AMD Sempron Processor 3100+ & ECS NFORCE3-A Motherboard for $80 at Outpost.com

[rpf717]

I'm about to jump on this for a low budget/power HTPC, but I have a few questions that would help to have answered first!

1)I have a perfect basic fanless GPU - the ATI X300 SE - its quiet and can do everything I want it to do (won't be using this machine for games) unfortunately its PCI-E (can't seem to find any cheap 754 socket PCI-E/CPU combos - don't think they exist now?). What would you recommend for a comparable ATI AGP card that would cost approx what I could sell the X300 for? It must be fanless and have DVI out.

2) A few weeks ago, there were some people who had problems with the "Cool & Quiet" feature. Is the concensus that it definitely works with this MOBO?

Thanks, in advance!

 

[dealseaker]

mine came today here is what the chip says

AMD Sempron
SDA3100AIP3AX
1270884F50555

on bottom # is 27962

what chip do i have? on plastic case it says
AMD Sempron 3100+ Br
754 Sempron 32-bit

going to put it together now well, in a few min, wife just got home

 

[Tates]

Originally posted by: dealseaker
mine came today here is what the chip says

AMD Sempron
SDA3100AIP3AX
1270884F50555

on bottom # is 27962

what chip do i have? on plastic case it says
AMD Sempron 3100+ Br
754 Sempron 32-bit

going to put it together now well, in a few min, wife just got home

Paris core

 

[dealseaker]

thanks, I was reading the thread and found the link to the answer, sorry for asking a stupid question or at least one that was already answered

Originally posted by: Tates

Originally posted by: dealseaker
mine came today here is what the chip says

AMD Sempron
SDA3100AIP3AX
1270884F50555

on bottom # is 27962

what chip do i have? on plastic case it says
AMD Sempron 3100+ Br
754 Sempron 32-bit

going to put it together now well, in a few min, wife just got home

Paris core

 

[furballi]

If you're going to overclock, then set the CPU voltage to +3.4% and Vdimm to 2.7V. There is no need to burn-in a CPU/MB. You can tweak the other parameters without damaging the system. Worst case scenario, reset the BIOS using the jumper on the MB.

Initially, set memory speed to 2.5-3-3-8-1T. Use 166 memory speed and 250MHz bus speed. Also change HT from 4x to 3x. Note that this board will only run 2 x 512MB Kingston Value RAM at 2T. The Corsair Value Select RAMs will run at 1T.

Biostar has a $70 board with PCI-E and 754 socket. The TI4200 is an excellent AGP card for around $35. Replace the stock fan with an aftermarket Zalman heatsink.

Cool n Quiet works fine with this board as long as you run at the stock 9x multiplier. C n Q will drop the multiplier down to 5x and Vcore to 1.2 under no/medium load.

That Paris core also supports 64 bit computing.

 

[dealseaker]

cool, thanks for all that info, I run geil pc3200 CL 2.5 6-3-3, hope it works out good

 

[jumpr]

Originally posted by: furballi
That Paris core also supports 64 bit computing.

I'm confused. Does that mean we got 32-bit chips or 64-bit chips? If it "supports" 64-bit computing, doesn't that mean that the chip is 64-bit?

 

[dealseaker]

ok, its up and running, just installing some other apps now, here is my setup:

super flower p/s 450 (BF deal or something)
geil pc 3200 ram 1x 512 stick
seagate 200gb hd
6600 GT video card
cd rom from dell pull (thinking this will be my son's comp he is 4 and wants his own comp

I dont understand the overclocking alot on this board, the 1t,2t,3t,4t thing is messing me up, the ethernet port dont seem to be letting me get the drivers in, but that is ok, just disabled them in the bios, my question is what would someone suggest for a small overclock, I got the 8 dollar hs/f. if it does ok, i am going to get myself one as well, that is the main reason i want to try his out. could someone pls hook me up and tell me what settings they are running, I know all systems are different, but some people are posting some of what they are doing and not all of it, if a couple people could post all they set in the bios it would be helpful, thanks in advance.

 

[furballi]

Runs fine with WXP 64. Others have reported success with Linux. Download CPUz and you you will also see support for x86-64. Don't know if the chip is 64 bit.

