**OFFICIAL** Abit BG7 (i845G) Thread

[GreenParrot]

Originally posted by: gmoss
I have been following this tread with great interest. But I guess I am a little slow. I think the BG7 have the 3/4 and the 4/5 mem. settings at 133 and above. I also gather the BD7II only has the 3/4 mem. setting at 133 and above. Rather supprised to find they have anything above 1/1 at or above 133. One of the things I am interested in is are their DRR333 mem setting (3/4 & 4/5) show at that the standard 133 buss settings or do you have to start doing some minor overclocker. I am interested in running an unoverclocked (or very minor CPU overclocking) but want the Mem bandwith. The BD7II at 133 with 3/4 would only be 7% above DRR333 and would be great for my uses for this box.

In case if you are wondering about mild overclocking. This box is for my wife and I to do video editing on. She who must obeyed does not understand unstable.

Thanks

Gary

Originally posted by: 5150Joker
Gary, if you don't plan to go over 133 fsb with your motherboard, then I'd recommend you buy the BD7-II Raid. It has slightly better memory scores than BG7 at 133 fsb with 3:4 enabled. Just make sure you have good memory and you shouldn't have any instability problems. Set your vcore to 5% and memory to 2.7 v to ensure complete stability at 133 fsb since BD7-II Raid does undervolt a bit.

If I want to use DDR400, which board should be the best: BG7 or DB7-II RAID?
Is the following settings what I am looking for: 150 FSB, 3/4 DRAM?

 

[5150Joker]

Originally posted by: GreenParrot

Originally posted by: gmoss
I have been following this tread with great interest. But I guess I am a little slow. I think the BG7 have the 3/4 and the 4/5 mem. settings at 133 and above. I also gather the BD7II only has the 3/4 mem. setting at 133 and above. Rather supprised to find they have anything above 1/1 at or above 133. One of the things I am interested in is are their DRR333 mem setting (3/4 & 4/5) show at that the standard 133 buss settings or do you have to start doing some minor overclocker. I am interested in running an unoverclocked (or very minor CPU overclocking) but want the Mem bandwith. The BD7II at 133 with 3/4 would only be 7% above DRR333 and would be great for my uses for this box.

In case if you are wondering about mild overclocking. This box is for my wife and I to do video editing on. She who must obeyed does not understand unstable.

Thanks

Gary

Originally posted by: 5150Joker
Gary, if you don't plan to go over 133 fsb with your motherboard, then I'd recommend you buy the BD7-II Raid. It has slightly better memory scores than BG7 at 133 fsb with 3:4 enabled. Just make sure you have good memory and you shouldn't have any instability problems. Set your vcore to 5% and memory to 2.7 v to ensure complete stability at 133 fsb since BD7-II Raid does undervolt a bit.

If I want to use DDR400, which board should be the best: BG7 or DB7-II RAID?
Is the following settings what I am looking for: 150 FSB, 3/4 DRAM?

That depends if you care about RAID or not. If you don't really care for RAID, then I'd get the BG7 because it also offers the 4:5 divider incase you want to push your cpu higher in the future.

 

[GreenParrot]

Thanks for your quick reply!

Yes, this is another dilemma.
I am considering BD7-II RAID with two IBM 80GB 120GXP
or BG7 with WD1200JB, which one would you prefer?
Is 4/5 devider the only difference in terms of DRAM support in these two boards?

 

[5150Joker]

Originally posted by: GreenParrot
Thanks for your quick reply!

Yes, this is another dilemma.
I am considering BD7-II RAID with two IBM 80GB 120GXP
or BG7 with WD1200JB, which one would you prefer?
Is 4/5 devider the only difference in terms of DRAM support in these two boards?

The memory controller in the BG7 is newer and supposed to be more efficient than the one in the BD7-II RAID. Also, the BD7-II RAID only supports up to 2.7v vdimm which isn't that great for overclocking above 150 fsb a lot of the time. I tried out both boards and ended up liking the BG7 more.

 

[GreenParrot]

1. Does BG7 have extra USB pins to connect to the fron USB ports?

2. Has anyone had an experience with BUYAIB.COM?
They list Samsung DDR400 CL2 with life time waranty.
Is it for real or is it another scam?

 

[5150Joker]

Originally posted by: GreenParrot

1. Does BG7 have extra USB pins to connect to the fron USB ports?

2. Has anyone had an experience with BUYAIB.COM?
They list Samsung DDR400 CL2 with life time waranty.
Is it for real or is it another scam?

