpu speed (2.8) and stock fsb of 200 for ddr400. It wont even run at its spd settings (no post) at 2.5,7,3,2 and if i try lowering the cas to anything lower then 2.5 i get no post. Rather dissappointed with all this... but at least its stable now. And if the marketing is to be believed i should be able to run this overclocked at around these timings at atleast 233 fsb.

But that brings up another concern of mine. Overclocking. Right now i have the stock hsf on with AS3 (screw the crappy thermal pad) and my idle temp is anywhere from 39C-46C (39 being with the AC in the room on and 46 being if i left it on over time with the ac off). And ive seen it get as high as 53C after running a game for a few hours (note this is with the AC on). Now are these temps normal? I dont ever remembering my previous proc getting this not (was a 1.8A OC to 2.4, using a thermaltake volcano 7+ as the heatsinc). I know my heatsinc helped there alot.. lol but my old rig also sounded like a shop vac, whereas this new one is incredibly silent. So im thinking i might get a new HSF when i upgrade my vid card in a few weeks then try the OCing. BTW i got all these temp readings from the winbond hardware doctor software that came with the mobo.

And speaking of hardware doctor, It also lists the readings on all the power rails in the system. Now most of the rails are reading close to spec (lil under or a lil over). Except my 12v line, which reads in at 11.80v at all times. Once again , is this normal? Im using a 550w Vantec Stealth psu, which shouldnt have any trouble providing all the power this rig would ever need, imo it shouldnt be undervolting like this.

Other then that tho things seem to be running ok. Tho i do have this one nagging problem with the audio in my system, it seems to skip fairly often.. sorta like what happens when you hit a bad bump in the road while listening to a cd in your car. I know all about the onboard sound issues in this system, however im not using that, but rather my own sound blaster audigy card. Sofar it seems to be most prevalent while im listening to music in winamp 3, however i have heard it happen while i was playing warcraft 3. Anyone have any idea what is causing this?

You should be able to hit the rated speed for that ram at cas 3 (what it is rated to run at). If you know you can't o/c past the limits of say 434 mhz ddr then you should've stuck with some form of pc3500 ram. As for your temps, they look fine to me, in fact they are pretty good considering you are on stock cooling. Hell I get similar temperature readings with an SLK900u + 92mm panaflo (48 cfm)--although it's hot as hell in California lately and my apt is never below 75 F.

 

[joecool]

ok, i'm going to go out on a limb here and get flamed, but i have to ask ... now that GAT is available on the IS7, why is anyone buying the IC7 anymore?! i purchased my IC7 a week before the whole PAT/GAT thing happened, had been leaning towards the IS7 for the LAN and better AGP/PCI layout (open slot below AGP so you don't waste a PCI slot to give the vid card some breathing room), but went with the IC7 for PAT and performance. anyway, after GAT became available i decided to get an IS7 & do my own head-to-head comparison. results:

overclocking hits the same wall on both boards. my P4C just can't seem to do better than 247 FSB, even cranking cpu/mem ratio down to 3:2. sure wish i had one of those 300FSB parts!

at max speed, both boards use same mem timings: 2-3-3-7

depending on the benchmark, IC7 beats IS7 by 0-4%. this is truly in the noise level and may be due to the inherant random differences between benchmark runs. this is also only on benchmarks which are highly synthetic anyway. in real-world use i have experienced no observable diff. in performance at all!

so, to me the comparison boils down to this:

IC7 - slightly faster in some benchies (bragging rights), black pcb, black round floppy & ide cable (why only one?!), slick packaging.

IS7 - 30% cheaper, on-board LAN, better layout (no need to waste a PCI slot for vid cooling, better placement of 12V power connector).

seems like an obvious choice to me! i'll be sending my IC7 in for a refund this week!

caveat - in oc'ing i seem to be cpu-limited. for those lucky folks with more robust parts (which is completely a crap shoot), perhaps the IC7 will allow a higher level of overclocking. i don't know that this is true but i have seen some folks make this claim.

let the flame war begin ....

