Greetings. After reading these forums I ended up getting an Abit IT7 instead of the nvr-133raid I had originally planned. It has impressive features, plus I had a usb keyboard + mouse anyway due to some pretty nasty ps/2 problems on my old Asus K7V. It is the first motherboard I've put together.
Before I start, here is the equipment I'm currently using. Abit It7, Intel 1.6a, Enermax 550 power supply, Asus 6600 Deluxe agp card (still works fine, will eventually upgrade it), 256 megs Corsair ddr333 Cas 2 (had one other stick that was bad, being rma'd back to newegg), 80 gig maxtor. I'm using the included stock HSF (mwave actually sent it to me already attached), so I assume it is using pads rather than anything more fancy such as artic silver. For now using the onboard sound.
I initially set it up, 133mhz fsb, cas 2-5-2-2, dram ratio to "high", 1:1 cpu/memory ratio with the pci and agp locked at 33:66, and 'enhanced' memory performance. Stock 1.5 volts on CPU, memory @ 2.6 volts.
My sisoft 2002 scores were lower than I expected compared to the reference systems listed.
Dhr ALU: 3995 Whet: FPU: 1118/2598
Integer: 7875 FLoating Point: 10334
Ram Integer:1978 Ram Floating Point: 1973
Memory @ ddr 354 (177mhz)
CPU @ 2.1Ghz
I tried again this time with the same settings except with the cpu/memory ratio set to 3:4 and the dram ratio set to "low". Which achieved the exact same goal of achieving 177mhz memory speed. It showed a noticeable improvement in the CPU Multimedia Benchmark, but still had memory bandwidth lower than the reference ddr 266, intel 1.6a listed.
Dhr ALU: 4168 Whet: FPU: 1118/2600
Integer: 8447 Floating Point: 10334
Ram Integer:1983 Ram Floating Point: 1983
Memory @ ddr 354 (177mhz)
CPU @ 2.1 Ggz
Case temperatures were low in the 30s, and only inched up to around 36 or 38 degrees celcius. CPU temperatures were around 42 idle and never higher than 53.50 under load. It passed the prime 95 torture test fine.
As an experiment I tried running the system at a FSB of 150 with the cpu/memory ratio at 1:1. The bios complained while booting cold, so I raised the cpu voltage to 1.525. Scores went up quite a bit in all categories and for the first time I was able to beat everything besides rdram reference boards though I don't really understand since the ddr 333 would be underclocked rather than overclocked.
Dhr ALU: 4753 Whet: FPU: 1260/2929
Integer: 9568 FLoating Point: 11645
Ram Integer:2244 Ram Floating Point: 2244
Memory @ ddr 300 (150mhz)
CPU @ 2.4 Ghz
So far has run smoothly passing a 12 hour prime95 torture test without complaining. Still working on a 24 hour run. What concerns me though is whether the temperatures I'm getting are dangerously high. Case temperature is still under 40 (though gets as high as 39 under load). CPU temperatures hover around 44 idle and go as high as 56.50 celcius under load. So here are my questions.
1) Are these temperatures dangerous to the health of my computer? What range should I be aiming for?
2) I ordered a Cooler Master Fujiyama IHC-L751 Silent Heat Pipe HSF with my motherboard. How much of an improvement would it be with some artic silver instead of the stock intel HSF that came with it? How hard will it be removing whatever other gunk they put on the CPU core already and applying artic silver... given I don't have the best hand-eye coordination?
3) I also plan on installing two more harddrives and a dvd drive. Given the reduced air flow, should I expect a sharp increase in temperatures?
4) Should I be using another program besides Prime 95 to test stability?
5) The bios told me 150 fsb was "unworkable" @ 1.5 (as opposed to 1.525) volts while booting cold, but otherwise would allow 1.5 fine. I assume it isn't a good idea to ignore this warning?
Just as an appendum. This machine is meant to be my everyday machine. For web browsing but also my multimedia hobbies involving photoshop, virtualdub, etc. Not much of a gamer (as you can see by my now ancient video card), but I'm more than capable of finding other fun ways to eat up cpu cycles and memory. My goal is a system that is cheap, fast, and stable. Not aiming to see whether I can reach 3ghz, just want a happy stable "safe" point where i can get a little extra for free.
