*** Official ABIT IS7/G/E (865PE) Thread ***

[jazziz]

is it worth the $10 ?

IS7 has SATA RAID & firewire port. Are they worth $10 to you?

 

[NST6563]

___________________________________________________________
NST,
what are your voltage settings for cpu and ddr? I am unstable at 3gigs with my 2.4B, but haven't bumped the voltages more than one notch. Good to fsb160 then it reboots during a benchmark. I would be curious how far you had to push them if at all to get stable at 167fsb. What are your temps? (eventhough all temp readings on these boards are suspect.....)
____________________________________________________________

the 2.4b is at 1.55v or 1.57v(can't remember, but either way hardware doctor reports as 1.50v).
I'm using GENERIC DDR266 memory that has Samsung 7ns chips on it. It's voltage is at 2.8v. Personally I'm astonished that I got it running at DDR333 especially since it's cheap OEM stuff.

My 2.4B is actually stable all the way up to 3.4Ghz (1.6v for cpu, I can post a screenshot if it's wanted), but at the speed I'm running now I get the best memory bandwidth and faster timings, not to mention the fact that the POS Vantec AeroFlow TMD hsf I just got seems to have a hard time keeping the cpu below 50c idle. When I get faster ram and water cooling I'll probably pursue the 3.4Ghz mark some more.

 

[razorstone]

prolly not then, i never need these.

thanks for help

Originally posted by: jazziz

is it worth the $10 ?

IS7 has SATA RAID & firewire port. Are they worth $10 to you?

 

[Junkman]

Originally posted by: cagemusic
You need to have version cpu-z-118c. Then look under the memory setting and you will see performance mode enabled or disabled.

Where did you find cpu-z 118c? I have version 118 and no where does it indicate performance mode. After seeing some screens showing this setting.... my cpu-z only shows that ECC is disabled.

 

[NST6563]

try this link
http://www.cpuid.com/download/cpu-z-118c.zip

I had to manually add the c on the end of the download link to get it.
CPU-Z 1.18c

 

[kumarakn]

I am using a IS7. I use 2 strips of 512 MB PC 2700 mb ram. My friend gave me a PC2100 256 mb ram. Will I get a better performance using that extra 256 MB strip or will the PC2100 strip degrade the overall performance (as my original ones are PC2700).

Thanks for your answers!

kumarakn

 

[Darren43]

I just found this forum that deals with the IS7...I'm beginning to worry.

I ordered an IS7 standard (with firewire), one stick of Corsair's XMSPC3200 512MB, and the P4 2.6C. Should be here either Monday or Tuesday. I'm planning on taking out my AT7-max (the first one) with an XP2000 and relocating it to another computer so I can put the new souls into the case. The final box will look like this:

Win2K, SP3
Thermaltake 420W PSU
Two 80G WD HDD (with 8MB cache), non-RAID
Radeon 8500 regular
Artec CD-R/RW
Floppy drive
Not sure about the sound yet...have to hear the IS7, first
Since the AT7-Max is legacy-free, I'll reuse USB for trackball, keyboard (both logitech), and printer. I don't have serial stuff anymore.

I'm going to have to go back and read every single one of the posts in this topic...had to quit on page 3...but I have a couple of questions that have me worried.

1. Will I have wipe out and do a complete reinstall of Win2K? I have a LOT of stuff on my HDDs, and whereas I know the wipeout is the best thing to do, I just dread that.

2. Should I go ahead and loosen up the RAM timings upon first POST or try it all at default?

3. There seems to be a lot of new terms involved in O/Cing, and since I never o/ced the AT7, I'm kinda behind on the times. All the sites I've seen involving o/cing are sorta outdated and I'm wondering if maybe there are more recent sites with the newer terminology (what's strapping??) and info geared towards the P4 800 mHz chips.

Thanks!

D

 

[cagemusic]

1. Will I have wipe out and do a complete reinstall of Win2K? I have a LOT of stuff on my HDDs, and whereas I know the wipeout is the best thing to do, I just dread that.

I am not exactly sure about Win2000, but with XP a fresh install is a must. There is just too much that can go wrong. Your computer will run better with a fresh install. Time to backup your data!

2. Should I go ahead and loosen up the RAM timings upon first POST or try it all at default?

Go into the bios before you install 2000 and just make sure everything is set to default. It will probably be like that already, but it can't hurt to check. Ram should be set to SPD.