1. yes
2. never heard of that place

 

[Mikki]

I apologize that this post is a bit off topic, but I'm replying to a couple posts in this thread and I would like to get the opinions of those people. I've noticed that a lot of you (if not all) are using the P4 1.6A, rather than say...a 2.2. TuffGuy mentioned the fact that you can save at least a $100 by going with a 1.6A, with the possibility of attaining the same performance as a 2.2. That sort of leads me to believe that most of you go that route mainly to save money (not to mention the challenge of taking a 1.6 and getting it to perform like one of the newer cpu's).

Later on I think it was 5150Joker that says he's going to order another motherboard to compare it with what he had. That sort of leads me to believe that money doesn't matter (mobos run roughly $100-$150), so now I start thinking that maybe there's something special about that particular cpu, or that maybe the newer ones are junk.

And so my questions start. With all of us being so passionate about computer performance, and with a 2.2 just $100-$150 more than a 1.6, why aren't people buying those and seeing how fast those will go? Wouldn't it be better to have a cpu with the 533MHz FSB support? Is there something special about the 1.6A's? Does anyone tried a 2.2 to see how fast it would go?

Again, I'm really sorry if I put anyone off, I'm currently looking to upgrade and it's been awhile. Though I know the basis of what everyone's talking about, I'm trying to get current again on new hardware so I can make sound choices when I buy. These kind of questions are what led me to join a forum after all these years. Thanks everyone!

 

[gsethi]

heres my response to your questions:

1) yes, we save about $100-$125 on the processor when we but 1.6a as compared to a 2.2.a.

2) you said that we spend about $100 - $150 for a motherboard, you will need to spend that much money even if you get a 2.2a. Agreed, you will not get a good overclocking board but still a decent P4 motherboard is around $100.

3) You get the pleasure of overclocking and learn a lot from the process. Again, there is that feeling that you are running your system better than what the company says.

4) You boost your overall system performance by overclocking / increasing the FSB of your system. Thats why Intel switched to 133 FSB now for better performance. Some of us are already running at 166 Mhz (something Intel will be doing some months down the line).......so we are already there where Intel will be some time later.....again the feelign that your system is better

5) Overclocking is just for fun and is a learning experience. You may end up spending more money but you learn a lot, and you get a lot of more performance.

PS: right now, i have my 1.6a overclocked to 2560 Mhz (160 FSB). My Samsung DDR 333 memory is overclocked to DDR 426.
There is no current system on the market that can beat my system performance wise right now
Only other overclockers can beat me and thats where all the fun is......trying to beat the other and push your system to the limits......isnt that a human nature ?

 

[Mikki]

Thanks a lot for answering my questions. That was pretty much as I thought, good to know the overclockers passions are alive and well!

So let me ask one more question. As a performance nut, why don't you spend the extra $100 or so, get a 2.2 with the 133 fsb, and overclock that? Then you would be STARTING with a faster cpu with a faster fsb. Then absolutely NO ONE will touch you. That was what I was trying to get at.

I have to admit that I'm dying to see what someone could do with one of the 2.x GHz cpu's......

Thanks again, sorry to be a nuisance!

 

[5150Joker]

Originally posted by: Mikki
Thanks a lot for answering my questions. That was pretty much as I thought, good to know the overclockers passions are alive and well!

So let me ask one more question. As a performance nut, why don't you spend the extra $100 or so, get a 2.2 with the 133 fsb, and overclock that? Then you would be STARTING with a faster cpu with a faster fsb. Then absolutely NO ONE will touch you. That was what I was trying to get at.

I have to admit that I'm dying to see what someone could do with one of the 2.x GHz cpu's......

Thanks again, sorry to be a nuisance!

I believe it's because the 2.2 tops out at around the same range as a good 1.6a.

 

[chainbolt]

Originally posted by: 5150Joker
Hi guys,

First cobra, you're going to love the p4b533-v! I drove down to CDR Express (yes they are the same company as Memory Media) yesterday and picked up a P4B533-V from them. I just finished installing it today and right off the bat I booted up at 160 fsb (4:5 divider) with 1.625 volts and 2.7 vdimm with no problem. When I checked the voltages in the bios, the board was actually overvolting! I was pleasantly surprised to see this since the Abit's tend to undervolt. This board is loaded with features! I'll post more details later after I'm done installing the leaked UT2K3 So far this is by far the best 845G board and it is ROCK solid and it seems to be higher quality than the BG7. I guess you really DO get what you pay for.

LOL, I came here to get information about the BG7 (after already checking out the BD7-II). I followed your way to the P4B533-V, and what you found out seems very convincing. The Asus overvoltage features are really god-sent. From your previous post I understand that Asus has also AGP overvoltage?

