somewhat OT: new rig in the works, edit: "On FedEx vehicle for delivery"

[titanmiller]

I'm in the "convince your parents this is needed" phase of the operation.
Edit: about 99% sure the rig is comming home!!
Edit: its comming home!
Edit: just checked the tracking stats (so cool) and noticed that both of my packages from newegg are on the truck ready for delivery. Best of all they are going to be a full day ahead of the scheduled delivery! Unfortunantly I will have to put in my GF2 Pro until tomorrow when my video card comes.
What a great way to celebrate a birthday!

What kind of seti time do you think this will get?
WD WESTERN DIGITAL EIDE HARD DRIVE 40GB 7200RPM
CORSAIR MEMORY XMS Extreme Memory Speed Series CMX512-2700C2 PC2700 DDR RAM 333MHz w/ Heat Spreader
Epox Motherboard for AMD Athlon/Athlon XP/Duron Processors, Model# EP-8RDA+
AMD ATHLON XP 2500 "Barton" 333 FSB PROCESSOR CPU- RETAIL
BFG Asylum GF4 TI4200-8X 64MB TV/DVI OEM
FDD
CD-ROM
Total cost including OS = $555.49

All from Newegg except video card.

 

[Insidious]

I can't really speak to the SETI performance, but that is pretty similar to my computers. (MyRig)

Rather than shell out for killer memory, I opted for CL2.5 and just set it for CL2. I also upped the timings to
their performance pre-set (ULTRA) and then brought the FSB up what little I could. Anyway, I digress....

Everything I'm crunching at the moment flies so I assume you will be zippin' right along with that computer.

-Sid

 

[titanmiller]

Thanks for the comment on the memory. It is Corsair "value" memory hopefuly it can do CL2. Most likely I wont be doing much extreme overclocking for a while, I am buying the 2500+ retail so it comes a HSF. I dont know how much overhead there is with that heatsink but hopefuly I can get 100mhz more out of it.

 

[Insidious]

I don't know that motherboard, but the one I'm using has the FID thing that lets me use different multipliers eventhough
I did nothing to modify the CPU.

That's how I am able to run 2100MHz with memory that has no headroom (upped the multiplier instead of FSB).
I always liked this solution best anyway, because unless you have locked PCI and AGP frequencies (which I don't) it
is easy to get unstable when the FSB is raised sky-high.

-Sid

 

[titanmiller]

I believe this motherboard has a AGP and PCI lock. Cant all tbread and bartons have their multiplyer changed without doing anything physicaly.

 

[ProviaFan]

Originally posted by: titanmiller
I believe this motherboard has a AGP and PCI lock. Cant all tbread and bartons have their multiplyer changed without doing anything physicaly.

I can't speak for all of them, but my Athlon XP 1700+ T-bred B is unlocked automatically by my Epox 8RDA.

 

[Insidious]

yeah, it's (unlocking) a function of the motherboard for the T-breds and Bartons

-Sid

 

[titanmiller]

Thanks for the info, I'm still working on them.

 

[lane42]

titan, just beware, some ram won't budge an inch on cas settings. I had a stick of samsung pc2700 cas 2.5 that did 190 FSB, when i lowered it to cas 2 i couldn't get much past the stock 166 FSB. When i replaced this with corsair pc3500 @ cas 2, and all else being the same i picked up about 10-12 min. a work unit going from cas 2.5 to cas 2.

 

[Insidious]

Same experience here with Crucial PC2700.

I can only do 168 FSB with settings at CL=2 and Ultra. (TG for adjustable Xs)

-Sid

 

[titanmiller]

Thanks, I think I'll look into some CL2 memory.
Does anybody know if this motherboard has Duel Channel DDR, it doesnt say so in the description.

 

[Confused]

The memory channels on this motherboard don't battle


They are however dual channel

I've got this board, and apart from the floppy controller going on it, i've had no problems at all! I'm running my 1700+ Tbred B at 2.09Ghz, 182x11.5, with 512MB Samsung PC2700 CAS2.5 at 182MHz 5-2-2-2.5 My board (0247 NB/SB) won't go any higher than this with the memory in sync, however the memory will do 200+ at 6-2-2-2.5 in my P4PE.

My 8RDA+ is being sent back today, hopefully i'll get a newer one, with the newest stepping of NB/SB which should be able to hit 200+


Confused

 

[titanmiller]

Originally posted by: Confused
The memory channels on this motherboard don't battle

Oh bologna, I cant spell, I even tried to respell it a couple of times as dule. I'm glad school is over Wednesday! (Did I spell anything wrong in this sentence?)

Thanks for the help (and constructive criticism), I dont think another stick is in the budget unfortunantly anyway. Will it matter that much since I'm not using integrated graphics?

 

[ProviaFan]

Originally posted by: titanmiller
Thanks, I think I'll look into some CL2 memory.
Does anybody know if this motherboard has Duel Channel DDR, it doesnt say so in the description.

The Epox 8RDA and 8RDA+ both support dual channel DDR.

 

[ProviaFan]

Originally posted by: titanmiller
Thanks for the help (and constructive criticism), I dont think another stick is in the budget unfortunantly anyway. Will it matter that much since I'm not using integrated graphics?

unfortunantly? you mean unfortunately?

