**OFFICIAL** Abit BG7 (i845G) Thread

[tyoung88]

Originally posted by: 5150Joker

Originally posted by: tyoung88
Looks like we may have a winner! I was disappointed after all the reviews of the EPOX came in, and the Gigabyte is still MIA. Now where is the best place to buy this board for someone in CA?

www.newegg.com that's where I ordered mine.

newegg sux for us in CA . . . same shipping but TAX also! Anyone know of a good out of CA dealer?

 

[OneOfTheseDays]

well i bit the bullet and paid a full $142 to pickup WILL CALL from Mwave. I could have saved around $10-20 but i want my board NOW!!

 

[OneOfTheseDays]

hmm, I think this chip may be fux0red. so is my ram....DAMN THAT ASUS!! ruined my chip and ram. I pulled off the NB chipset to find a nightmare! There was silicone paste AND a crappy thermal pad. this explains why the northbridge was hot from underneath the mobo but the heatsink was cool.......THE HEATSINK WAS INSULATED FROM THE NORTFBRIDGE WITH THERMAL INTERFACE MATERIALS!! I've never heard something so rediculous in my life....why would anyone use paste and a pad? Any ideas? Anyways, I pulled it off, removed both thermal materials and put some arctic alumina on it and now the heatsink actually has heat on it!

That is what that HardOCP guy was saying was the problem. Can you confirm TuffGuy? I really don't understand quite what he is trying to say though, was it shoddy manufacturing by Abit, or just a bum board that he received?

 

[TuffGuy]

Originally posted by: Sudheer Anne

hmm, I think this chip may be fux0red. so is my ram....DAMN THAT ASUS!! ruined my chip and ram. I pulled off the NB chipset to find a nightmare! There was silicone paste AND a crappy thermal pad. this explains why the northbridge was hot from underneath the mobo but the heatsink was cool.......THE HEATSINK WAS INSULATED FROM THE NORTFBRIDGE WITH THERMAL INTERFACE MATERIALS!! I've never heard something so rediculous in my life....why would anyone use paste and a pad? Any ideas? Anyways, I pulled it off, removed both thermal materials and put some arctic alumina on it and now the heatsink actually has heat on it!

That is what that HardOCP guy was saying was the problem. Can you confirm TuffGuy? I really don't understand quite what he is trying to say though, was it shoddy manufacturing by Abit, or just a bum board that he received?

I'll take a look at it tomorrow when my Alphas and Vantecs get here. Good thing I have an extra chipset cooler and some Arctic Silver epoxy lying around.

 

[TuffGuy]

Originally posted by: 5150Joker
Tuffguy, have you been able to get passed 150 fsb? The guy on HardOCP said he can't reach 150 fsb stable so far. He thinks the heat on the NB is limiting him.

Edit: just realized you have stock cooling..still should let ya hit 2.4 ghz though.

148MHz is as high as it will go. It will do 145MHz at default voltage.

 

[TuffGuy]

HAHAHAHAHA... I checked out the northbridge. It has a pink thermal pad with white silicone on top.and it looks like the heatsink didn't even stick to the pad. I wonder if they took the plastic wrapper off it... Anyway, the contact area is REALLY small (think of the core of teh Athlon XPs, so I can't use my alpha. Guess I'll just slap some AS2 on there.

 

[THUGSROOK]

only 148fsb?

...you could always get a P4B266-C and hope for 166fsb 333ddr

 

[5150Joker]

Originally posted by: TuffGuy

Originally posted by: 5150Joker
Tuffguy, have you been able to get passed 150 fsb? The guy on HardOCP said he can't reach 150 fsb stable so far. He thinks the heat on the NB is limiting him.

Edit: just realized you have stock cooling..still should let ya hit 2.4 ghz though.

148MHz is as high as it will go. It will do 145MHz at default voltage.

Is 148 mhz what you got with the old TIM crap on the northbridge? Also, is AS3 + the retention clip that comes with the NB good enough to hold it in place or will I need arctic alumina?

 

[oldfart]

The 845G mobos looks good, but it seems the NB with the graphics core may limit the overclockability, the Epox has seems to have this problem, and the same *might* be true on the BG7. Keep us updated on the progress.

I'll expand on what Thugs said. You can get a good 845D or 845E board and possibly have better results. If you are lucky enough to get a CPU that can do 166 FSB, you can run it 1:1 for a 2.65 GHz DDR333 setup. If you get a not so good chip (like me), you can use the 3:4 ratio and run 150 FSB, 2.4 GHz DDR400. Of couse, this would require a board that allows 3:4 above 132 FSB. There are several available. The P4B is not one of them.

 

[5150Joker]

Originally posted by: oldfart
The 845G mobos looks good, but it seems the NB with the graphics core may limit the overclockability, the Epox has seems to have this problem, and the same *might* be true on the BG7. Keep us updated on the progress.

I'll expand on what Thugs said. You can get a good 845D or 845E board and possibly have better results. If you are lucky enough to get a CPU that can do 166 FSB, you can run it 1:1 for a 2.65 GHz DDR333 setup. If you get a not so good chip (like me), you can use the 3:4 ratio and run 150 FSB, 2.4 GHz DDR400. Of couse, this would require a board that allows 3:4 above 132 FSB. There are several available. The P4B is not one of them.