 

[gsethi]

Originally posted by: Mikki
Thanks a lot for answering my questions. That was pretty much as I thought, good to know the overclockers passions are alive and well!

So let me ask one more question. As a performance nut, why don't you spend the extra $100 or so, get a 2.2 with the 133 fsb, and overclock that? Then you would be STARTING with a faster cpu with a faster fsb. Then absolutely NO ONE will touch you. That was what I was trying to get at.

I have to admit that I'm dying to see what someone could do with one of the 2.x GHz cpu's......

Thanks again, sorry to be a nuisance!

imo, its not the default CPU speed that determines overclocking. It is the manufacturing process that determines it.

as i have seen so far, a CPU built on 0.18 can only go upto 2.2 Ghz and thats why intel has stopped them at 2.0 Ghz
the current CPUs that are being built on 0.13 microns can only go upto 3.0 Ghz.
the CPUs on 0.09 should be able to go upto 4.5 Ghz atleast if not 5 Ghz.

So, technically, a 2.2a Ghz would have just about the same overclocking potential as a 1.6a processor. It maybe able to go a little bit higher but not that much as compared to a slower processor on the same FSB.

 

[5150Joker]

Originally posted by: chainbolt

Originally posted by: 5150Joker
Hi guys,

First cobra, you're going to love the p4b533-v! I drove down to CDR Express (yes they are the same company as Memory Media) yesterday and picked up a P4B533-V from them. I just finished installing it today and right off the bat I booted up at 160 fsb (4:5 divider) with 1.625 volts and 2.7 vdimm with no problem. When I checked the voltages in the bios, the board was actually overvolting! I was pleasantly surprised to see this since the Abit's tend to undervolt. This board is loaded with features! I'll post more details later after I'm done installing the leaked UT2K3 So far this is by far the best 845G board and it is ROCK solid and it seems to be higher quality than the BG7. I guess you really DO get what you pay for.

LOL, I came here to get information about the BG7 (after already checking out the BD7-II). I followed your way to the P4B533-V, and what you found out seems very convincing. The Asus overvoltage features are really god-sent. From your previous post I understand that Asus has also AGP overvoltage?

Yep the Asus has AGP voltage adjustment from 1.5-1.7v which is really nice. It's a very nice board but at a premium. If you don't care about extras (and paying more), I'd recommend going for the BG7 over the P4B533-V.

 

[Mikki]

Originally posted by: gsethi

Originally posted by: Mikki
Thanks a lot for answering my questions. That was pretty much as I thought, good to know the overclockers passions are alive and well!

So let me ask one more question. As a performance nut, why don't you spend the extra $100 or so, get a 2.2 with the 133 fsb, and overclock that? Then you would be STARTING with a faster cpu with a faster fsb. Then absolutely NO ONE will touch you. That was what I was trying to get at.

I have to admit that I'm dying to see what someone could do with one of the 2.x GHz cpu's......

Thanks again, sorry to be a nuisance!

imo, its not the default CPU speed that determines overclocking. It is the manufacturing process that determines it.

as i have seen so far, a CPU built on 0.18 can only go upto 2.2 Ghz and thats why intel has stopped them at 2.0 Ghz
the current CPUs that are being built on 0.13 microns can only go upto 3.0 Ghz.
the CPUs on 0.09 should be able to go upto 4.5 Ghz atleast if not 5 Ghz.

So, technically, a 2.2a Ghz would have just about the same overclocking potential as a 1.6a processor. It maybe able to go a little bit higher but not that much as compared to a slower processor on the same FSB.

Though I'm very impressed with the overclocking prowness of the P4, this is disappointing. I was hoping to pick up a 2.2B and see if I could get 3 gig out of it. Alright, a 1.6A it is. Thank's for everyone's input! I appreciate it!

 

[GeoffW]

Hello

Interesting thread, could I throw a question at any of you BG7 owners please?
I was just about to buy a BG7 and a GF4 when I came across this problem someone is having with his BG7 (see below).

Has anyone got DDR333 running stable with either a GF4 Ti4400 or a Ti4600 on a BG7?

This combo was almost exactly what I was about to buy, this problem is concerning me now, so I have postponed the order for a while to see if I can get some more feedback. Thanks

Regards Geoff


> Does anyone have this combo running DDR333 spec memory stable?
>
> I can run my GF4 Ti4400 perfectly stable at DDR266, as soon as I go to
> 333, the system is erratic and randomly freezing and BSODing.
>
> I have two 512MB DDR333 sticks. I have tested the RAM, and individually
> they work fine at 333, but when they are both used together, crash, so i
> have to throttle back to 266. However, if i use the built in graphics on
> the mbd, the system is fine. I have had this GF4 in my old Athlon XP for
> 4 months, and it has always been perfect.