I don't think dual channel DDR will help that much. There's a thread around here somewhere where someone benchmarked SETI with dual channel DDR on, and IIRC it didn't make a whole lot of difference.

 

[Confused]

Hey man I was just playin with ya!

There will be about a 5-10 min reduction on WU times going to dual-channel. As you're not using integrated graphics, then not using dual-channel isn't really anything to worry about. These chipsets are so fast in just single-channel anyway!!

Garry

 

[titanmiller]

Originally posted by: Confused
Hey man I was just playin with ya!

No problem, did my response sound like I was offended? Sorry if it did because I sure wasn't. Life is too short to get mad.

Thanks for all of the info. I was talking to some friends at school and a couple of them are interested in this setup, I wouldnt mind making computers for people, but with that comes the responsibility for making sure it works for atleast a couple of years. I suppose I could try to form some kind of partnership with a local company that services computers.
I'll probably checkout in an hour or so. But knowing my luck every part will be DOA.

Originally posted by: Assimilator1
unfortunantly? you mean unfortunately?

looks like it is time to change my sig.

 

[Confused]

I wasn't too sure, but thought I'd clarify it just in case

Hope you have fun with this rig, I know that so far my 8RDA+ has been my best motherboard, even dispite the dead floppy controller!

Even better than my seemingly unbeatable KT7, which took my 1Ghz AXIA to 1.43GHz!! Now I've got my 1.43Ghz to 2.09GHz, which is a 45% overclock, only just beating the 43% overclock from the KT7!!


Garry

 

[titanmiller]

I'll be using the retail HSF until I decide I want to push it more. I really want to get 2Ghz (175x11.5) out of it for now..

 

[Insidious]

When I read through this about the newer retail HSFs I got curious...
I hadn't even taken mine out of the packages. It is a different one from those green(blue) ones that came with the last CPUs I bought.

Glad to know AMD has upped the quality (I'm assuming from the above posts). Their old ones were really bad.

I can tell you are excited about this build (as you should be). I think you're going to have some fun!

-Sid

Originally posted by: titanmiller
I'll be using the retail HSF until I decide I want to push it more. I really want to get 2Ghz (175x11.5) out of it for now..

FWIW, I got 2.1GHz easily (even with my poopie RAM and KT400 board). set mine for Vcore=1.75 volts, 12.5x and 168FSB. (pretty moderate OC as you can see) I'm pretty sure if I had some better RAM (and larger testicles) It would do more.

 

[titanmiller]

Originally posted by: Insidious

I can tell you are excited about this build (as you should be). I think you're going to have some fun!

You bet, what a great way to start out the summer.

2.0Ghz and 13,000 3dmarks is my goal, oh yeah and averaging 2:30 on .417 WUs.

 

[Insidious]

If it helps any, I'm getting just under 13K for a 3DMark2001se score with everything set like you see in MyRig
and the NVidia sliders set halfway between performance and application (quality), No AA or aniso.

If I were to unplug the USB stuff, clear the desktop turn off zone alarm and my DCs I might see 13K.... but for what I use 3DMark for, that would be
self-defeating.

However, I do think you will have NO problem seeing 2GHz+.

-Sid

(don't burn up that video card trying for 13K...... it's just a number!)

 

[Spacehead]

Originally posted by: titanmiller
I wouldnt mind making computers for people, but with that comes the responsibility for making sure it works for atleast a couple of years.

Your friend- "Titan, can you build me a computer?"
titanmiller- "Sure, you can pick it up in 2005, after a burn in test."

 

[titanmiller]

Originally posted by: Insidious
If it helps any, I'm getting just under 13K for a 3DMark2001se score with everything set like you see in MyRig
and the NVidia sliders set halfway between performance and application (quality), No AA or aniso.

If I were to unplug the USB stuff, clear the desktop turn off zone alarm and my DCs I might see 13K.... but for what I use 3DMark for, that would be
self-defeating.

However, I do think you will have NO problem seeing 2GHz+.

-Sid

(don't burn up that video card trying for 13K...... it's just a number!)

I'll try not to burn it up. Unfortunantly I didnt get my parents to hand over the credit card in time, as the GeForce4 Ti4200 sold out, oh whell. I did manage to find another one made by BFG from a different store for 85 cents less after shipping, but its an OEM model. Luckly it has the same clocks.

Originally posted by: Spacehead

Originally posted by: titanmiller
I wouldnt mind making computers for people, but with that comes the responsibility for making sure it works for atleast a couple of years.

Your friend- "Titan, can you build me a computer?"
titanmiller- "Sure, you can pick it up in 2005, after a burn in test."

Time to change that sig agian: "Worst grammer and spelling on AT forums"

 

[titanmiller]

I was reading a review site on the EP-8RDA+ and they said that throught their testing they (5 t words in a row!) had to physicaly remove the bios chip multiple times and let it set so it would reset itself because it was so easy to corrupt. This cant be true can it? They also said that using low latency ram will corrupt the bios. Are they just trying to spread horror stories or is this an acctual problem?