**OFFICIAL** Abit BG7 (i845G) Thread

[Beatnik]

Lance22, it's really a question of how much money you want to spend and what you are trying to accomplish. In my case, I wanted a guaranteed 2.26GHz (and I don't mind spending $250 on a CPU). But I wanted some mild overclock potential. Here's some numbers for comparison:

150FSB 1.6A
16 x 150 = 2.4GHz
150 * 2 * 4/3 = DDR400
150 * 2 * 5/4 = DDR375

160FSB 1.6A
16 x 160 = 2.56GHz
160 * 2 * 4/3 = DDR427
160 * 2 * 5/4 = DDR400

150FSB 2.26
17 * 150 = 2.55GHz
150 * 2 * 4/3 = DDR400
150 * 2 * 5/4 = DDR375

160FSB 2.26
17 * 160 = 2.72GHz
160 * 2 * 4/3 = DDR427
160 * 2 * 5/4 = DDR400

If you assume that Cas2 DDR375 is the best you can do, then that would get you to 2.4GHz on the 1.6A and 2.55GHz on the 2.26. That's my assumption. I really think that good DDR Cas2 is what is holding people back right now. Like I've said about 3 times in this thread, I'm waiting for someone to produce some fast DDR400. When that happens then you have 1.6A at 2.56GHz and the 2.26 at 2.72GHz. Of course, if you have that extra voltage on the ASUS board, that might get you there. I don't know.

 

[Lance22]

Thanks for the clarification...ive been debating what to buy for awhile. I think i will go with a 1.8a watercooled, with 512 samsung 3000 memory, the only thing that I am unsure about is which m/b I should get.

 

[GNUchica]

Sorry to cross post here (I started my own topic as well) but I'm desperate!

Maybe I'm just being an idiot, but this is not the first computer I've built. I got a new Abit BG7 with a 1.6A... Got everything installed and pushed the power button. Everything sounded normal (I could hear the sound being initialized, or whatever happens with that), but no post (beep). What's worse, I could smell something burning. I turned off the box and opened it up and everything seems okay inside. The CPU isn't what smells and I'm not sure what is. Anyway, could this be a dead CPU? What do you think the problem is? The cables have the correct orientation, so it's not that simple.

TIA,
GNU Chica

 

[crapito]

5150Joker: I am 100% positive it is a driver issue (my BG7 and GF3 not enjoying being overclocked with nVidia 28.32 or 29.42 drivers installed). I just got home from work, so I'll download some more drivers from Guru3d and see what happens...

 

[crapito]

update #1: I am currently on a ghosted base copy of WinXP with no video drivers loaded, running @ 150 5:4 = 2400 & DDR375 @ 2.8v, which is something I could NOT have done with either the nVidia 2832 or 2960 drivers. I am going to write this msg, then try some more drivers and see if I can get drivers and a good overclock together, cause separately ain't sh!t!

I'll keep you posted.

update #2: installed the 2890 drivers and rebooted. I am currently in WinXP running 150 5:4 = DDR375 @ 2.8v. Prime95 is torture testing, but looks to be ok. if all goes well... I will try for DDR400 @ 2.8v.

my fingers are crossed...

update #3: running @ 150 5:4 = 2400 & DDR375 @ 2.8v with the 2890 drivers, I can run Prime95's torture test to at least Test 30 of the 1024K length (~15 minutes) and Sisoft Sandra 2002 Pro gives me a RAM benchmark of 2919/2923. looks like all is stable.

update #4: running @ 155 5:4 = 2480 & DDR389 @ 2.8v with the 2890 drivers, I can run Prime95's torture test to at least Test 40 of the 1024K length (~20 minutes) and Sisoft Sandra 2002 Pro gives me a RAM benchmark of 3004/3018. looks like all is stable. damn, I am SO glad this was just a driver issue!

update #5: running @ 160 5:4 = 2560 & DDR400 @ 2.8v with the 2890 drivers, I can run Prime95's torture test to at least Test 30 of the 1024K length (~15 minutes) and Sisoft Sandra 2002 Pro gives me a RAM benchmark of 3109/3116. looks like all is stable.

