Abit IT7 vs Gigabyte GA-8IEXP

[WideMouth40]

I've read a ton on both of these boards, they both sound sweet and my bottom line question, given the same components is:

Which will be able to OC higher?
Anyone use the same CPU and memory on both these boards?

I've read about some amazing OC's on the IT7, some good OC's on the GA-8IEXP(which is a newer board so it has less testing done on it so far)....I really like the GA-8IEXP, but so far the higher OC's have been on the Abit. Any thoughts?

Thanks

 

[CoDerEd]

I always choose Abit, In fact I just order my IT7 to replace my BD7R.

pEace

 

[WideMouth40]

Originally posted by: CoDerEd
I always choose Abit, In fact I just order my IT7 to replace my BD7R.

pEace

Thanks for the reply and good luck with the IT7, sounds like they are screamers.

Keep us posted

 

[tweakwtf]

I just ordered a GA-8IEXP today. I'm new to overclocking but I'm gonna try my best to get my 1.8A running @ 2.4+. I also got a stick of 512MB Corsair XMS 3000 so I'll keep you updated.

 

[looper]

CoDerEd...

When you get the Abit IT7, can you post your experiences with setting up the board, Oc'ing, settings, problems, and solutions, etc...

Thx... looper

 

[looper]

Tweakwtf...

Can you also list your detailed experiences with the Gigabyte 9IEXP when you get it...

thx...

 

[MazerRackham]

^bump^ for more info!

 

[Sukhoi]

My 8IEXP just arrived today. There's a surprising amount of stuff in the box. But my case won't be here until Monday at the earliest so I won't be able to do any testing for a while.

 

[looper]

Sukhoi...

You're killing us here...

Not 'till Monday !! ...overnight that damn case... I want to get your impressions of the board !!! (lol)

 

[gpanda]

My 8iexp should arrive tomorrow...we'll see how it compares to the ASUS P4B533-E I sent back.

 

[Sukhoi]

Hey, it's not my fault. Dang Directron took their time shipping it. I ordered the case Sunday night and they finally shipped it this afternoon. If they had actually shipped it on Monday like they should have then I'd have the case on Friday.

The 8IEXP box has the following:

• Quick installation poster
• Motherboard manual
• RAID manual
• Case badge sticker
• Quick reference sticker for mobo jumpers and pinouts
• Two ATA133 cables, ATA33 cable, FDD cable
• 3 port FireWire header
• 4 port USB 2.0 header
• Custom backplane cover
• Motherboard

The scheduled delivery time is now next Tuesday..though I have no idea how it's going to take UPS three full days plus the delivery day to go from Houston to Cleveland.

My P4 1.6A along with ASIII should be delivered tomorrow. So over the weekend I'm going to take the thermal pad off the HSF, put the ASIII on, and get everything installed on the mobo. That way it shouldn't take me long to get up and running once the case arrives. Here are the speeds I'm planning on benchmarking in Sandra CPU and memory, 3DMark2001SE, and SETI:

• 100 MHz FSB
  1. DDR200 RAM SPD
  2. DDR200 RAM CAS2
  3. DDR266 RAM SPD
  4. DDR266 RAM CAS2
• 133 MHz FSB
  1. DDR266 RAM SPD (should be close to the same as before)
  2. DDR266 RAM CAS2 (should be close to the same as before)
  3. DDR355 RAM SPD
  4. DDR355 RAM CAS2
• 150 MHz FSB (if my P4 makes it this far)
  1. DDR300 RAM SPD
  2. DDR300 RAM CAS2
  3. DDR400 RAM SPD
• 166 MHz FSB (if my P4 makes it this far)
  1. DDR333 RAM SPD
  2. DDR333 RAM CAS2
  3. DDR444 RAM SPD

 

[WideMouth40]

ALways guaranteed to arrive in seperate boxes and on seperate days, lol. Looking forward to the benches and impressions gpanda. tweakwtf, and Sukhoi!

Peace

 

[Sukhoi]

These benchmarks are going to take a bit of time considering each SETI benchmark will take about three hours.

 

[looper]

Sukhoi...

I guess you'd like to take a few "personal days" from work...for some important "family issues" that need to be resolved... !!

Been there, done that...

 

[gpanda]

Sukchoi, if you have a spare PSU you could lay it out on a bench and fire it up!
The last time I ordered from Directron they took a long time. Slow buggers. I used Googlegear this time. They had the order when they arrived one morning and they packed and shipped the same day...they've been quick for me everytime.

 

[Sukhoi]

I don't work so getting the time isn't a problem.

I didn't really want to order from Directron but they were the only place I could find that carried the Cheiftec Super TX-103.

My only other ATX PSU is the 235W one in my C433 and it doesn't have the ATX12V connector. Oh well.

 

[CoDerEd]

Well I am able to reach 150 FSB with my IT7, slightly increase from BD7R(FSB 145)
I think my RAM is the one that holding me back also I use 1.8A, I heard that
1.6A can reach higher FSB.

One thing I like from this board is eventhough the board only has 4 PCI but I don't need it at all.
I use the onboard sound card and LAN, and you will never need more than 10 USB port.

pEace

 

[Bingo13]

CoDerEd,

Make sure you are using the latest sound drivers-

ALC650-3.13

They address some EAX2 issues and have better performance than the 2.xx series.