Abit AX8 Motherboard, Its nice.

[vladomir]

Hi Renethx,
you have nice overclocking results. Was this 266fsb stable with prime 95?, have you also tested higher fsb with lower cpu multiplier? I am going to buy venice 3000, which has only 9 cpu multiplier, so to reach 2,66 GHz, I need a board with possible fsb around 300.., thanks

 

[renethx]

vladomir,

I did a quick stability test (SuperPi 4M) with CPU multiplier: x 9, LDT: FSB x 3, DRAM Clock: DDR266, VCore: 1.55, VDDR: 2.60, VNB: 1.65, VSB: 2.65, VHT: 1.35.

FSB 285: Passed
FSB 290: First attempt: System instantly freezed! Second attempt: Passed.
FSB 295: First attempt: System instantly crashed! Second attempt: Instantly freezed!

It seems that my board does not like the x 9 multiplier. (I know if I lower multiplier, FSB can be well over 310 MHz as I tested before.)

I have not done extensive stability test with multiplier x 10 yet. Longest one is SuperPi 32M. No error at 2.66 GHz, but error at 2.70 GHz (I did 32M several times, with the same results).

 

[ChineseDemocracyGNR]

renethx,
it would be wonderful if you could run your tests with the 9x multiplier again, but using a different memory divider (such as DDR200).

 

[vladomir]

thank you renethx,
nice results,
290*9 is maybe on cpu limit....,and this 310*8 have you tested it on stability ?
I have used usually prime 95 for testing, is this super pi better? prime 95 finds often instability,although all other programs are running stable...,
next week shoud be new venice available , I think this is a mobo for me...,
I hope it is possible to control all 3 fan conectors ( cpu , northbridge, system ) like on av8..,

 

[furballi]

I was able to overclock this PC with the AMD 3000 processor up to a speed of 3560 MHz. The system is stable when running the torture tests (Prime95 and Memtest86). We still have room for +3800 speed. Currently, the price difference between a 3000 and 3500 processor is at least $100.

Maximum temp at this speed as reported by BIOS and Abit EQ:
CPU...47C
SYS...35C (northbridge)
PWM...33C (power supply on motherboard)

Nominal temp at this speed:
CPU...29C
SYS...34C
PWM...28C

CPU Freq: 2250 MHz
CPU Ratio: 9.0 X
Ext Clock: 250 MHz (FSB)
PCIE Clock: 100
PCI Clock: Auto
VCore: 1.425V
VDDR: 2.65 V
VNB: 1.55 V
VSB: 2.50 V
VHT: 1.20 V
VDDRRef: 0 mv V
DRAM: 333
LDT: 4 X (5:6 of FSB)
CPU FanEQ: Disable
SYS FanEQ: Disable
Audio EQ: Disable
DRAM: manual timing with CAS latency time 2.5, RAS to CAS delay 3, min RAS active time 8, RAS precharge time 3, DRAM command rate 1T

 

[renethx]

ChineseDemocracyGNR,

The results of SuperPi (8M) with CPU multiplier: x 9, LDT: FSB x 3, DRAM Clock: DDR200, VCore: 1.55, VDDR: 2.60, VNB: 1.65, VSB: 2.65, VHT: 1.35:

FSB 290 (CPU 2610 MHz): Passed
FSB 295 (CPU 2655 MHz): Passed
FSB 300 (CPU 2700 MHz): Error (but at least not freezed.)

The system became stable when DDR Clock was lowered to DDR200. At first I thought that the memory frequency was 200 MHz or less at DDR266, so that should not affect the stabliliy. But I was wrong. Maybe it's the limitation of value RAM?

vladomir,

The results of SuperPi (8M) with CPU multiplier: x 8, LDT: FSB x 3, DRAM Clock: DDR200, VCore: 1.55, VDDR: 2.60, VNB: 1.65, VSB: 2.65, VHT: 1.35:

FSB 320 (CPU 2560 MHz): Passed
FSB 325 (CPU 2600 MHz): Passed
FSB 330 (CPU 2640 MHz): Freezed
FSB 333 (CPU 2660 MHz): Freezed

SuperPi is an excellent program to test stability very quickly (it takes only 1 to 40 min, 7 min at 8M). Once passed SuperPi, more extensive test such as Prime95 should be done.

 

[vladomir]

thank renethx,
325 fsb with only passive cooling on notrhbridge is unbeliavable...,
I think this DDR200setting helps because, memory controller in cpu uses default cpu multiplier..,it means that when you set: DDR200, fsb 325, cpu multiplier 8 instead of 10 (on 3200+), than the real memory frequency is: 325/2 * (10/8)=203 or 406 effectively.
I hope AX 8 is a great board for silent system, what I am goint to build,
can you control all 3 fan conectors? ( cpu, system and nortbridge?)

 

[renethx]

I think there is a small confusion. DDR200 means that the ratio of FSB to mem freq is 400:200 = 2:1; so at FSB 325, mem freq is 325 x (1/2) = 162.5 MHz. In fact the reading of mem freq in CPU-Z is 162.7 MHz.

Bad news (for you). Only CPU Fan and SYS Fan can be controlled under FanEQ Control in BIOS or OC Guru in Windows. NB Fan connector is still active but its control is disabled. Why do you need NB fan control? Are you going to replace NB heat sink with active cooling? Even at full load, NB heat sink is at most lukewarm (perhaps around 40 degree Celsius or less).