 

[GeoffW]

Thanks for the update guys, looks like that problem with the GF4 and DDR33 might be nothing too serious then. I think I will go ahead with the purchase now.
Interesting to see your test results Crapito, keep us posted with any new updates please

Geoff

 

[crapito]

left some more updates above... 2 posts up.

FSB @ 160 w/5:4 RAM @ DDR400 seems to work just fine. I'll have to do more stress testing, but overall, all is well.

 

[tyoung88]

Ok Guys! Thanks for all the great posts on P4, Sis645DX, and now the 845G and Abit BG-7

I passed awhile pack on crossing bridges with the Athlon and now with 845G and 1.6a I just can't hold back any longer. The PIII-800 is going to the closet of fame

So I purchased the following:
P4 1.6a @newegg - $150
Abit BG-7 @compuplus - $127
Samsung "True" DDR PC2700 512mb - @essential - $135 (i hope the dlt model can at least get me to 2.4ghz)

I'll let you all kno how it goes in a few days!

Any advice on the chipset cooling? Just take of the heatsink and put on some artic silver or should I get the ThermalTake Tiger 1 chipset cooler?

Thanks Again!

 

[jyrgen]

Hi guys. I have read this thread through some 4-5 times in last few weeks and became quite fascinated about this P4 1.6A@160fsb and DDR400 setup on BG7. Thanks TuffGuy, 5150Joker and others for inspiration.

So I bought the board, P4 and ordered some Samsung PC2700. I did 3 things first - applied AS3 to stock cooler, applied AS thermal adhesive to Northbridge heatsink, and made a wire mod to set vcore to 1.7+ permanently, since I had an intention anyway to run it constantly at high speeds. I might reconsider this last thing, maybe it does not need this much voltage (it is 1.66 actually, due to mobo undervolting?).

The setup was pretty much halfway, I have not received my Samsungs yet and I did receive an empty (!) videocard box. Still I was anxious to try. So I used a generic 256 MB PC2100 stick at 4:3 ratio (not 3:4!) and onboard video. I must also admit that my case has virtually no cooling yet, since I have not found any good case fans here (in Estonia). And here are some preliminary results:

1) I started with fsb 150 (I have never ever thought of trying it lower than that,
2) I found a very stable level at fsb 160, did Prime95, 3DMark (score was some 1500) and other such things, everything was fine, only the case temperature seems high, due to no cooling,
3) finally I tried the limits, and I found it at fsb 175. Its P4 1600@2800, I was pretty amazed! Remember it's stock cooler and onboard video working. At this speed I could surf the web and use all "cooler" apps, eg Photoshop, but Prime95 gave errors and 3DMark crashed, of course. To achieve this I had to maximize voltage to 1.7+15%, that gave 1.94.

Here are some informative pictures: WCPUID, monitoring and Sandra.

Now I have received my videocard, Abit Ti4400, but still waiting for memory and searching for case cooling. I might then run some benchmarks as well. Provided this memory is as good as you say, it seems that stable work @160 fsb and DDR400 is very achievable. Thank you once more for giving the idea!

 

[GeoffW]

This amused me

That question I had posed yesterday about the BG7 DDR RAM speed, for a laugh I thought I would ask ABit Tech support. Here is their reply.


Dear Customer,

Sorry, BG7 can only support PC1600 and PC2100 due to intel 845E chipset limitation. Faster RAM may not work properly on this motherboard, if it does work then it will have to run at a slower speed (PC1600 or PC2100).


measly 2 line reply quoting the official Intel speeds, he didn't even get the chipset right (845G).

