I'm puzzled....Why get a 1.8a when 1.6a overclocks better?

[hnic2k]

i have seen better cpu and memory scores by the 1.6a when OC'ed than the 1.8a OC'ed but why do more people own the 1.8a when the 1.6 is cheaper and overclocks better?

 

[hnic2k]

Subscribing...

 

[Uclagamer_99]

the 1.8a was available first...and technically with the 1.8a you can reach a higher MHZ without overclocking your memory as high as the 1.6A would let you...plus some people just don't overlock and therefore the 1.8a is better than the 1.6a in that respect for non-overclockers

 

[Emperical]

I think many people choose the 1.8a because you can run it at 2.4GHZ by simply increasing it to the next standard FSB (133). No aftermarket coolers etc are normally needed. That of course means its a little bit faster than the 1.6a OC'ed to 2.13@133FSB.
Since its not easy to hit 166FSB and 2.666666666666GHZ from the majority of 1.6a's and P4 motherboards with stock regularity,people opt out. Your 1.6 a rig running @ 2800 on a 166+FSB is rare.

 

[JellyBaby]

People buy them (and 2.0As, etc.) because the potential final OC is higher. The problem is that the probability of actually reaching the highest levels drops. The 1.8As have more trouble hitting even a 133 mhz fsb compared to the 1.6As.

 

[edc03]

even though i have the 1.6a, i'm not running at 2.4. i just feel uncomfortable pushing it to it's limit. so i would think that people with 1.8a are feeling the same way. i don't know... that's just me.

 

[Rand]

Because not everyone is overclocking, and because overclocking is never a guarantee... there is always that small chance that you will get a poor overclocker.

 

[Duvie]

It is pretty obvious I think....Many boards lock memory ratios at certain points so too high of a fsb actually become counter productive....also too high of an fsb without getting to a fsb that may change to a 1/5 pci multiplier may put things too far out of spec for most ppl...

plus the board that actually has good memory ratios above 133fsb like the p4s333 may be pushing the limits of stability with too high of a fsb...

I am at 2.52ghz right now...140fsb which only makes my pci 35....To take a 1.6ghz and do the same you will need a 157.5 fsb and that puts pci at 39.3mhz...plus that really pushes memory unless it is good pc2700 ddr....

I can post at 2.61ghz but am not prime95 stable...a 1.6 will need a 163fsb which will put memory 406mhz ddr or 326mhz, plus pci is now 40.75mhz...way too high for most harddrives...

Too many factors only a handful of 1.6's I think will achieve some of the final numbers that some of us 1.8 owners are getting....Maybe it is just too much fsb ocing to get to it...


I think the 50 more bucks was well worth it...

 

[phamtastik]

I felt the same way. I didn't want to deal with the 1.6A's low clock multiplier.

I have a vapochill case and my 1.8A does 2.7Gighertz at 2.04 Voltage.....12 idle 29 full load.

At fsb 150 my pci is not too far out of spec and my memory crucial 2100 can run at Cas 2.5 fastest timings.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

<< I have a vapochill case and my 1.8A does 2.7Gighertz at 2.04 Voltage.....12 idle 29 full load. >>

Sweet....and I'm envious

 

[Chu]

I'm about to drop some bucks for a P4 Northwood system, and this topic has me curious. It's well understood that your 1.6a is "guaranteed" to his the magic 133fsb, and you can go from there, but how likely is it a 1.8a will be able to hit 133? It seems like SOME people are having trouble with it, but from scanning this board I can't seem to find a person who specifically posted about their 1.8a. Any of you have war stores to share?

Oh, and another thing that I?ve been wondering for a long time:

>>I am at 2.52ghz right now...140fsb, which only makes my pci 35.... To take a 1.6ghz and do the same you will need a 157.5 fsb and that puts pci at 39.3mhz...plus that really pushes memory unless it is good pc2700 ddr....

At extreme speeds you can drop the PCI multiplier down and run it at 31mhz or so, but is the problem the PCI bus is going too fast, or is just the fact it is out of spec causing the timing issues?

Thanks in advance,

-Chu

 

[hnic2k]

<< It is pretty obvious I think....Many boards lock memory ratios at certain points so too high of a fsb actually become counter productive....also too high of an fsb without getting to a fsb that may change to a 1/5 pci multiplier may put things too far out of spec for most ppl...

plus the board that actually has good memory ratios above 133fsb like the p4s333 may be pushing the limits of stability with too high of a fsb...

I am at 2.52ghz right now...140fsb which only makes my pci 35....To take a 1.6ghz and do the same you will need a 157.5 fsb and that puts pci at 39.3mhz...plus that really pushes memory unless it is good pc2700 ddr....

I can post at 2.61ghz but am not prime95 stable...a 1.6 will need a 163fsb which will put memory 406mhz ddr or 326mhz, plus pci is now 40.75mhz...way too high for most harddrives...

Too many factors only a handful of 1.6's I think will achieve some of the final numbers that some of us 1.8 owners are getting....Maybe it is just too much fsb ocing to get to it...


I think the 50 more bucks was well worth it... >>



If u get a board with enough pci/agp divisors then run cpu/mem ratio 1:1 then u can acheive higher OCs, mem and cpu...maybe its an asus thing, cause their motherboards are very restrictive when OCing which is only good for n00b OCers

 

[RalfHutter]

I've got a 1.8A but I've never tried it any higher than 132 FSB because I'm running an Asus P4B266 MoBo and I'm not going to put up with locking the RAM speed at 1:1. if I wanted to go over 133 and keep my RAM speed at least as fast as at 132 (3:4 memory divider) I'd have to run my CPU at 175 FSB! That's over 3.1Ghz. I'd have to do watercooling and a bucnh of other stuff that I don't want to mess with.

At "below 133FSB speeds" I can use the stock,QUIET, Intel HSF and sane voltage levels. I enjoy OCing but I want a stable, quiet box so I'm happy where I'm at.

Here's some Sandra 2002 scores:

CPU - Math

CPU - Multi Media

Memory

Check out the memory score. This is at 340Mhz.