 

[vladomir]

nice to hear that northbridge with passive cooling is not too hot, this is not the case of nforce4,

northbridge fan connector was thought for front 12cm system fan, which could cool down the HDD..., but 2 fan connectors ( cpu, system) with available fan control are also good,
and as you have writen with multiplier 8 and DDR 266 you could reach fsb over 310 is also OK..

 

[BJ64]

I can back up what renethx reports about the NB temps..Mine runs near room temp but then again the CPU cooler is able to blow accross the NB on the left of it and the memory to the right .

 

[furballi]

My PC is running fine but I see a code 2.7. on the motherboard's green LED. Is this normal?

TIA

 

[renethx]

POST Code in my board:

2.7. when Windows is running fine.
FF when Linux (Fedora Core 3, Ubuntu 5.04) is running fine.

 

[furballi]

Thanks!

 

[BJ64]

I think I may have found the cause of some of my OC problems .
I came back from lunch and My new project was acting like a pinball game on crank. Any way after a long day ( and you can read the details of it below )
I posted this post on the ABIT forums and the responce i got was that the cheaper 400 watt Power supply was the cause of all this..Ironicly the origional PSU
that i ordered for this project on due here tomorrow from round trip RMA tour of the Flatter Mid West (sorry about the bad texas vs. oklahoma joke there)
I will let you know if this is the fix or not.
FYI the current PSU from a local store ( Pryor Oklahoma population 8500 (on Sunday)) is a Star tech model ap-450x, 400watt.





AV8 raid Crash



SETUP
AMD 3200 socket 939 --- NOT E series
ATI All in Wonder x600 Video card.
RAID 0 -- 2 Seagate Baracuda 80 gig
Corsare Value Ram
Win XP
PSU StarTech model AP-450X --- 400 watt
Antec SOHO Case
Tt big Typhoon CPU Cooler
Single CRT moniter


WHAT HAPPENED.
Board ran well in turbo mode for almost a week. Primary job is rendering video with the ATI All in wonder card and Setit@home after hours. It must have quit and was sitting there rebooting over and over.
CPU Temp was reported by the 3rd eye at 45C -- SYS temp 37C -- room temp 37C -- PSU temp 41C
After killing power and letting it alone for 3 hours..when restarted it booted but failed to load windows and reboted over and over again.
Tried several times to reinstall Win XP. Same fail point. Post code of FF. the system Loaded SATA and buss drivers fine and continued untill windows went to install.
Windows reported Technical Info
*** STOP: 0x00000024 ( 0x001902fe, 0xf7cde6dc, 0xf7cde3d8, 0xf7487f81)
*** ntfs.sys - adressf7487f81 base at f7438000, date stamp 41107eea
Disconected different things and re tried.-- same result. Removed The Segate sata drives and replaced with an old IDE Drive ion IDE socket 3 -- windows did advance to the accept agreement then failed.
installed old IDE drive to IDE2 SATA drives still removed.....Windows loaded.system loaded.
WHAT NEEDS FDIXED HERE LOL
Thank you for your time and advice

 

[Jackil]

Originally posted by: SkaarjMaster
Anyone have any problems with the SB voltage being too low and computer start up problems?

My SBVDD consistently reads 2.26 or 2.27. Bios would beep and Guru has it showing red. I turned off the beeping. Computer seems to run fine. What does that voltage do anyway? I am using the Antec Neopower 480w power supply.

 

[furballi]

You probably should have reset the CMOS to fix the first problem. I don't use TURBO. Just o verclock your FSB and RAM in the BIOS.

As of now, I would RESET the CMOS and reformat the hard drive. Next step is to reload windows.

 

[renethx]

My opinion concerning the low SB voltage problem.

 

[BJ64]

furballi
Well you were probably more tight on your first guess..
The problem amounted to a windows crash..but in order to reboot I had to enter the RAID Bios and Deleat the array. (running RAID 0) .. Then windows was able to reinstall just fine.

 

[vladomir]

 

[vladomir]

Has anybody new venice on this board? new bios with venice support is already available..,
how is the best overclocking of venice on ax8?

 

[Nickel020]

I should be getting my AX8 and a Venice 3200+, along with a Thermaltake Big Typhoon (best air cooler right now) tomorrow, so I'll give it a try and let you guys know!

 

[prosser13]

What RAM will you be using Nickel, as I have heard that AMD are saying to use DDR500, which is hard to get with tight latencys

 

[Nickel020]

Ok, I got my mobo yesterday (one day after the CPU ). I had it running at 250x10 and stock voltage for 6 hours overnight now in Prime Torture Test and no errors
Strange thing is though I can only use my RAM at 2T. I'm using the RAM from my old sig, Mushkin PC 4000 Level One at 3-4-4-11 now (can probably tighten it up a bit but checking CPU first). As soon as I change the command rate to 1T I get Prime95 failures immediately though. Tried pushing the RAM voltage to 3.1V but that wouldn't help.
Gotta hit the University now, I'm gonna post more when I've got time for more testing.

 

[Nickel020]

And for those wondering, the board recognizes Venice CPUs with the shipping BIOS I upgraded to the 1.1 revision before starting my OCs though of course.

 

[furballi]

Can you provide a link to download 1.1 BIOS? I only see the original BIOS at the ABIT website. As for 2T, back off the FSB to see if you can run 1T. Also use the memory divider (set RAM to 333 and LDT to 4x). Your hypertransport speed will still be 1000 MHz (250 FSB x 4).