Oh well, I went ahead and ordered the board now, so might be back in a while with some more questions for the experts here. Don't think I'll bother asking Abit Tech Support

Geoff

 

[GreenParrot]

OK gurus,
I need professional advice.
After reading all your comments I am not sure which memory stick to match with my BG7:

1. Samsung 512MB DDR333 2.5CL $154
2. Corsair XMS 512MB DDR375 CL2 $186
2. Corsair XMS 512MB DDR400 CL2.5 $189

Is there any difference between them, or is it only the name and the price?

 

[5150Joker]

Originally posted by: GreenParrot
OK gurus,
I need professional advice.
After reading all your comments I am not sure which memory stick to match with my BG7:

1. Samsung 512MB DDR333 2.5CL $154
2. Corsair XMS 512MB DDR375 CL2 $186
2. Corsair XMS 512MB DDR400 CL2.5 $189

Is there any difference between them, or is it only the name and the price?

Get the samsung. The corsair uses samsung chips and their own PCB which may or may not be up to Samsung standards.

 

[tyoung88]

To all of those who got Samsung "true" PC2700 DDR Ram . . .

Are all the suggestions of "burning in" the memory valid? I've read that in order to achieve maximum oc potential you should start at default voltage and the slowly up the fsb and voltage performing hours of Sandra memory benchmarks in between. Does this mean that you have to do this EVERY TIME you boot the machine or is it a one time thing to break the memory in. The logic behind this doesn't seem to make too much sense to me.

Thanks for the info!

 

[cneo]

Ahh!!! haha, I was holding out for so long.... trying to see if there was a reason not to buy this board. Just ordered from newegg w/ the chip.

MB 845G|5P1A3D BG7 ABIT ATX (Qty=1,Price=129.00)
CPU P4/1.6A GHz 400M 478PIN/512K RT (Qty=1,Price=139.00)

Subtotal:268.00
TAX:20.77 \\ tax in CA =(
Shipping and Handling Charge**:4.00
Total:292.77

I already have the 2700 samsung ram from newegg so I'm just itching to get the mobo + chip.

Do you guys know if there are any issues with video editing and overclocking? I got this board to build a seperate video editing system. I noticed that motherboards with chipsets not from the chip manufacturers themselves (intel or amd) are very unstable and are unsuitable for video editing in my experience. Are there problems with timing when you overclock?

 

[tyoung88]

Originally posted by: cneo
Ahh!!! haha, I was holding out for so long.... trying to see if there was a reason not to buy this board. Just ordered from newegg w/ the chip.

MB 845G|5P1A3D BG7 ABIT ATX (Qty=1,Price=129.00)
CPU P4/1.6A GHz 400M 478PIN/512K RT (Qty=1,Price=139.00)

Subtotal:268.00
TAX:20.77 \\ tax in CA =(
Shipping and Handling Charge**:4.00
Total:292.77

I already have the 2700 samsung ram from newegg so I'm just itching to get the mobo + chip.

Do you guys know if there are any issues with video editing and overclocking? I got this board to build a seperate video editing system. I noticed that motherboards with chipsets not from the chip manufacturers themselves (intel or amd) are very unstable and are unsuitable for video editing in my experience. Are there problems with timing when you overclock?

cneo, I'd be hesitant to use an oc'ed system for something as critical as video editing. Video Editing via software such as Adobe Premiere performing a lot of decoding and encoding is probably the most cpu intensive thing you can do on a computer, therefore stability should be of the utmost importance. Then again, I guess you can OC conservatively and then do some video editing tests and see if everything is ok.

