No longer in the planning stage my monstrosity is now complete. Intel CPU on an AMD chipset mobo OCed and crammed into a little cube case. Continued from this thread over here: http://forumz.tomshardware.com/Planned-uATX-e4300-gaming-build-857-critique-ftopict227436.html
The build:
I *finally* got all my parts together and some free time and put it together. I was able to post at 330mhz FSB without doing anything other than raising the FSB. With vcore set to 3.375 and FSB set to 446 in BIOS it posted reliably at 345mhz FSB (at 3.350v it sometimes crashes during memory count, at 345mhz it turns on at 344mhz) Memory stayed at 667mhz the whole time. I'm not sure what impact this has on performance yet but it sure makes OCing a breeze.
According to benchmarks this mobo is a few % slower than competing intel chipset mobos but they won't fit in my case anyway so I won't cry too much (just a little) and i'll try to see if I can tweak it to make up those few% or perhaps a BIOS update (I can always hope).
I decided that optical disks were way too unl33t for my main gaming rig and I'm not putting one in my 'puter (I almost never use them and i still have other computers that have them). This also made cable management much easier and my Raptor should stay nice and cool in it's new home in the 5.25" bay with the help of some adapter brackets. I mounted the 2.5" drive in the 3.5" bay below that (use less electricity, less heat, better airflow. Load balance less demanding/low priority applications off that drive and use it for extra storage).
For some reason my CPU temp in BIOS is reading very cold. Like -3c cold at stock frequency :/
This build has had more problems that weren't my fault than any other build I've done previously (I've had more disastrous builds before, but they were my fault so I don't talk about them much). Next time I'm buying a Dell...
More about the motherboard with stock BIOS:
- BIOS allows for setting 500mhz FSB
- BIOS allows for allocating up to 512mb to integrated GFX
- 3.325v is minimum setting for CPU
- 1.75v is minum setting for RAM
- 200mhz is minimum setting for FSB with my e4300 installed (so no underclocking or undervoilting)
The build:
I should have waited longer get my CPU :/ Mobo ended up being DOA and I had to wait anyway and I ended up paying $150 for CPU + HSF (plus an extra mobo that i guess I'll try and sell). There was also a piece of plastic rattling around in my PSU. I carefully removed the plastic without opening the case and then manually switched it on (jump the green wire to the black wire next to it, fyi. bridge those two same wires to another PSU for dual PSU mod) to test all the voltages with a multi-meter and it seemed fine.CPU: e4300 retail $130 (with mobo from Fry's. CPU is USED :twisted: )
Mobo: Abit F-I90HD* $121.95 (ordered from SFFclub.com 03/08/2007, had to RMA once Sad )
RAM: 2x1gb DDR2-667 $109 (ordered from eWiz.com)
GFX: integrated. waiting for x1950PRO w/ rear-exhausting HSF to come down to <$170
HSF: $20 (random TT orb thing from Fry's)
PSU: Seasonic S12 430w $83.22 (orderd from xpcgear.com 04/24/07)
Drives: SATA HD and SATA Optical ~$100 (for price reference. I'm using a 36g Raptor and an 80gb 2.5" drive that I already had, no optical)
Case: Ultra Microfly ~$84 (for price reference. I'm re-using my X-Qpack)
I *finally* got all my parts together and some free time and put it together. I was able to post at 330mhz FSB without doing anything other than raising the FSB. With vcore set to 3.375 and FSB set to 446 in BIOS it posted reliably at 345mhz FSB (at 3.350v it sometimes crashes during memory count, at 345mhz it turns on at 344mhz) Memory stayed at 667mhz the whole time. I'm not sure what impact this has on performance yet but it sure makes OCing a breeze.
According to benchmarks this mobo is a few % slower than competing intel chipset mobos but they won't fit in my case anyway so I won't cry too much (just a little) and i'll try to see if I can tweak it to make up those few% or perhaps a BIOS update (I can always hope).
I decided that optical disks were way too unl33t for my main gaming rig and I'm not putting one in my 'puter (I almost never use them and i still have other computers that have them). This also made cable management much easier and my Raptor should stay nice and cool in it's new home in the 5.25" bay with the help of some adapter brackets. I mounted the 2.5" drive in the 3.5" bay below that (use less electricity, less heat, better airflow. Load balance less demanding/low priority applications off that drive and use it for extra storage).
For some reason my CPU temp in BIOS is reading very cold. Like -3c cold at stock frequency :/
This build has had more problems that weren't my fault than any other build I've done previously (I've had more disastrous builds before, but they were my fault so I don't talk about them much). Next time I'm buying a Dell...
More about the motherboard with stock BIOS:
- BIOS allows for setting 500mhz FSB
- BIOS allows for allocating up to 512mb to integrated GFX
- 3.325v is minimum setting for CPU
- 1.75v is minum setting for RAM
- 200mhz is minimum setting for FSB with my e4300 installed (so no underclocking or undervoilting)