 

[Vonkhan]

Other than the fact that my IC7, a refurb that came with ALL the accessories (including the retail box) still sealed was cheaper than an IS7

... the black PCB was worth it since I have a mid-tower black case, looks flippin awesome

 

[KillerBob]

I have the IC7-G, and I guess that makes the choice easier, but this is the best MoBo I have ever owned. I've been through Soyo, Asus, Intel, and other Abit boards, and have never dealt with a board this easy

On the Intel side of the fence I simply don't see anything better. I only have 2 PCI cards, so the layout is perfect to me, and with the onboard LAN on the G, no problems there. I enjoy the fastest MoBo available right now, and I am OCed over 15%, and rock stabil. Sure the NB fan is irritating, but I am replacing that with a Zalman HSF tomorrow.

 

[AnImuS]

Originally posted by: Vonkhan
Other than the fact that my IC7, a refurb that came with ALL the accessories (including the retail box) still sealed was cheaper than an IS7

... the black PCB was worth it since I have a mid-tower black case, looks flippin awesome

I also got a refurb, mine was from newegg with all accesories aswell. it cost me $95shipped. I also recieved a SATA-PATA adapter aswell.. awesome deal!

 

[Vonkhan]

my one was for $85

nevertheless, its an incredible board! I have my 2.8B OC-ed to 3.4 with my 1GB of HyperX pc3500 @ 2-2-2-5 ... kik azz

 

[KillerBob]

With an Intel P4 3.0/800 you get the best performance by running the CPU:RAM at 1:1, and then try to get the best setting on your RAM. I can run it at GAT = F1, and PAT is FULLY ENABLED. When/if I run CPU:RAM at 5:4, I only get PAT PARTIALLY ENABLED, and my 3DMark2001 score drops. I would have to get the system stabil at 245FSB to get the same performance, and I can't.

So, for the moment I am running the FSB at 225, CPU:RAM at 1:1, GAT at F1, and have a rock-stabil system. That just can't be beat by any other MoBo. Only thing that bugs me is that I could have bought a P4 2.4/800 and gotten the same 3DMark2001 score in pure OC

 

[joecool]

Originally posted by: AnImuS

Originally posted by: Vonkhan Other than the fact that my IC7, a refurb that came with ALL the accessories (including the retail box) still sealed was cheaper than an IS7 ... the black PCB was worth it since I have a mid-tower black case, looks flippin awesome

I also got a refurb, mine was from newegg with all accesories aswell. it cost me $95shipped. I also recieved a SATA-PATA adapter aswell.. awesome deal!

sounds like you guys got some sweet deals ... problem is, newegg won't guarantee that you'll get ANY of the accessories, much less all of them. i personally wouldn't want to risk it - i need alot of the extra cables, power adapters, etc.

 

[KillerBob]

I just finished replacing the noisy NB fan/HSF with a Zalman NB32J; it was a struggle, but well worth it.

The temps are as usual, possibly even a tad lower, but I don't know from where the system temp is measured. It just seems lower. The noise of course is gone, and I am sure it has only been a conversion for the better.

Filing the Zalman down to fit under the MoBo ring, and then cleaning up the gunk left by the original HSF, were the two worst things. It was pretty hard to get cleaned up, so I could dirty it up again with ASII. It looks great though, a vast improvement!!!

 

[roystarman]

Originally posted by: joecool
ok, i'm going to go out on a limb here and get flamed, but i have to ask ... now that GAT is available on the IS7, why is anyone buying the IC7 anymore?! i purchased my IC7 a week before the whole PAT/GAT thing happened, had been leaning towards the IS7 for the LAN and better AGP/PCI layout (open slot below AGP so you don't waste a PCI slot to give the vid card some breathing room), but went with the IC7 for PAT and performance. anyway, after GAT became available i decided to get an IS7 & do my own head-to-head comparison. results:

overclocking hits the same wall on both boards. my P4C just can't seem to do better than 247 FSB, even cranking cpu/mem ratio down to 3:2. sure wish i had one of those 300FSB parts!

at max speed, both boards use same mem timings: 2-3-3-7

depending on the benchmark, IC7 beats IS7 by 0-4%. this is truly in the noise level and may be due to the inherant random differences between benchmark runs. this is also only on benchmarks which are highly synthetic anyway. in real-world use i have experienced no observable diff. in performance at all!

so, to me the comparison boils down to this:

IC7 - slightly faster in some benchies (bragging rights), black pcb, black round floppy & ide cable (why only one?!), slick packaging.