 

[crapito]

good news and bad news...

good news: my hardware (BG7 + 1.6a + Samsung 256mb pc2700) can run @ 160 5:4 DDR400 all day long w/o any problems, stability-wise. that is a good thing. very good...

bad news: I still have a BG7/Geforce3/overclocking problem. I've isolated the issue down to a specific combination: Intel INF drivers with basically any nVidia drivers while overclocking.

when I have the Intel INF drivers installed, either 4.00.1009 or 4.00.1013, along with any nVidia drivers, 27.50 or 28.32 or 28.90 or 29.42 or 29.60, I can run my setup perfectly @ 133 5:4 DDR333, ie (semi)official default speeds, but cannot load WinXP Pro when overclocking, ie 160 5:4 DDR400. I know it's a BG7/Geforce3/overclocking problem, because I can run any combo of 2 successfully, ie Intel INF and nVidia drivers or Intel INF and overclocking or nVidia drivers and overclocking, but cannot run all 3 together, ie Intel INF and nVidia drivers and overclocking. so basically, this sucks... yeah, I suppose having this driver/software problem is better than a hardware problem, ie my 1.6a and/or RAM can't overclock, but still... I didn't buy this overclocking friendly hardware to run @ 133 5:4 DDR333. I would have bought a cheaper SiS board and generic pc2700 RAM if that's all I wanted. damn. I am considering RMA'ing the BG7, but what else is better? I've read a lot about the Epox 4G4A and Gigabyte GA-8IEXP, and both of these boards seem to also have problems running over 133 5:4 DDR333, though not always like my setup.

my question: should I keep my BG7 and hope for a fix, like a BIOS or driver update? or, RMA it and get another motherboard that will hit 160 5:4 DDR400 without issue? any input is appreciated. btw: my BG7 does have some other, more minor issues, like turning itself off after ~5 seconds the first time powering on after a cold boot. this leads me to believe that my above problem may at least be partially hardware related, which is leaning me to RMA the board. I like it's features though, and have trouble believing that Abit would put out a non-overclocking friendly motherboard, even if Intel and the 845G chipset are to blame over Abit specifically.

 

[5150Joker]

Originally posted by: crapito
good news and bad news...

good news: my hardware (BG7 + 1.6a + Samsung 256mb pc2700) can run @ 160 5:4 DDR400 all day long w/o any problems, stability-wise. that is a good thing. very good...

bad news: I still have a BG7/Geforce3/overclocking problem. I've isolated the issue down to a specific combination: Intel INF drivers with basically any nVidia drivers while overclocking.

when I have the Intel INF drivers installed, either 4.00.1009 or 4.00.1013, along with any nVidia drivers, 27.50 or 28.32 or 28.90 or 29.42 or 29.60, I can run my setup perfectly @ 133 5:4 DDR333, ie (semi)official default speeds, but cannot load WinXP Pro when overclocking, ie 160 5:4 DDR400. I know it's a BG7/Geforce3/overclocking problem, because I can run any combo of 2 successfully, ie Intel INF and nVidia drivers or Intel INF and overclocking or nVidia drivers and overclocking, but cannot run all 3 together, ie Intel INF and nVidia drivers and overclocking. so basically, this sucks... yeah, I suppose having this driver/software problem is better than a hardware problem, ie my 1.6a and/or RAM can't overclock, but still... I didn't buy this overclocking friendly hardware to run @ 133 5:4 DDR333. I would have bought a cheaper SiS board and generic pc2700 RAM if that's all I wanted. damn. I am considering RMA'ing the BG7, but what else is better? I've read a lot about the Epox 4G4A and Gigabyte GA-8IEXP, and both of these boards seem to also have problems running over 133 5:4 DDR333, though not always like my setup.

my question: should I keep my BG7 and hope for a fix, like a BIOS or driver update? or, RMA it and get another motherboard that will hit 160 5:4 DDR400 without issue? any input is appreciated. btw: my BG7 does have some other, more minor issues, like turning itself off after ~5 seconds the first time powering on after a cold boot. this leads me to believe that my above problem may at least be partially hardware related, which is leaning me to RMA the board. I like it's features though, and have trouble believing that Abit would put out a non-overclocking friendly motherboard, even if Intel and the 845G chipset are to blame over Abit specifically.