Thank you.
Before I start, here is the equipment I'm currently using. Abit It7, Intel 1.6a, Enermax 550 power supply, Asus 6600 Deluxe agp card (still works fine, will eventually upgrade it), 256 megs Corsair ddr333 Cas 2 (had one other stick that was bad, being rma'd back to newegg), 80 gig maxtor. I'm using the included stock HSF (mwave actually sent it to me already attached), so I assume it is using pads rather than anything more fancy such as artic silver. For now using the onboard sound.
I initially set it up, 133mhz fsb, cas 2-5-2-2, dram ratio to "high", 1:1 cpu/memory ratio with the pci and agp locked at 33:66, and 'enhanced' memory performance. Stock 1.5 volts on CPU, memory @ 2.6 volts.
My sisoft 2002 scores were lower than I expected compared to the reference systems listed.
Dhr ALU: 3995 Whet: FPU: 1118/2598
Integer: 7875 FLoating Point: 10334
Ram Integer:1978 Ram Floating Point: 1973
Memory @ ddr 354 (177mhz)
CPU @ 2.1Ghz
I tried again this time with the same settings except with the cpu/memory ratio set to 3:4 and the dram ratio set to "low". Which achieved the exact same goal of achieving 177mhz memory speed. It showed a noticeable improvement in the CPU Multimedia Benchmark, but still had memory bandwidth lower than the reference ddr 266, intel 1.6a listed.
Dhr ALU: 4168 Whet: FPU: 1118/2600
Integer: 8447 Floating Point: 10334
Ram Integer:1983 Ram Floating Point: 1983
Memory @ ddr 354 (177mhz)
CPU @ 2.1 Ggz
Case temperatures were low in the 30s, and only inched up to around 36 or 38 degrees celcius. CPU temperatures were around 42 idle and never higher than 53.50 under load. It passed the prime 95 torture test fine.
As an experiment I tried running the system at a FSB of 150 with the cpu/memory ratio at 1:1. The bios complained while booting cold, so I raised the cpu voltage to 1.525. Scores went up quite a bit in all categories and for the first time I was able to beat everything besides rdram reference boards though I don't really understand since the ddr 333 would be underclocked rather than overclocked.
Dhr ALU: 4753 Whet: FPU: 1260/2929
Integer: 9568 FLoating Point: 11645
Ram Integer:2244 Ram Floating Point: 2244
Memory @ ddr 300 (150mhz)
CPU @ 2.4 Ghz
So far has run smoothly passing a 12 hour prime95 torture test without complaining. Still working on a 24 hour run. What concerns me though is whether the temperatures I'm getting are dangerously high. Case temperature is still under 40 (though gets as high as 39 under load). CPU temperatures hover around 44 idle and go as high as 56.50 celcius under load. So here are my questions.
1) Are these temperatures dangerous to the health of my computer? What range should I be aiming for?
2) I ordered a Cooler Master Fujiyama IHC-L751 Silent Heat Pipe HSF with my motherboard. How much of an improvement would it be with some artic silver instead of the stock intel HSF that came with it? How hard will it be removing whatever other gunk they put on the CPU core already and applying artic silver... given I don't have the best hand-eye coordination?
3) I also plan on installing two more harddrives and a dvd drive. Given the reduced air flow, should I expect a sharp increase in temperatures?
4) Should I be using another program besides Prime 95 to test stability?
5) The bios told me 150 fsb was "unworkable" @ 1.5 (as opposed to 1.525) volts while booting cold, but otherwise would allow 1.5 fine. I assume it isn't a good idea to ignore this warning?
Just as an appendum. This machine is meant to be my everyday machine. For web browsing but also my multimedia hobbies involving photoshop, virtualdub, etc. Not much of a gamer (as you can see by my now ancient video card), but I'm more than capable of finding other fun ways to eat up cpu cycles and memory. My goal is a system that is cheap, fast, and stable. Not aiming to see whether I can reach 3ghz, just want a happy stable "safe" point where i can get a little extra for free.
Thank you.
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram