P4 NORTHWOOD OVERCLOCKING GUIDE

[Pardus]

Very good article found here

Enjoy

 

[MEph]

Thanks

 

[paralazarguer]

repost

 

[oldfart]

Someone should clue Sharky and Co. in on motherboards. They didn't do a very good job with the article.

Intel has also created something of a conundrum in choosing a prime overclocking platform. Their i845 is a solid chipset, but it does not have support for the 133/533 MHz FSB. The i845E would be the natural choice, but this does not feature support for DDR333.

Umm what about all the 845D/E boards that have 3:4 ratio and support DDR355 just fine? Shouldn't this deserve at least a mention? I doubt they even realize this is a feature.

The i845G has both required features, but buyers will need to pay a bit more for the integrated graphics core, as well as dealing with less-than robust i845G motherboard designs.

Say what??

Not having official support for the 133/533 MHz FSB can cause problems with overclocking above the default 100 MHz FSB (standard) of the Pentium 4-1.6A, 1.8A and 2.0A processors. Chipsets such as the i845 and SiS 645 may not have the proper AGP/PCI dividers in place at higher-than 100 MHz FSB speeds, and can cause erratic performance or system instabilities.

Newer chipsets such as the SiS 645DX or i845E/G do away with these concerns by providing higher AGP and PCI dividers for use at the 133 MHz FSB. We should also note at this time that many i845D based motherboards (regardless of FSB speeds) lock their AGP and PCI frequencies at 66 and 33 MHz respectively, so there isn't a great danger to your peripherals when overclocking with many high-end i845 DDR motherboards

845D? Many 845D/E/G boards have the AGP/PCI lock (any of the good ones anyway). Why is just 845D mentioned?

Considering performance, stability, and availability factors, along with full support for the 133/533 MHz FSB and DDR333, the natural recommendation is a motherboard based on the SIS 645DX chipset.

845G overclocks better, has 533 FSB/DDR333 support, PCI/AGP lock. Better overclocking, stability, performance. I don't get the reason for that recommendation. 845D/E with DDR355 and PCI/AGP lock is also a better choice.

The final SiSoft SANDRA benchmark test concerns memory bandwidth, and we once again want to remind you that we are dealing with two totally different platforms here. The Pentium 4-1.6A using the i845D motherboard gets a nice jump in its step from the higher core speed, but this is still moving upwards from the basic 266 MHz DDR speed

Again, the 845D has DDR355 capability. They used the (IMHO crappy) P4B266 which is one of the 845D boards without DDR355 support. It doesn't mean that all 845D's are limited.

Another finding is that both upgraders and new system buyers can easily reap the benefits of the recent Pentium 4 overclocking frenzy, assuming a compatible Socket 478 motherboard is used. The i845D may not have all the performance or bus speed options of a SiS 645DX board, but it should fill the overclocking role quite well

845D will easily outperform an SiS if you get the right 845D board. Also, why compare 645DX against 845D? Where is the test of the 845E and 845G?

Not a good review IMHO.

 

[paralazarguer]

845G overclocks better, has 533 FSB/DDR333 support, PCI/AGP lock. Better overclocking, stability, performance.

That's false. At least the part about stability is false. I've been using the P4S533 with a 533mhz overclock and it has never encountered a stability issue. It hasn't been rebooted in a month. SIS645Dx is rock solid. You can't get any more stable than that.

 

[paralazarguer]

oldfart, also keep in mind the nature of the article. The title was not "which board is the best performer and best overclocker" it was a VALUE gaming PC. They had a budget limit. Look at the price of this inexpensive ASUS board and then the ones that you're talking about. It's the best board in its price range.

 

[paralazarguer]

Oh wait, you were talking about this article. I thought you were talking about this one. My bad.

 

[oldfart]

The guide on the P4 CPU overclocking is actually pretty decent, but the mobo part was pretty poor. My gripes are:

The 845D/E/G capabilities were not explained well at all, an there was no 845E or G tested. The 845D board used for the test is one of the ones without the DDR355 feature.