Change value to number in (xxx):
page 33 of manual...Max Memclock (166), 1T/2T Memory timing (1T), CAS# Latency (2.5), CPU overclock (250), HT frequency (3X)

page 43 of manual...CPU voltage (+3.4%), DDR Voltage (2.7).

Hit F10 to save and reboot PC. Speed will go from 1.8GHz to 2.25GHz.


To install the drivers, go to the ECS website and download ONLY the RealTek Codec Sound driver version 3.79

http://www.ecs.com.tw/ECSWeb/Products/P...LanID=9&DetailID=502&DetailName=Driver

Install the sound driver.


Now go to the Nvidia website and download the Nvidia drivers.

http://www.nvidia.com/object/nforce3_winxp_5.11

Launch the installation program. Put a check mark by all items EXCEPT for the IDE driver AND the SOUND driver. DO NOT INSTALL the NVIDIA FIREWALL!!! Reboot PC.

If this doesn't work, then wipe the hard drive and reload windows. Repeat the procedures outlined above.

 

[dealseaker]

system goes into safe mode after making those changes???

 

[dealseaker]

thanks for the help, I changed something, anyway it works now, I must of not changed one thing the first time around, works great 2.25ghz wow, now to prime it, looks like I may order me one now. well maybe next week

 

[dealseaker]

who on post does it say ddr333 1t?

 

[furballi]

DDR333 is the same as running at 166 speed. Shouldn't have any problem passing prime95 or memtest86 at 250FSB. I can push my system up to 280MHz with 1.6Vcore.

 

[BUBKA]

What heatsink did you guys get for the OEM chip?

So is the PARIS core 64bit too then?

Thanks

 

[furballi]

No heat sink...bare CPU.

 

[BUBKA]

yeah i know, just wondering what you guys were putting on yours, I have yet to move up to the 754 / 939 world, whats decent for this OCing setup?

 

[Powermoloch]

Originally posted by: BUBKA
What heatsink did you guys get for the OEM chip?

So is the PARIS core 64bit too then?

Thanks

the earlier model of semprons especially like "paris" core are only 32 bit, not 64. But the paris core itself can fairly OC very very well.

 

[furballi]

2.4 to 2.5GHz should be achievable with the Paris core, with 2.3GHz as the minimum.

 

[BUBKA]

sounds good, now i need a good heatsink deal...

 

[furballi]

XP90 for about $24.

 

[OhioState]

Originally posted by: furballi
XP90 for about $24.

im using a stock heatsink and fan that comes with the 3800x2 and x2 opteron cores

the one with heatpipes and its fantastic quiet and cheap

got mine on ebay for 15 shipped

 

[BUBKA]

where did you get that, ebay? i saw some people get those off there, pretty nice for under $20

 

[Zap]

Those heatpipe HSFs are disappearing off eBay. Last I checked there were some different 4 heatpipe coolers with 70mm fans instead of 80mm fans that were available before.

Originally posted by: furballi
2.4 to 2.5GHz should be achievable with the Paris core, with 2.3GHz as the minimum.

Not necessarily. I had a Paris core that barely did 2.2-2.3GHz on my Epox board that I was able to run an A64 2800+ Newcastle at 2.5GHz with vcore, 2.4GHz stock. Both CPUs are 130nm and 1.8GHz. With overclocking YMMV and (my former 2800+ aside) don't expect 2.4-2.5GHz. Hope for it and know that it is possible, but don't expect it. That's just setting yourself up for a dissapointment.

Anyhoot, got my combo in yesterday and it is a Paris.

 

[furballi]

True, but I'll wager that you'll see 2.4GHz with this new Paris core.

 

[Zap]

I'll put it on my Biostar Geforce6100 to test it out. The Biostar board should arrive tomorrow and I'm gonna test it first with the Sempron 2600+ to directly compare it to the Tforce version that I already have. After that, I'll test out the Paris core. This way I can use BIOS and don't have to mess with clockgen.

Hmmm, besides overclocks I can also see how temperatures go from Paris to Palermo.

Don't doubt me - I do believe the $90 combo to be the hottest budget deal around, but I just wish it were a Palermo.