3. There seems to be a lot of new terms involved in O/Cing, and since I never o/ced the AT7, I'm kinda behind on the times. All the sites I've seen involving o/cing are sorta outdated and I'm wondering if maybe there are more recent sites with the newer terminology (what's strapping??) and info geared towards the P4 800 mHz chips.

The Abit manual goes through many of the settings in the bios and gives you an idea about what they mean. I have also found a ton of info about OCing and bios options in these forums. The only settings that are stillsomewhat of a mystery are the Game Accelerator options in bios 13. They will not exist in the bios that comes with the board.

Good luck. So far even with its problems I think the IS7 is a great board.

 

[Darren43]

Thanks for the reply. I'm beginning the backup/copying to a USB drive and CDs today.

It looks like I'll have to do something with the programs I put on my second HDD, too. I installed them to the second disk because I ran out of room for large installs on the boot disk. It might not be so bad, cause now I can get rid of the junk I didn't want to uninstall (because they "might come in handy one day"), put all the programs on the C drive, and use the 2nd drive exclusively for video and music editing. That was the way it was supposed to be to begin with!

The IS7 should be a great board to do video with!

Before I read some of the posts here, I had seen nothing bad mentioned about this board. And the latest bios is supposed to really make it scream, if I'm not mistaken.

Thanks again!

 

[petrkubik]

Originally posted by: Dazex
I am running the IS7 with Windows 2000. Have SP3 and all lastest hotfixes and security update from windows update. All my devices has the drivers properly loaded for it except for one. I have a yellow exclamation mark on Universal Bus Controller. I can't seem to find any drivers off the CDROM or Abit's website that will fix this problem.

Anyone out there running Win2K SP3 with the IS7?

-Dazex

I had precisely the same issue on my computer. I downloaded SP4 for Win2k, installed it, restarted computer, removed the yellow exclamation mark in the device manager, scanned for hardware changes and..... USB 2.0 hub was found and installed!!! No more yellow exclamation mark!

Jim

 

[Darren43]

I don't THINK I've seen it in these threads...but shouldn't the PC37000 Corsair chips run good in the IS7? The articles and reviews commented on the PC3500s, and that the board ran better, but the PC3700 466 mHz should be okay, right? I'm thinking about sending back the one-stick 512MB Corsair XMS PC3200LL I ordered for two, 256 MB Corsair XMS PC3700 chips. That way, the dual channel will work and it'll be using the RAM bandwidth more efficiently, right?

 

[cagemusic]

correct. I forgot to say something about how two sticks of ddr would be much better than your one 512. As far as ddr466 who knows. It is probably just overclocked 433 or 400. More important is the cas rating-go for 2 whenever possible. Also the lower the nanosecond the better. My geil ddr 433 is 2-6-2-2 running at 4.5 nanoseconds and it screams. Sometimes to overclock the ram companies will lower the timings so it won't combust. I have seen really fast ram but it runs cas 3.

 

[fleabus]

I wanted to post this problem here in case anyone has fixed it.

I have two drives on my secondary ide port: DVD player (Master) and a CD-RW (Secondary). The DVD player is a pioneer 16x and the CD-RW is a plextor 12/10/32A. The problem is after I set up my new system, everything was fine for a couple weeks. Now, my CD-RW drive is no longer seen by Windows XP. It still exists in the bios.

I realize I could probably unhook the CD-RW drive, and then hook it back up and Windows XP would see it again, but it should not have disappeared in the first place. I've seen a couple posts about this on Anandtech, and in the Abit website forums, but I haven't seen any answers for it.

fleabus

 

[RaymondY]

Just got my IS7 w/P4 2.6c system up and running. So far, this system is sweet. Nice upgrade from my Epox 8KHA+ (KT266A) with 1900+.

Running BIOS #13 (non-beta) with 2-512mb Corsair PC3200LL-PLT (2-3-2-5)

Processer: Intel P4 2.6C (800fsb)
FSB: 800mhz
OS: WinXP Pro SP1

GAT=Off
Aida32 Memory Read: 4178
Aida32 Memory Write: 1647

GAT=Street Racer
Aida32 Memory Read: 4971
Aida32 Memory Write: 2304

 

[Entropy99]

I'm a long time reader and first time poster here with a few questions that hopefully someone can answer. Anyhow, I just built my first system using the ABIT IS7 board, 2.4C CPU, 1 GB of Corsair XMS 3200C2 running in dual channel, Radeon 9700, and Antec 1040 case with 400 watt Antec power supply. Case has good airflow and I am using a Zalman 7000 CU cooler for the CPU which I applied Arctic Silver to.