 

[crapito]

Mikki: I bought a 1.6a cause it has the best price/preformance ratio of any CPU currently available; I paid <$140 for my retail 1.6a from Googlegear. it does at least 2648 MHz (16x165.5) @ +10% voltage (~1.61) with just the stock heatsink and fan! I don't run it this speed 24/7 cause sometimes my CPU temps get as high as 65C, so until I get a P4 waterblock for my water cooling setup, I run it at 2408 MHz (16x150.5) @ default voltage, which lowers my max CPU temps to around 58C. anyway, my point is that the 1.6a rocks and shouldn't be overlooked or passed up for a "faster" P4 if one is interested in overclocking. buy better RAM, a video card, bigger HDD, etc. instead of a more expensive CPU.

GeoffW: I don't have that exact problem, as I don't have a GF4, but I do have a similar problem with my GF3. with either the onboard video or the base WinXP drivers for my GF3 (12.40 I think), I can run my RAM @ 150 3:4 or 160 4:5, resulting in DDR400 @ 2.5/6/3/3 2.8v. however, if I update my drivers to either 28.32 or 29.42 (the most recent 2 I've tried), WinXP hard locks while loading the desktop. I have to result or power off to reboot, as my keyboard and mouse are both unresponsive. if I want to run WinXP with good GF3 drivers, I have to lower my RAM speed considerably, all the way down to 140 4:5 = 175, resulting in DDR350. weird, eh? troubleshooting this problem was quite a headache too, as I've never had drivers affect my overclocking before...

 

[Mikki]

Originally posted by: crapito
Mikki: I bought a 1.6a cause it has the best price/preformance ratio of any CPU currently available; I paid <$140 for my retail 1.6a from Googlegear. it does at least 2648 MHz (16x165.5) @ +10% voltage (~1.61) with just the stock heatsink and fan! I don't run it this speed 24/7 cause sometimes my CPU temps get as high as 65C, so until I get a P4 waterblock for my water cooling setup, I run it at 2408 MHz (16x150.5) @ default voltage, which lowers my max CPU temps to around 58C. anyway, my point is that the 1.6a rocks and shouldn't be overlooked or passed up for a "faster" P4 if one is interested in overclocking. buy better RAM, a video card, bigger HDD, etc. instead of a more expensive CPU.


And I understand now. I've seen for myself everyone's success with the 1.6A, and understand why. Correct me if I'm wrong, but a 1.6A overclocked to 2.2 will outperform a 2.2B running at default speeds because though the cpu speed is the same, the overclocked FSB and memory bus are running faster. And to top it all off, the 1.6A is alot cheaper than the 2.2B. Okay, I got that part.

As far as overclocking both, the current Northwoods (which would be both the A's and B's, right?) are made with the .13 micron manufacturing process (which I've often wondered, they're made with the same process, how does Intel determine the speed of it besides the sticker?) and are locked at ...what was it? 3 GHz? So, using stock cooling, you could overclock a 1.6A to ROUGHLY 2.4 - 2.6 GHz and a 2.2B maybe to a max of 3 GHz, and the 1.6A will probably perform close to the 2.2B because of the overclocked (and therefore faster) buses. Not sure if I've got that part, is that right?

I know some of this depends on mobos and memory, but generally speaking....

I should of just created a post in the CPU forum, sorry everyone.

 

[Lance22]

I just caught up with this thread, and read about why you guys chose 1.6's over 2.x's..

It might have been answered, but its a little unclear to me...You are basicly saying that a 2.26 is a waste of money, when you can just use a 1.6a...how about if i got a 1.8a, is that a little bit safer to use? I would be assured my 2.6 overclock? and I would be saving money from not getting a 2.26?

 

[LogisticalBovine]

Actually, in concordance with Lance, I had the same question. If you have the money, is it worth buying a 1.8a instead of a 1.6a?

I have a couple more questions too:
1.)What kind of HSF do you guys use?
2.)Is the Asus P4B533-VM and P4B533-V different motherboards? You guys talk about 6PCI slots and the VM is a MicroATX with only 3PCI.
If they are, I'm guessing newegg.com still doesn't carry the P4B533-V board.

 

[Mikki]

Originally posted by: LogisticalBovine
Actually, in concordance with Lance, I had the same question. If you have the money, is it worth buying a 1.8a instead of a 1.6a?