What kind of power supply are you using? The BG7 turning off after booting suggests two things: 1) board is defective 2) inadequate power supply. Just to be on the safe side I'd RMA the board and try to get a replacement. Like I said before, I use the 28.90 drivers, the default Intel INF file from the Abit CD and a Leadtek Ti4600 and have no issues at all. I also have an antec ppx412 400w power supply in my system with 5 case fans, volcano 7+, 2 HD's, CD-Rom, and case light all pulling power from it with no problems. Check your +12v and +5v and make sure they are within a 5% tolerance. If they fall below the 5% tolerance then you likely need a better power supply. However if you are intent on a purchasing a different board, I'd still avoid the Epox 4G4A(+) despite people having success with the board recently. To my knowledge Epox hasn't revised the board and until they do, I'd be weary of buying it. I'd recommend an Asus P4B533-V as a very viable (and better in some cases) alternative to the BG7 although it is more expensive. The Gigabyte 8IEXP will not give you DDR 400 at 160 fsb since it lacks the 4:5 divider and I also heard it's overclocking hasn't been very stellar for some people.

 

[gafga]

I have a BG7 and have not been able to find the USB2.0 drivers, so I have a PCI to Universal Serial Bus being flagged in Windows as having a problem. Was that the case with you as well before you found the drivers? Where did you find the USB2.0 drivers at ? Can you post the link ?

TIA,
Shawn

 

[oldfart]

crapito, is your PCI/AGP locked @ 33/66?
Can you run 160 FSB 1:1 DDR320 without lockups?

 

[gafga]

I happen to be running Windows ME and need the USB 2.0 drivers.

TIA,
Shawn

 

[tyoung88]

Is the wire-mod trick necessary to OC to around 2.4 or 2.5? I'm planning on using stock cooling with some artic silver on the CPU and Chipset.

Thanks

 

[crapito]

5150Joker: I also have an Antec 412 power supply. I've tweaked the 3.3v and 5/12v lines too, to add a little more voltage. I know my 12v line is a little under 12v, like 11.8v when overclocked, but everything else is fine, ie well within ~5%, and usually on the plus side. the cold boot problem isn't much of a problem, relative to my BG7/Geforce3/overclocking problem, and it doesn't happen all the time either.

oldfart: I've tried both locking the AGP/PCI bus at 66/33 and also running a 1/4 divider (->80/40) and neither one solves my BG7/Geforce3/overclocking problem. and yes, I can run 160 1:1 DDR320 w/o problems (ie Prime95 stable). I simply can't run my RAM over DDR350 (140 FSB 5:4 RAM 175) with nVidia drivers and the Intel INF installed, though I can run at least DDR400 (160 FSB 5:4 RAM 200) w/o both being installed.

 

[MeCalvin]

I would like to purchase a 1.6A that can OC stable to at least to 2.4 and then perhaps more.

I see that most of you buy yours from NewEgg. Does this vendor sell really good 1.6A or something ?
I don't really want to buy form NewEgg because of CA tax reason. COuld I get my 1.6A from Compu-plus
and still get good OC results ? Is there different 1.6A batches (packagae dates etc) that can affect its OCability?

Thanx

 

[tyoung88]

Originally posted by: MeCalvin
I would like to purchase a 1.6A that can OC stable to at least to 2.4 and then perhaps more.

I see that most of you buy yours from NewEgg. Does this vendor sell really good 1.6A or something ?
I don't really want to buy form NewEgg because of CA tax reason. COuld I get my 1.6A from Compu-plus
and still get good OC results ? Is there different 1.6A batches (packagae dates etc) that can affect its OCability?

Thanx

I had the same delima as you since I live in CA but I still bought from Newegg. Here's why . . . I kno that some batches will OC better than others (not sure of the specifics). My logic is that since Intel cuts all it's processors from the same wafer and based on the quality of the piece they determine the speed of the processor. Newer 1.6a's will be cut from wafers that were made more recently also so the yield should be better as time goes on. Newegg seems to sell the most 1.6a's of all the etailers so if I order from them I have a better chance of getting a newer 1.6a. Just my 2c.

 

[tyoung88]

So anyone with any comments on the necessity of the wire-mod with this board? Thanks