The good news is the system powers up, posts, and loads Windows XP. The bad news is that the Corsair auto selects 2.5,8,3,3 timings at 3200/400 FSB. When I try more aggressive memory timings either by setting them manually or using GAT the system will not boot into Windows XP. For instance, I've tried GAT settings of both F1 and Street Racer without making it into XP. I also tried manual settings of 2.3.3.3 which is what the C2 is rated at. I have not tried adjustings the FSB or voltage. I have not tried running the sticks of C2 individually. I am looking to do some moderate overclocking but I am concerned the memory may not be up to the job.

My questions are: 1. Does the memory sound suspect? 2. Is it worth testing the sticks individually? 3.If the memory isn't at issue then what is? Thanks in advance.

 

[cmdrdredd]

Originally posted by: Entropy99
I'm a long time reader and first time poster here with a few questions that hopefully someone can answer. Anyhow, I just built my first system using the ABIT IS7 board, 2.4C CPU, 1 GB of Corsair XMS 3200C2 running in dual channel, Radeon 9700, and Antec 1040 case with 400 watt Antec power supply. Case has good airflow and I am using a Zalman 7000 CU cooler for the CPU which I applied Arctic Silver to.

The good news is the system powers up, posts, and loads Windows XP. The bad news is that the Corsair auto selects 2.5,8,3,3 timings at 3200/400 FSB. When I try more aggressive memory timings either by setting them manually or using GAT the system will not boot into Windows XP. For instance, I've tried GAT settings of both F1 and Street Racer without making it into XP. I also tried manual settings of 2.3.3.3 which is what the C2 is rated at. I have not tried adjustings the FSB or voltage. I have not tried running the sticks of C2 individually. I am looking to do some moderate overclocking but I am concerned the memory may not be up to the job.

My questions are: 1. Does the memory sound suspect? 2. Is it worth testing the sticks individually? 3.If the memory isn't at issue then what is? Thanks in advance.

there are many factors at work. Try upping the memory voltage

 

[Voltaire]

Quote

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Originally posted by: Entropy99
I'm a long time reader and first time poster here with a few questions that hopefully someone can answer. Anyhow, I just built my first system using the ABIT IS7 board, 2.4C CPU, 1 GB of Corsair XMS 3200C2 running in dual channel, Radeon 9700, and Antec 1040 case with 400 watt Antec power supply. Case has good airflow and I am using a Zalman 7000 CU cooler for the CPU which I applied Arctic Silver to.

The good news is the system powers up, posts, and loads Windows XP. The bad news is that the Corsair auto selects 2.5,8,3,3 timings at 3200/400 FSB. When I try more aggressive memory timings either by setting them manually or using GAT the system will not boot into Windows XP. For instance, I've tried GAT settings of both F1 and Street Racer without making it into XP. I also tried manual settings of 2.3.3.3 which is what the C2 is rated at. I have not tried adjustings the FSB or voltage. I have not tried running the sticks of C2 individually. I am looking to do some moderate overclocking but I am concerned the memory may not be up to the job.

My questions are: 1. Does the memory sound suspect? 2. Is it worth testing the sticks individually? 3.If the memory isn't at issue then what is? Thanks in advance.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Entropy99,
Did you make those settings all at once? I had the same problems as you do, but I have discovered that I had to set those settings one at a time to make it into WinXP. For instance, you set the timing to 2-3-3-5 first, then reboot; then turn on the GAT setting to Street Racer, reboot; then to F1. (Of course, each reboot has to be successful in the first place).
Somehow this works for me. I don't think your memory sticks are problematic, afterall, you've got some good stuff there.
I hope this could be of assistance.