I have a couple more questions too:
1.)What kind of HSF do you guys use?
2.)Is the Asus P4B533-VM and P4B533-V different motherboards? You guys talk about 6PCI slots and the VM is a MicroATX with only 3PCI.
If they are, I'm guessing newegg.com still doesn't carry the P4B533-V board.

Yeah, among the major differences between the two boards the VM is a microATX board, smaller with less PCI slots than the -V. The last time I checked newegg didn't have the -V yet. Check out this thread for some good info on the P4B533-V's.

 

[The Wildcard]

Geoffw: Hmm that's a strange problem. I too also was planning on buy that EXACT same setup. I have to admit I am dissapointed. Luckily I came upon your post!

Hmm is this an isolated incident or have you heard of others having the same problem?

 

[GeoffW]

Hi Wildcard

At the moment I am also hoping this was an isolated incident, but it sounded like Crapito might have come across a similar problem with his GF3 board and BG7. At least Crapito managed to get to DDR333, I would be happy with that, but it would be a waste of money if I was to buy a couple of sticks of good PC2700 and then had to slow it down to DDR266.
We really could do with a bit more feedback from some other BG7 guys to see if they had similar troubles, BG7 & GF4 anyone ?

As regards the other question as to why choose a 1.6A over a 1.8A, I am not one of the gurus here, but my thoughts on it are

1) Obviously cheaper (20% or so saving here on UK prices ) I dont like spending money

2) The fixed multiplier of 16 is better as it is lower than the 18 of the 1.8A
This allows finer incremental tuning of the actual CPU speed when multiplied by the FSB frequency.

 

[5150Joker]

Originally posted by: GeoffW
Hi Wildcard

At the moment I am also hoping this was an isolated incident, but it sounded like Crapito might have come across a similar problem with his GF3 board and BG7. At least Crapito managed to get to DDR333, I would be happy with that, but it would be a waste of money if I was to buy a couple of sticks of good PC2700 and then had to slow it down to DDR266.
We really could do with a bit more feedback from some other BG7 guys to see if they had similar troubles, BG7 & GF4 anyone ?

As regards the other question as to why choose a 1.6A over a 1.8A, I am not one of the gurus here, but my thoughts on it are

1) Obviously cheaper (20% or so saving here on UK prices ) I dont like spending money

2) The fixed multiplier of 16 is better as it is lower than the 18 of the 1.8A
This allows finer incremental tuning of the actual CPU speed when multiplied by the FSB frequency.

It's an isolated incident. I haven't had any issues with the BG7 + Geforce 4 so it must be something he did wrong. It works fine at ddr 333 and up with no problem.

 

[5150Joker]

Originally posted by: crapito
Mikki: I bought a 1.6a cause it has the best price/preformance ratio of any CPU currently available; I paid <$140 for my retail 1.6a from Googlegear. it does at least 2648 MHz (16x165.5) @ +10% voltage (~1.61) with just the stock heatsink and fan! I don't run it this speed 24/7 cause sometimes my CPU temps get as high as 65C, so until I get a P4 waterblock for my water cooling setup, I run it at 2408 MHz (16x150.5) @ default voltage, which lowers my max CPU temps to around 58C. anyway, my point is that the 1.6a rocks and shouldn't be overlooked or passed up for a "faster" P4 if one is interested in overclocking. buy better RAM, a video card, bigger HDD, etc. instead of a more expensive CPU.

GeoffW: I don't have that exact problem, as I don't have a GF4, but I do have a similar problem with my GF3. with either the onboard video or the base WinXP drivers for my GF3 (12.40 I think), I can run my RAM @ 150 3:4 or 160 4:5, resulting in DDR400 @ 2.5/6/3/3 2.8v. however, if I update my drivers to either 28.32 or 29.42 (the most recent 2 I've tried), WinXP hard locks while loading the desktop. I have to result or power off to reboot, as my keyboard and mouse are both unresponsive. if I want to run WinXP with good GF3 drivers, I have to lower my RAM speed considerably, all the way down to 140 4:5 = 175, resulting in DDR350. weird, eh? troubleshooting this problem was quite a headache too, as I've never had drivers affect my overclocking before...

That would suggest it's a driver issue, not hardware. Try the 28.90 and/or 27.70 drivers and see if you still experience the same problem. I use the 28.90 drivers in conjunction with a Leadtek Ti4600 and there are no problems w/the BG7.

 

[The Wildcard]

Whew, well good to hear that there are people who have gotten a geforce 4 to work with the BG7 with DDR333 ram.

Looks like it's back on track for the BG7