The EPoX 4G4A+ seems very promising.

[cobrasvt]

I would assume the same thing, but with the current problems with it, wonder if EPoX did anything to make it more stable than the 1st batch of boards (sort like what MSI did to the KT266 boards with the resistor mod to make them run faster)....

Luckily for me I was able to return mine... Now I'm about to play with my new Asus P4B533-V mobo

 

[BD231]

Damn sexy lookin MOBO.

 

[gsethi]

seems like people have started to have success with the board now.

I am looking into RMAing my GA-8IEXP and get this one or the Asus P4B533-V. my CPU can easily go 165 FSB and with 4:5 memory ratio, that would make a nice setup.

think think think....what to do

 

[phillyTIM]

Like I reported earlier, I've had no problems with this board, getting stable 2.2ghz and DDR333 (actually speeds of DDR 344) out of my 1.6/DDR333 setup on the 4G4A+; and that's without even a drop of perspiration.

The 4G4A+ feature set is stellar, with the HighPoint 372 & USB 2.0 & need for only a regular (non-P4) power supply, as I was testing out the on-board LAN/video/sound-- and its all sweet. I've even contemplated RMA'ing the soundblaster live card that I spent $40 extra bucks on, and perhaps even using the i845g's video until I get my Ti4200 in a few months.

My 4G4A+ continues, since 2 nights ago, to burn-in with Sandra, CPU maxing out at 50C temperature under heavy load, 39C idle. Which is great since it's running at 600mhz faster than it's manufacturer specifies it for.

I'd recommend it, and my board is rev. 1.0. And I'm very particular about the computer system that I run.

 

[gsethi]

ok....i just got an Epox 4G4A+ and am going to compare it with GA-8IEXP. this board looks nice and the quality definately looks better than gigabyte.

as you all know (in my Gigabyte GA-8IEXP thread), i was able to achieve 150 FSB with DDR 400 with my CPU and RAM and i would expect atleast the same from this board. So this board is facing touch competition from the start.

I like the BIOS of this board though. Seems much more nicer. I noticed that on the NB heatsink, there was no compound between the heatsink and the NB. thats atleast better than putting Silicon like other companies are doing. I might put some AS3 on it......

ok....off to overclocking the board now......wish me luck

 

[gsethi]

Overclocking:

First Try:
FSB: 133
DDR: 333 (4:5 memory ratio)
Everything else default
RAM: 2.5/6/3/3
Boot to windows: Normal......impressed so far.
Prime 95: Ran for 10 min without any problems
Sandra Memory score: 2098......kinda low (DDR 266)........maybe because i am using integrated graphics ??????

Second Try:
FSB: 150
DDR: 374
RAM: 2.5/6/3/3
Everything else default
Boot to windows: Normal
Sandra Memory Score: 2400 (again low.....couldnt beat PC 800)......any reason ? will try my GF3 on next boot
Prime 95: running fine so far

 

[Sukhoi]

On my 8IEXP I just ran a DDR266 Sandra memory test (100 MHz FSB with 4:3 ratio) and got 2043/2039 so your numbers aren't off much from mine. I haven't done DDR266 with a 1:1 ratio yet though.

 

[gsethi]

Sukhoi, i am running my Memory at DDR 333 and getting those numbers of DDR 266. My Score should be around 2400 for DDR 333 and i am getting that score for DDR 374....weird.....will check BIOS again and might give some more voltage to Ram

But this board is performing like a stellar so far.....my GA-8IEXP required me to provide more voltage to my memory for DDR 354 and its doing DDR 374 on default (well..actuall is DDR 333)....but still.....

i have to figure out why memory is benching so low now.......

will try 150 FSB with 3:4 ratio next.

EDIT: oh yeah...forgot one more thing...this board is overvolting (unlike many other boards including Gigabyte) which is a nice thing for overclocking. Seems like that missing of 12v connector has no effect.

boy, i am starting to love this board now.....only have to figure out why my memory is benching so low.

 

[gsethi]

oh boy.....do i love this board or what ?

ok..this time i plugged in my GF3 video card and ran 150 FSB using 3:4 memory ratio. Just to save time, i decided to give +0.1v to my memory and it worked fine.

Running prime 95 without a hitch now. this board beats GA-8IEXP right off the back. Will test 4:5 memory ratio again and see if my GF3 affects it in any way.

but i LOVE THIS BOARD NOW. My GA-8IEXP is going back i guess.......

UPDATE: Low memory benchmarking was due to using integraded graphics. put in my GF3 and back to normal benchmarks........