IS7 - 30% cheaper, on-board LAN, better layout (no need to waste a PCI slot for vid cooling, better placement of 12V power connector).

seems like an obvious choice to me! i'll be sending my IC7 in for a refund this week!

caveat - in oc'ing i seem to be cpu-limited. for those lucky folks with more robust parts (which is completely a crap shoot), perhaps the IC7 will allow a higher level of overclocking. i don't know that this is true but i have seen some folks make this claim.

let the flame war begin ....

No flames just a basic fact that at this time we are living in a Golden Age where INTEL is repackaging a lot of 875 chipsets and selling them as 865's. So if you manage to get one of those then I can see no reason to buy and IC-7G (although I own one) over the IS-7G. However this will not last forever sooner or later INTEL will quit doing this or find a way to permanetly disable the PAT turn on that has been accomplished by ASUS and ABIT. INTEL is losing prboably 15 to 20 dollars a chipset every time one goes out stamped 865 vs 875 and those of you believe this is going to go on indefinitley are really living in dreamland. Intel will either quit manufacturing the 865 or disable it to make sure the 875 is faster in the long term. So if you are interested buy one now, but don't count on this lasting.

THe reason INTEL can be so Draconian is that there doesn't seem to be any real competition on the near horizion against their chipsets. This with a large demand for the the new P4 with 800MHz FSB, means they can call the shots for now. Most high end users are not going to sacrifice speed for a less expensve chipset and the 875 and currently the 865 is appealing to the high end users as the fastest P4 chipsets available.

 

[oldfart]

Originally posted by: KillerBob
With an Intel P4 3.0/800 you get the best performance by running the CPU:RAM at 1:1, and then try to get the best setting on your RAM. I can run it at GAT = F1, and PAT is FULLY ENABLED. When/if I run CPU:RAM at 5:4, I only get PAT PARTIALLY ENABLED, and my 3DMark2001 score drops. I would have to get the system stabil at 245FSB to get the same performance, and I can't.

So, for the moment I am running the FSB at 225, CPU:RAM at 1:1, GAT at F1, and have a rock-stabil system. That just can't be beat by any other MoBo. Only thing that bugs me is that I could have bought a P4 2.4/800 and gotten the same 3DMark2001 score in pure OC

This is on an IC7? I get PAT Fully enabled on my IC7 @ 5:4. So do a lot of other people.

 

[KillerBob]

I think people are seeing different results with PAT under different settings in GAT, CPU:RAM divider, and FSB. In the Abit forums someone wrote a pretty good analysis, but I haven't seen any definate clues as to when PAT is fully enabled or not.

 

[mngisdood]

Originally posted by: roystarman



No flames just a basic fact that at this time we are living in a Golden Age where INTEL is repackaging a lot of 875 chipsets and selling them as 865's. So if you manage to get one of those then I can see no reason to buy and IC-7G (although I own one) over the IS-7G. However this will not last forever sooner or later INTEL will quit doing this or find a way to permanetly disable the PAT turn on that has been accomplished by ASUS and ABIT. INTEL is losing prboably 15 to 20 dollars a chipset every time one goes out stamped 865 vs 875 and those of you believe this is going to go on indefinitley are really living in dreamland. Intel will either quit manufacturing the 865 or disable it to make sure the 875 is faster in the long term. So if you are interested buy one now, but don't count on this lasting.

You are running the 'risk' when buying an IS7G that you will actually get a i865 chipset which will not perform as well as we've seen in i875 rigs we've seen in these, and other forums. The IS7 we tested 'only' hit 250mhz fsb, whereas other IS7's tested easily exceed 290 fsb, so it's really a crapshoot with these. If you want the proven overclockers, and be assured an i875 chipset, there is a reason to go with the IC7-G IMHO.