CPU/System - Eye Opener

[ike]

As i was browsing through some articles at anandtech, a computer using the slower PC800 RDram and 3.06ghz proc could keep pace with the new 800mhz/PC3200 bus with 3ghz proc machines that have come out in recent weeks. One could just OC the 3.06ghz to 3.2ghz(with ease) and beat out the new platforms, while spending 200-300 less.

Maybe other people realized it but for those that didnt(like me) the fact is that we dont need or much less even use 6.4gbs or 800mhz of bandwith for anything current. And by the time that we might need this much the prescot will be out, and your personall self will "need" or want to update then becuz of the apparent ghz frequencies they will be able to reach with the 90nm chip.

Got Q's check it out:

Proc Comparison...
http://www.anandtech.com/cpu/showdoc.html?i=1810&p=22

Ram (bandwidth talk is a few pages in)...
http://www.anandtech.com/memory/showdoc.html?i=1245&p=1


iKe




The customer is not always right.
If they were, they would do my job.

 

[jclw]

Yes, RDRAM systems are fast. But an RDRAM board is not gauranteed to support Prescott, and are hard to overclock because there is not too much fast RDRAM around. They also use the older ICH4 southbridge, which while providing all of the essentials, does not have all the features of the ICH5 used on i865/i875 boards.

You could pick up an Asus or Abit i865 board (with a "PAT" enabling BIOS) and a 2.4C/2.6C and overclock it to ~3.2

*Dual PIII-800 @900 i440BX and Tualeron 1.2 @1.74 i815*

 

[ZZSpaceman]

I picked up a P4 2.4c, Kingston 3200 memory, & P4C800 Delux (not necessary but I was enamored with all the bells and whistles and the 865 chip set was not out yet), anyway no problem over clocking to 2.88 GHz. Stable and very cool with stock CPU fan. I do have good case ventilation and a fan on the north bridge. I think the side case fan over the CPU helps a lot. The CPU temperature is below 35 deg C under load. I haven't tried to go higher yet. I’m concerned about my memory and FSB speed. I hear the Asus runs out of steam at ~240 MHz bus clock, and I think my memory is also on the edge here. Can this MB successfully clock over 240 MHz FSB?

ZZSpaceman

 

[jclw]

With good cooling the board should be able to hit 300mhz. That's asuming your processor will go that fast.

Try a 5:4 or 3:2 memory ratio - <A HREF="http://www.overclockers.com/articles756/index02.asp" target="_new">read this</A> (pages 2,3,&4).

*Dual PIII-800 @900 i440BX and Tualeron 1.2 @1.74 i815*

 

[ZZSpaceman]

Where do I find the control for the FSB to Memory ratio? I have an Asus P4C800 Delux. I've looked in the Advanced menu and can't find it overtly called out as a ratio in either the Jumper Free, CPU, or Chip set Configuration menu's or sub-menu’s. Their is a CPU external frequency, that ranges from 100 to 400, but I only have 4 choices for DRAM frequency 266 MHz, 333 MHz, 400 MHz, & Auto.

I have been using the lazy mans OC feature. Just dial in the desired % OC and the BIOS does the rest. It has worked well so far, but it is difficult to determine which knobs its turning. Sandra gives an indication of the bus frequency, but not the memory frequency.

ZZSpaceman

 

[jclw]

400 is 1:1, 333 is 5:4, and 266 is 3:2. Try setting the memory to 266 and see how high you can push the FSB. Start at 240 (or however high you got before) and move up ~5mhz or so at a time.

*Dual PIII-800 @900 i440BX and Tualeron 1.2 @1.74 i815*

 

[ZZSpaceman]

JCLW,

Thanks. That makes sense mostly, 333 works out to 5/4.1625, but lets not split hairs. Thank you for taking the time to explain this to me. I really appreciate it. I don't like tweaking settings I don't fully understand.

Especially given that my wife gets really angry when her word processor isn't fully functional. A 2 GHz word processor! What’s the world coming to? And even more absurd is I want to push it over 3. Thanks again.

ZZSpaceman

 

[xxsk8er101xx]

i have to highly disagree with you - my memory benchmark in running only dual channel pc2700 crushed RDRAM pc1066. PC3200 in dual channel mode is off the charts.

please make sure that in the article they were using dual channel mode.



"Bread makes me poop!" - Special Ed

<A HREF="http://www.anandtech.com/mysystemrig.html?id=9933" target="_new"> My Rig </A>