Architectural factors?

[camieabz]

I've bought an Abit BX133 RAID mobo.
Now at FSB over 100MHz the mobo is supported, but not guaranteed. This is effectively overclocking.

What I want to know is:

Why can't they release a BX mobo with 133MHz FSB as standard?

I'm not very up on chipset architecture, so I find it easier to ask here, than to wade through reams of boring books.

<b>
"Now drop your weapons or I'll kill him with this deadly jelly baby."
</b>

 

[mpjesse]

Because intel already has a "BX like" 133mhz FSB chipset. It's just not called the BX anymore. Intel did away with "TX", "LX", "VX", etc... they now use a number system. Like i820, i850, i860, etc.

-MP Jesse

"Signatures Still Suck"

 

[camieabz]

So the CUSL2 is effectively an improved BX mobo?

<b>
"Now drop your weapons or I'll kill him with this deadly jelly baby."
</b>

 

[mpjesse]

Does it use the Intel BX chipset or VIA's BX chipset? If it uses VIA's, then it's good to go. The Intel BX won't overclock very far past 100mhz.

-MP Jesse

"Signatures Still Suck"

 

[Crashman]

The i815 is Intel's replacement for the BX consumer market. The CUSL2 is the cream of the crop for the i815.
Don't listen to mpjesse, the Geniune BX by Intel will reach clock speeds of around 150MHz reliably. 133 is an easy goal. It's just that it's highest AGP divider is 2/3, making your graphics card run at 89MHz when you go to 133. The Geforce 2 cards can handle much more than this, up to about 100MHz safely. The Radeon cards can handle 89 safely. The GeForce3 cards are questionable for overclocked bus speeds at this point.
I use a BX on a generic motherboard at 133 without a hitch. PIII 700E@933. Your Abit bourd should be much better.
3d-mark scores betwenn the BX and the i815 are very close. The BX has a few things going for it that come from it's age, most notably excellent software support, and the highest hardware compatability of any chipset ever produced.
I prefer the CUSL2 with i815, but right now mine is in my wifes computer, so it's not that strong a preference.

Cast not thine pearls before the swine

 

[camieabz]

So a BX133 mobo with an AGP 4x port would fly?

<b>
"Now drop your weapons or I'll kill him with this deadly jelly baby."
</b>

 

[jlanka]

So a BX133 mobo with an AGP 4x port would fly?

Fly where?

hehehe...

Seriously, it's probably one of the best you can do with BX chipset. There may be a few 815's that can beat it, but most likely by too narrow a margin to be of concern. Enjoy.

<i>It's always the one thing you never suspected.</i>

 

[Crashman]

It flys now! Since AGP 4x is not yet being put to good use, and the BX is the most efficient chipset, it beets most AGP4x boards for performance. If they were to revise the chipset to support AGP4x, they would also want to include the 1/2 AGP divider and UDMA100. Your motherboard has a UDMA100 chip, and 89MHz AGP gives about the same performance right now as 66MHz AGP4x, since AGP4x is so underutilized.

Cast not thine pearls before the swine

 

[camieabz]

Fair enough. I was thinking from a different direction on that one. In that case I'll keep it and see how it gets on. Maybe in a couple of years I'll try something else.

<b>
"Now drop your weapons or I'll kill him with this deadly jelly baby."
</b>

 

[Crashman]

I'd try a PIII 700E on it. They usually go 933@133 without a sweat, 980@140 with a little sweat, and may grunt there way to 1050@150 if you'r extrememly lucky.
Or the 1000EB, which will usually do around 1125@150 with really good cooling.

Cast not thine pearls before the swine

 

[camieabz]

Yeah I'll be getting the 1 GHz EB.

To begin with though, I'll be trying to get a good running stable system with all components fitted. Once I've worked out the temp. of the CPU and HDDs (3), I'll consider overclocking if I don't need to buy a better cooling system.

<b>
"Now drop your weapons or I'll kill him with this deadly jelly baby."
</b>