Couple of questions on the 1.6A. Been out of the loop for awhile

[kantonburg]

Ok it's time for an upgrade. I keep hearing all the hype on the 1.6A. Now before everyone gets on here and says wait for this and wait for that. I'm not the power user I used to be. I'm looking for a great deal (bang for buck type) and I'm not a gamer.

I'm currently on a C366@500 so anything would be a huge improvement for me

Anyway. When it comes to the 1.6A what are the odds of a general OC. Meaning do they all overclock at least a little. Or is it all luck of the draw?
Can I use generic DDR ram? If not where should I get it?
Where is everyone getting their 1.6A? Retail or OEM?
What about motherboards?
Again I'm a general user with occasional photoshop tasks.

I'm just starting with the general questions for now. Thanks

 

[Regalk]

Here is what I did when I wanted info about the 1.6A.
I searched on this forum
Hardocp.com forum
tomshardware forum
In about 2 days I accumulated all th info I wanted before I made the plunge.
The 1.6A has now been beaten to death all over the place and is gradually fading.

 

[kantonburg]

What do you mean by fading?

 

[imported_zenwhen]

Just buy the thing... you will hit 2.4 if you buy halfway decnt RAM.

 

[kantonburg]

Originally posted by: xzenwhenx
Just buy the thing... you will hit 2.4 if you buy halfway decnt RAM.

I will grasshopper Research research

 

[Sukhoi]

I've heard just about all will make it to 2133 MHz (133 MHz FSB). Make sure you get some decent RAM. Get some PC2700 or better if you want real high FSBs. From what I've heard most people buy retail, and a lot of people reuse the retail HSF with their own thermal grease.

 

[farstar]

Last week I purchased a 1.6a, a Micron DDR 266 256mb DIMM, and an Asus P4B533-VM

first thing I did, after installing everything, was to raise the FSB to 133.

I now have an instant 2.133 ghz P4 system that is running at about 104 degrees f

Pretty damn good for a $135 processor and $115 motherboard.

The P4B533-VM includes 6 USB, NIC, Video, AGP slot, and the regular stuff.

So far no problems at all.

 

[outsiderGT]

My config:

1.6a @ 2.1... PC2700 Corsair DDR.... ASUS P4B266C

However the sad part is, I can't make it over this and be stable... 145 FSB is semi-stable, but will crash under benchmarks and games. 150 FSB (2.4) lets me browse the web, but no gaming or stability at all

I cant figure out why I cant go higher... I have an Enermax 430W PSU also so I dont know where to turn.

 

[kantonburg]

Here is my config so far:
Probably will change

Antec PLUS880 Mid w/TRUE 430w PS
Pentium 4 1.6A Retail
ASUS P4B266-C
CORSAIR XMS 512MB DDR RAM 333MHz
MAXTOR 40.0GB ATA-133 7200RPM
ATI 7500 Radeon All In Wonder 64MB
Thermaltake P4 Volcano CPU Fan
Panaflo 80L1A 80mm case fan
(1) 18" Floppy round cable - blue
(2) 24" IDE round cables - blue
Arctic Silver III, 3 Grams

 

[Budman]

Originally posted by: outsiderGT
My config:

1.6a @ 2.1... PC2700 Corsair DDR.... ASUS P4B266C

However the sad part is, I can't make it over this and be stable... 145 FSB is semi-stable, but will crash under benchmarks and games. 150 FSB (2.4) lets me browse the web, but no gaming or stability at all

I cant figure out why I cant go higher... I have an Enermax 430W PSU also so I dont know where to turn.

2 things, Did you up your voltage? Did you plug in both the p4 plug AND EZplug too?

 

[dbwillis]

99% of 1.6a's will do 2133 (133fsb), if you get some good name brand DDR (Mushkin, Samsung, Crucial) PC2100 to PC3200 you should be all set.
If you get a SIS645 or Sis645dx board, you can set the fsbdr to a higher ratio..ie run the cpu at 133mhz and the ddr at 166 or even 200..but youll need good ram to do that

 

[outsiderGT]

Originally posted by: Budman

Originally posted by: outsiderGT
My config:

1.6a @ 2.1... PC2700 Corsair DDR.... ASUS P4B266C

However the sad part is, I can't make it over this and be stable... 145 FSB is semi-stable, but will crash under benchmarks and games. 150 FSB (2.4) lets me browse the web, but no gaming or stability at all

I cant figure out why I cant go higher... I have an Enermax 430W PSU also so I dont know where to turn.

2 things, Did you up your voltage? Did you plug in both the p4 plug AND EZplug too?

Yeah, to be at 133FSB I'm fine w/ the 1.5V, however I cant even boot(system just hangs before even ASUS boot screen shows up while beeping) into the higher FSB's if I dont set my voltage to about 1.60 to 1.65.

The plugs I only have the P4 plug on. Would the EZplug have to plugged in too?

 

[kantonburg]

any comments on my config at the moment?

 

[Budman]

Originally posted by: outsiderGT

Originally posted by: Budman

Originally posted by: outsiderGT
My config:

1.6a @ 2.1... PC2700 Corsair DDR.... ASUS P4B266C

However the sad part is, I can't make it over this and be stable... 145 FSB is semi-stable, but will crash under benchmarks and games. 150 FSB (2.4) lets me browse the web, but no gaming or stability at all

I cant figure out why I cant go higher... I have an Enermax 430W PSU also so I dont know where to turn.