It's possible but keep in mind the Epox lacks a 12v pin connector and that might be it's limiting factor. Although one person who reviewed the 4GA4+ managed 2.6 ghz with his board so I guess it's really a crapshoot with these boards. I'm going to do a 1 day burn in with all my stuff since it's brand new but hopefully I can post some positive results on saturday (provided i get my mobo/cpu tomorrow). If the board sucks I guess I'll RMA it back to newegg and get an IT7 Max

 

[gpanda]

I'm keeping an eye out for the Gigabyte 845G board and some reviews. If it looks good I might talk myself into building a second 1.6A box. Maybe sell the P4B533-E (althought it's not bad at 160FSB and 320DDR).

 

[TuffGuy]

Honestly, I think the problem might be the new MCH controller. Since it's so small, it looks like it's pretty hard to cool efficiently. And on the BG7, since there are no holes around the MCH to attach a bigger/active heatsink to, the only options right now are to either epoxy a new one on, or use some Arctic Silver on the stock heatsink assembly.

 

[zuze]

I am having a hard time making my choice between three boards. Abit BG7, Abit BD7-II R, and GA -8IEXP. I am getting tormented with DDR 333. Gigabyte board seems to best everything on features and I don't mind that it has a bit of lacking agp performance as from ocworkbench review, but will I be able to run my PC 2700 at its base speed? Firewire precense just adds points to gigabyte board even though it is a via(!) controller. I also like the fact that it has an INTEL ethernet controller.

 

[OneOfTheseDays]

well this thread has steered me away from the BG7. I am getting the BD7II (without Raid) for $120 at Mwave. This board Oc's great (it is basically the IT7 with legacy and serial ports). Plus for those that don't need integrated graphics this board is great!!!

 

[5150Joker]

Originally posted by: Sudheer Anne
well this thread has steered me away from the BG7. I am getting the BD7II (without Raid) for $120 at Mwave. This board Oc's great (it is basically the IT7 with legacy and serial ports). Plus for those that don't need integrated graphics this board is great!!!

Well you shouldn't write off the BG7 just yet. TuffGuy does have a weak powersupply (300w) and he is only using standard cooling. The other person at hardocp confirmed his cpu/memory are shot from his previous asus board and that's why he's not getting good overclocks (he tested it in another board to confirm his problem). My board should be here any minute now, I'm gona burn it in today and do some o/cing tomorrow. You should wait till then before you decide imo.

 

[TuffGuy]

Originally posted by: 5150Joker

Originally posted by: Sudheer Anne
well this thread has steered me away from the BG7. I am getting the BD7II (without Raid) for $120 at Mwave. This board Oc's great (it is basically the IT7 with legacy and serial ports). Plus for those that don't need integrated graphics this board is great!!!

Well you shouldn't write off the BG7 just yet. TuffGuy does have a weak powersupply (300w) and he is only using standard cooling. The other person at hardocp confirmed his cpu/memory are shot from his previous asus board and that's why he's not getting good overclocks (he tested it in another board to confirm his problem). My board should be here any minute now, I'm gona burn it in today and do some o/cing tomorrow. You should wait till then before you decide imo.

Power supply's not the problem. I swapped in my EG651P (550W) just to make sure.

 

[oldfart]

I would say at this point, the jury is still out on the 845G boards. If you get one now, you are blazing the trail. Until people get their hands on the various models, we wont know which are the ones to get. There are certain 845D boards that are pretty well proven, and have all the overclocking features needed. The 845E's don't really have anything new in the NB, so they should be just as good.

 

[TuffGuy]

Just got my RMA to exchange the BG7 for BD7-II.

 

[THUGSROOK]

kewl

yea i dont blame ya on returning it - if all you wanted was 148fsb and some memory ratios you coulda bought a much cheaper SiS 645DX board

 

[TuffGuy]

I just hope that it has a better thermal interface with the northbridge than the BG7...

 

[OneOfTheseDays]

Tuff Guy, you and me are in the same boat. Let's see how our BD7II's do..... i haven't heard anything negative yet.

 

[THUGSROOK]

the northbridge on my (p4b266-c) doesnt get hot at all. 30*C max.
i even put a fan on it to cool it down some - but it didnt get any cooler so i took it off.

 

[TuffGuy]

Originally posted by: Sudheer Anne
Tuff Guy, you and me are in the same boat. Let's see how our BD7II's do..... i haven't heard anything negative yet.

hahahaha... well, i haven't heard ANYTHING about it yet... either positive or negative.

 

[OneOfTheseDays]

like old fart said though, the northbridge is pretty much identical to the i845 d mobos. It's only the i845g mobos that have the newer northrbridges. The BD7 should be fine since it is the same as the IT7, except it has legacy ports and serial ports. I've seen people with IT7's that are hitting 166 FSB and higher so this should be a good sign for us.

 

[TuffGuy]

10478 3DMark2001