Overclocking was not "pushed" either. Why stop @ 533FSB on the 1.6A? It will go higher.

This is an overclocking article. The intent is to show how you can run a CPU past its "official" capabilities. The same should be done with mobo and ram. Why push the CPU past official speed, but not DDR speed?

 

[paralazarguer]

The article was called northwood overclocking not DDR overclocking or video card overclocking.

 

[oldfart]

Kind of hard to overclock a Northwood without a Motherboard isn't it? A part of the article is called "Selecting a Motherboard Platform". They made recommendations based on DDR performance. That recommendation was not a good one since they did not even give 845D/E DDR capability's a mention, and furthermore, did not even test using an 845E or 845G board.

I have no problem with the P4 overclocking part. I do with the part of the article (it is part of this article right?) that has inaccurate and incomplete motherboard information

 

[paralazarguer]

I thought it was a good and informative article. No reason to pick it to pieces. It's not perfect as nothing ever is

 

[THUGSROOK]

stop ranting oldfart!

we all know how pathetic AT, THG, and HOCP have become about hardware reviews - thats why we are here, writting our own

i dont even bother to read any of their arcticles anymore :|

 

[oldfart]

Heh, yeah Thugs I know. I guess it just kind of bugs me that some of these reviewers don't seem to have as much knowledge as many of the people here on these forums. The reviews can be pretty lame sometimes. Many people read those reviews and get bad information. There are some sites that are actually pretty good though. They will actually test all the features, post accurate results so informed decisions can be made.

Anandtech has a new motherboard reviewer on the staff. I hope he is among the latter ones I spoke of.

Sorry if I got a little carried away

 

[THUGSROOK]

no need to be sorry - its just that you got ME started now

 

[apoppin]

I think someone here could do a great P4 O/C'ing guide based on the experiences of the members and topics posted here . . . (hint, hint)



The Sharkey article is fine for as far as it goes.

 

[lookin4dlz]

apoppin, I had the same thought as I started reading this thread & then saw that you posted the same thing. Although all ofthe information is here (either in posts or in the poster's head), it's all in so many different threads that it's hard to keep up with. In addition to the generic advice there is motherboard-specific advice.

 

[THUGSROOK]

a collection of "stickies" or "FAQs" would be a good idea in each of the appropriate forums.

anyone upto the task?

 

[AndyHui]

You want a FAQ, you write one and send it to me.

I can then either put it up as a sticky or I can put it up on the main site for all to see.

 

[THUGSROOK]

AndyHui ~ hehe, dont ask me to do it, i do enough writing in this forum already :Q
(besides ima lousy writer)

i noticed your title says "FAQ man" - hint, hint

 

[AndyHui]

If you can write in the forum, you can certainly write a FAQ.

You don't expect me to do everything, do you?

I'm not paid to do this; I put hours of research into the things that I write; time is just something that I don't have any more.

 

[THUGSROOK]

AndyHui ~ yea i know how it feels
hopefully someone will actually want to do it and volunteer

it is a great idea tho - there are so many reposts :disgust:

 

[Mikki]

Originally posted by: THUGSROOK
stop ranting oldfart!

we all know how pathetic AT, THG, and HOCP have become about hardware reviews - thats why we are here, writting our own

i dont even bother to read any of their arcticles anymore :|

And that's the thing, a few months ago when I decided to upgrade I started scouring the Web for info. I hit all the normal sites, got brushed up on the new stuff and started picking my hardware. Then as I always do, I hit the forums to see what everyone's buying. Not only did I end up changing my mind about some of my picks, I learned twice as much as I did from the review sites. Only difference this time around is I actually joined a forum, and now you folks got me totally addicted! I'm gonna get fired......

Don't the AT people read these posts?

 

[THUGSROOK]

you know im not sure if they do

im pretty sure its my fault they needed new forum servers tho j/k!

 

[Mikki]

You just keep on typing, I for one appreciate it!

 

[First]

Originally posted by: Mikki:

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Don't the AT people read these posts?

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Yes.