ANOTHER UPDATE:

It is doing 160 FSB with 4:5 memory ratio now.....WOWOWOWOWOW
Increased CPU VCore to 1.700 v (it wouldnt do it at 1.600v though)

 

[oldfart]

gsethi nice work testing all these boards! Are you getting ~ 3000 SiSoft mem 150 FSB 3:4 DDR400 now? Still looking for an 845E/G that can match the "Old" 845D benches. If you get a chance, I'd like to see how the EPOX 4BEA/4BEAR does. It seems like you can get various boards pretty easily for testing.

So, what is tops for 845G?
BG7?
4G4A+?
P4B533-V?
Other?

How about 845E?
BD7II?

 

[gsethi]

hello oldfart...thanks

I got 3100 using DDR 400 on this board. used to get 3033 on the GA-8IEXP.
right now i am working on 165 FSB with 4:5 memory ratio...

I dont think that i will be testing any other boards after this.....maybe GA-8IGXP and thats it.....

Intel I845G chipset:
I would personally go with this Epox board over Abit BG7 since this has more features (Raid, 2 more usb ports), more overclocking options over the Abit board.

Intel I845E chipset:
I only tested GA-8IEXP and you know my results for that.

my goal is to see how far i can push my CPU and RAM with these max voltages. i can go more higher on this board though:
CPU Vcore: 1.750 v (max is 1.850 v)
DRAM: 2.800 v (max is 3.200 v wowow)

i wont push any higher because of two reasons:
1) i have AIR Cooling (thermaltake dragon 478 and my temps are like 43-44 idle at 165 fsb) i have setup my board to shut down at 60C though for safety
2) my True Samsung PC2700 doesnt has a heat spreader on it....although it is running cool
I still want to be on the safe side and not fry any components.

Right now, i am testing 165 fsb using 4:5 memory ratio and it seems to be running fine.............will see if i can go 170 fsb with my determined max voltages. (right now i am at 1.725 v for cpu and 2.700 for Dram) so i still have some more room to play.

I am definately going to return my GA-8IEXP now.........

 

[crapito]

oldfart: I got ~3100/3000 RAM scores in Sandra 2002 Pro with my Abit BG7 (845G) motherboard + P4-1.6a CPU + 256mb pc2700 Samsung RAM running @ 160 4:5 = 2560 MHz & DDR400. I don't know if that speed was stable though, as it was just a test to see if I could run WinXP Pro at those speeds.

I am currently running a Prime95 torture test @ 160 1:1 = 2560MHz & DDR320 just to make sure everything is stable. it is, perfectly stable. I will keep cranking up the speeds until I get errors, then I'll post my "best" results in the official BG7 thread.

l8r.

 

[gsethi]

thanks crapito for your input.......

seems like a neck to neck war between Abit BG7 and Epox 4G4A+ right now.....
Asus P4B533-V also seems like a nice board but it is way expensive and therefore outta this war for budget consious consumers:
Pricing:
Abit BG7: ~125
Epox 4G4A+: ~$130

one thing for the Epox though: the heatsink on the NB is quite warm.....it is definately doing its job......but i will surely apply some AS3 on it and might get a chipset fan for it though (feeling like popping the one off my GA-8iEXP right now )

i have to give little more voltage to my CPU for 165 fsb. it wont do it at 1.725, so right now, i am at 1.750 v for CPU and 2.700 v for Ram. i think that i might go upto 1.800 v for my CPU but not anything higher and so, dont push me.....LOL

EDIT: on yeah....dont consider using the integrated graphics for long on these boards for following reasons:
1) Win XP flickers a lot while booting
2) your memory benchmarking goes down a lot
3) Win XP is not as smooth
4) It is shared memory, so it uses your RAM

 

[phillyTIM]

great information that you shared, gsethi...thanx!

I'm loving my 4G4A+ board too! Last night I had a hiccup with it--it would install, but not fully boot my Red Hat Linux 7.3. I've spend the past few hours finally getting the problem figured out: it's the HighPoint HPT372 RAID thing that the Linux IDE drivers hiccup at. So I went to the HighPoint tech support site, and got their latest drivers for Red Hat, which unfortunately only support RH 7.2. So I installed Red Hat 7.2 with the HighPoint drivers, and all works great with Linux now!

So it's not the boards fault, per se; it's lack of a Linux driver out of the box. But I know the new kernel is integrating the HighPoint drivers within it, and HighPoint will come out with RH7.3 drivers before long I'm sure. I'll just play around with that and Windows XP for awhile until then! Oh, and I forgot to mention that the integrated lan port works great, and the sound is really impressive for a motherboard; the integrated video was pretty nice, but could only do some lower marks on 3DMark2001, compared to my ATI radeon.

But now that I have everything working on the 4G4A+, it's damned fine! This board is a good purchase and definately gets my recommendations. I have my P4-1.6a at 2.2ghz, and my Samsung at DDR344 Cas2 speeds right now; and that was without even getting near of breaking a sweat!