 

[Entropy99]

Thanks for the replies, they were helpful. Voltaire, in answer to the questions you posed I have been making changes one at a time and am using BIOS 13. I finally had some luck this morning manually setting the timings to 2,5,3,3. Turning on GAT to either Street Racer or F1 will not post even when I relax the memory timings to 2.5,8,3,3. Through all of this the ratio has been 1:1.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Entropy99,
Did you make those settings all at once? I had the same problems as you do, but I have discovered that I had to set those settings one at a time to make it into WinXP. For instance, you set the timing to 2-3-3-5 first, then reboot; then turn on the GAT setting to Street Racer, reboot; then to F1. (Of course, each reboot has to be successful in the first place).
Somehow this works for me. I don't think your memory sticks are problematic, afterall, you've got some good stuff there.
I hope this could be of assistance.[/quote]

 

[NST6563]

Thanks for the replies, they were helpful. Voltaire, in answer to the questions you posed I have been making changes one at a time and am using BIOS 13. I finally had some luck this morning manually setting the timings to 2,5,3,3. Turning on GAT to either Street Racer or F1 will not post even when I relax the memory timings to 2.5,8,3,3. Through all of this the ratio has been 1:1.

Just an FYI, On my setup I couldn't get GAT on Street Racer or F1 when manually setting the memory timings. However, if I set the memory timings to SPD (Bios says Cas 2.5 8-4-4) and set GAT to F1 my machine will boot up. When I check the memory timings with software like CPU-Z or Sandra, they all report my memory being Cas 2, 5-2-2. Confusing, but the benchmarks I ran back it up.

so you may just want to try (if you haven't already) setting Memory to SPD and GAT to F1.

 

[Voltaire]

Entropy99
After my post to you, I've tried messing with the bios. I've found that I find that it runs ok, with stock cooling, that I could run at 2-3-3-5 @ 2.8v DDR (in Street Racer mode only, no boot in F1) with CPU running at 3207 Mhz @ 267 5:4 with vCore 1.6v. It doesn't run 3DMark2001SE benchmark looped too well, but it will probably run better with a good aftermarket HSF. I think, with your Zalman cooler, you could run at FSB>270. Please post your o/c results. I'd like to see how well your cooler does, as I am shopping for a good cooler right now. Thanks

 

[h4x0r]

after reading through this thread it seems that the problem that the IS7 has with the DDR400 ram timings is related largely to overclocking? am I wrong in this assumption here? I mean, I can get everything I need and just waiting on a solid OC until they get the issue resolved in the bios. What are people's thoughts on this mobo running *shiver* normally? Does the DDR400 issue seem to be ok under those circumstances? thanx

 

[orion7144]

Originally posted by: h4x0r
after reading through this thread it seems that the problem that the IS7 has with the DDR400 ram timings is related largely to overclocking? am I wrong in this assumption here? I mean, I can get everything I need and just waiting on a solid OC until they get the issue resolved in the bios. What are people's thoughts on this mobo running *shiver* normally? Does the DDR400 issue seem to be ok under those circumstances? thanx

It is picky with some DDR400. Speaking of memory I have the OCZ PC3500EL (rated at 2.2.2.6 433mhz or 216FSB) memory and wrote to Tech support at OCZ about the timing issue. What I am seeing is that at stock 200mhz I can run 2.5.2.2.6 with Street racer on. As soon as I increase the FSB the PC will not boot. I have to disable GAT and run the 5:4 divider. So OCZ is RMA'ing my memory after several tests that they asked me to do since it should perform at 2.2.2.6 @ 216mhz FSB. They say their memroy will run fine at 2.9V and that was one of the tests they had me do (still no luck). They will even ship the new one's out if you give them a CC# then when you recieve the new one's you can send the bad one's back. Pretty nice I thought only the Hard drive makers did that.

 

[NordicNINE]

Oops. Double post.

 

[NordicNINE]

So far, I'm really disapointed with my IS7 & 2.4C (retail with retail heatsink & artic silver 3)

I bought two 512MB modules of Corsair Value memory. I figured 1GB at higher CAS would be faster than 512MB at lower CAS.

I've tried overclocking, but I can't overclock a little without problems. Even if I bump the memory down to 3/2.
I also can't enable any of the Game Acceleration stuff without causing it to not boot.

Any ideas on what settings I should try? I've tried bumping the vcore to 1.6 and the ddr to 2.8, but still not stable. It would boot and run WinXP, but got errors in Prime95 pretty quick.

 

[jhites]

Just put together the IS7-E with a 2.4C and 2.X256 HyperX-PC3500.
Popped it up to 270fsb @ 3240Mhz on default vcore with just the retail sink and pad. Quick and easy little Seti Crucher.