2 things, Did you up your voltage? Did you plug in both the p4 plug AND EZplug too?

Yeah, to be at 133FSB I'm fine w/ the 1.5V, however I cant even boot(system just hangs before even ASUS boot screen shows up while beeping) into the higher FSB's if I dont set my voltage to about 1.60 to 1.65.

The plugs I only have the P4 plug on. Would the EZplug have to plugged in too?

Yes on the P4b266-C it really helps,it will give you a bit more jiuce & less dips under load,at least it did for me. so plug all 3 connections & try OC more. give it 1.7v and work your way up to 2.4ghz.

 

[J105]

Originally posted by: kantonburg

<U>When it comes to the 1.6A what are the odds of a general OC. Meaning do they all overclock at least a little. Or is it all luck of the draw?
</U>
I would say the vast majority of the 1.6As will overclock to at least 2.13 GHz (133 FSB).

<U>Can I use generic DDR ram? If not where should I get it?</U>

I don't know anything about generic RAM. However, good quality RAM is extremely cheap. I just bought another 256 MB stick of PC2100 DDR RAM from Crucial.com for $43.00

<U>Where is everyone getting their 1.6A? Retail or OEM?</U>

I purchased my P4 1.6A from Multiwave Direct (www.mwave.com) for around $140.00. Other people have purchased theirs at NewEgg (www.newegg.com) They are a little cheaper their ($138.00) Get the retail CPU as the stock Intel heatsink and fan work good if your not going to overclock your CPU that high. I have mine running at 2.24 GHz (140 FSB) using the stock heatsink and fan and Artic Silver. It idles at 34 C and gets up to 46C after playing Quake 3 for a while. However, once I stop playing it cools back down to 34C fairly quick.

<U>What about motherboards? Again I'm a general user with occasional photoshop tasks.
</U>
I'm using the Asus P4B266-C. It's fairly inexpensive (about $101.00 at NewEgg) When I first started reading about the 1.6A here at AnandTech, it was one of the more popular motherboards for the CPU. Since then, boards using the SIS chipset came out and people started using them also. I have not had a single problem with my Asus, so I highly recommend it.

You can take my answers with a grain of salt as this was the first computer I built, but its stable and runs great.

Thanks

Hope my answers help.

MAC

 

[mschell]

With the 1.6A retail I would not worry about both voltage and cooling. The CPU responds well to more voltage, give it the max voltage the motherboard will allow, If you want to clock higher do the vid pin mod as most motherboards only allow .2v over default or 1.7v for Northwoods.
Don't waste money on an aftermarket HSF. Northwoods run reletivly cool even with 1.85v applied. Knowing that, don't worry what temp the motherboard or utility is reporting as most motherboards don't report the correct temp.
OK, if you want to run your system 24/7 for the next 10 years then maybe don't max your CPU voltage but in a year from now even a 2.5GHz will be old hat and slow.
Don't buy an expensive motherboard. New chipsets (better, faster) are comming out so frequently you want to cut your losses when upgrading. My current favorite is the Asus P4S533, (SiS 645DX) $105 - performs as well as any in (real world) use, easily runs my 1.6A @150MHz, 4:5 FBS/Mem ratio.
Fast or slow memory won't make a big difference in overclocking the CPU, the actuall performance increase running applications is small going from PC2100 to 2700 or above. Of course you won't be able to report high Sandra mem bench scores with slower mem however. If you do want to run fast(er) memory, be sure the MB supports higher DIMM voltage adjustments. Just like the CPU, extra DIMM voltage can allow good PC2100 to run like PC2700, or PC 2700 to run like PC????.

 

[kantonburg]

Well I've been doing a lot of research lately and the 1.6A is definitly the cpu to get for overclocking.

I just wonder how far my particular cpu will go.

 

[chrisjor]

I just turned on my 1.6a/p4b266-c/samsung 2700 system.....went into the bios and the cpu settings gave me three choices

Auto
1600
2100

I did not even do anything and the rig wanted to go at 2100!!!! I will be playing with it some more tomorrow!!!!

Oh, I am using a Dragon Orb 478 with speed control.......sounds like a damn Jet Engine when put on median (medium).

 

[Sukhoi]

I may be wrong, but those sound a lot more like RAM speeds than CPU speeds to me.

 

[Texun]

I got one about two months ago and I am very happy with it. ASUS P4B-266 with 256 DDR and it hit 2300 with no problem. However, I am not an OC'er so I did back it down a bit. I don't use it for heavy gaming. It is solid as a rock and very cool.

 

[chrisjor]

Sukhoi,

you are correct, those LOOK like ram speeds...but this is a 1.6 (1600 mhz) chip. I assure you that it was under CPU settings.....

 

[Sukhoi]

Interesting, I didn't know any boards would actually let you set the CPU speed in the BIOS. Most just let you change the FSB to get the new CPU speed rather than changing the CPU speed to get the new FSB.

 

[kantonburg]

I'm still debating on using a third party HSF. Seem everyone is using the retail fan and having good luck with it.

 

[R08]

I might get the Asus P4B533 with the i845E chipset... THUGSROOK is testing it out and it seems like a winner so far. (I'm considering buying it soon myself.)

- Rob

 

[Sukhoi]

The retail HSF is pretty big (they probably use the same one for the whole Northwood line), so you should be fine with it unless you're going to do some extreme overclocking.