I've considered this a temporary board, until the new Intel dual-channel DDR boards come out, but by then we'll probably have a whole new memory standard anyways; and I'm growing quite attached to this 4G4A+.... heck, why mess with a good thing when you get the good speed out of it, right?!!

Anyways, glad to see yous all are enjoying the board too!

 

[gsethi]

OMG.......This board is going to kill me.......

Right now...160 FSB with 3:4 memory ratio and it is going stable running Prime 95 for about 10 min now....
I am going out somewhere (party ) and will be back in about 4-5 hours and will leave the system up and running Prime 95.
Man, do i love the board or what ? Samsung DDR 333 running at DDR 427....WOWOW....cant be much happier

oh yeah......i dont think that my Processor will do 170 FSB yet.....gave it 1.800 v and ran memory 1:1 but it would fail Prime 95.
So, i dont think that it will do 170 FSB...might give it a little more voltage to see but 160 FSB with 3:4 ratio.....couldnt be happier.

Great Job EPOX.........i am a die hard Epox fan now

 

[Sukhoi]

Dang, I want this board now.

 

[gsethi]

WOWOW....Update....i just came back and guess what ?

FSB: 160 Mhz with 3:4 memory ratio and Prime 95 was still running.....~5 hours and it was still running.......Excellent board.

my heatsink on the NB is fairly warm......i seriously need to apply AS3 on it (will do it tomorrow) and will try to get a chipset fan for it.
I also like the onboard LED code display on the board that will tell me if there is any problem with the board.

oh, My RAID is enabled when all this overclocking is being done......

UPDATE:

FSB: 163 with 3:4 memory ratio.......rock solid stable dont we just love Epox now ?

 

[Khanivore]

Wow! This Epox motherboard sounds fat! I'm about to order it too.. LOL

gsethi, what revision is your new Epox motherboard?

 

[Khanivore]

OK! I've got suckered in too

... LOL so I've just ordered an Epox 4G4A+ and a stick of Samsung Original PC2700 (256Mb).

It should be here by Tuesday/Wednesday. Can't wait to see what that combo does for my 1.6A (currently runs at 2.4GHz~1.675v on P4B266 @ DDR400)

 

[gsethi]

the motherboard revision is 1.0.
My Ram and Processor is from newegg. My Board is from Atacom.com

EDIT: Oh yeah, make sure you get a decent fan for the northbridge heatsink......it runs very warm when you are overclocking. I will apply AS3 on it today as well as get a fan for it over when i drive down to Frys. You will need Epoxy to glue to fan to the chipset heatsink

 

[phillyTIM]

my mobo is rev. 1.0 also... i've not heard anything about any new rev out yet...

oh i forgot to mention that another great point about the 4G4A+ is that you don't need to spring for one of those hefty P4 ATX12v power supplies; as it does turn out that this board truly is sufficiently powered with just a regular ATX power supply. whew, glad i could save the money and put it toward my new WD 8mb-cache hard drive!

and i do take back about what i said about Realtek components, they all work great; and having the Realtek clock generator on the board, allows us the great AGP/PCI 66/33 lockeroo! talk about an overclocker's friendly board!

 

[gsethi]

This is the only bad thing i have found about the board so far:

PCI/AGP Lock feature: either you can just lock it at one fixed speed of 33/66 or use dividers P||2 or P||4. there are no other options to lock them at higher speeds like some other boards. But thats it.......Atleast, they gave us the default 33/66 and thats what most of us run our cards at..

 

[Khanivore]

Originally posted by: gsethi
WOWOW....Update....i just came back and guess what ?

FSB: 160 Mhz with 3:4 memory ratio and Prime 95 was still running.....~5 hours and it was still running.......Excellent board.

my heatsink on the NB is fairly warm......i seriously need to apply AS3 on it (will do it tomorrow) and will try to get a chipset fan for it.
I also like the onboard LED code display on the board that will tell me if there is any problem with the board.

oh, My RAID is enabled when all this overclocking is being done......

UPDATE:

FSB: 163 with 3:4 memory ratio.......rock solid stable dont we just love Epox now ?

Hmmm gsethi, my friend, have you run 3DMark2001SE or CPUBURN4's BurnMMX/BX tests to see if your memory can handle 160/3:4 or 163/3:4 settings?

Correct me if i'm wrong but I think Prime95 just tests the CPU and not other components

 

[oldfart]

Correct me if i'm wrong but I think Prime95 just tests the CPU and not other components

Prime95 stresses the CPU/memory system. Prime95 will fail in pretty short order if the mem is pushed too far.

 

[gsethi]

Prime 95 will test both the CPU and memory....heres my conclusion for that:

Prime 95 will work for hours when FSB is 166 Mhz with 1:1 memory ratio.

Prime 95 fails within first 5 minutes when FSB is 166 Mhz with 3:4 memory ratio at the same settings.

So, Prime 95 tests both the CPU and the memory.