The EPoX 4G4A+ seems very promising.

[Quixotic]

Originally posted by: ahsia

Originally posted by: Labdog

i dont understand you can't correctly overclock your EPoX 4G4A(+). but whatsoever don't replace it by the gigabyte (bad overclocker). take in that case an Asus P4B533(-V ; the i845g chipset is the faster chipset from intel for the DDR memory) or Abit BG7. if you want plenty of features you have also the Abit IT7 Max which is just coming out. you can plug on this board 12 hard disks; it's a record i think.

A few posts later, I mentioned that I kepted the 4G4A+. I did some more reading, and realized that the 845G chipet is much faster than the 845E. I am able now to OC to 2.4GHz at 150FSB, DDR400 at CAS2.5 3:3:6 memory settings. I am worried about my vcore being too high, it was at 1.7v, and Prime95 errored out after 80 minutes or so. I bumped up the voltage to 1.725v, and running it again to see how long it will run. Is running the 1.6A at 1.75 or 1.775v too high and unsafe?

Those voltages should be fine. Your case cooling must be better than mine, cuz I have my vcore at 1.625 and it runs 1.6A @ 2.4Ghz without any problems but with 55C full load temp.

 

[Quixotic]

Originally posted by: Bad_Dude
So is the memory problem cannot have more than 2 sticks of RAM is for nonoverclockers or for everyone? Why would anyone make a board with 3 slots and only can be use with one?
Too late I ordered one.

If you're not going to overclock or just want to overclock a little (1.6 @ 2.13, for example) you should be able to use two sticks of double sided ram just fine as long as its not crappy ram. If you want to reach the 50% overclock (2.4Ghz) then you may experience problems. You can use three sticks of ram as long as two of them are single sided.

 

[Quixotic]

Originally posted by: kgraeme
Those temps look great compared to my system. I was doing a sandra burn-in test and it locked up. After reboot I saw that the CPU was around 89-deg C.

Aiya! There is definitely something wrong. Are you sure your heatsink is making proper contact with the top of the cpu?

 

[anonmouseuser]

I am having some BIOS issues. First off, each time I make a change in the BIOS and press F10 to save and exit, I get a freeze and I need to manually restart. Secondly, I am now running 140FSB@3:4 at default voltage. If I go anything beyod this setting, I can save and exit as mentioned previously and then ...... N 0 T H I N G ...... My computer won't even POST. I have to clear CMOS and reset the settings back to 140 / 4:5.

I am thinking that I need a BIOS flash but I don't have a fdd or a burner in order to perform this task. I am leaving the country for the next 10 days so I will not be able to do anything any time soon.

Why is this happening? Is there an alternate fix to my problem?

 

[Quixotic]

Originally posted by: anonmouseuser
I am having some BIOS issues. First off, each time I make a change in the BIOS and press F10 to save and exit, I get a freeze and I need to manually restart. Secondly, I am now running 140FSB@3:4 at default voltage. If I go anything beyod this setting, I can save and exit as mentioned previously and then ...... N 0 T H I N G ...... My computer won't even POST. I have to clear CMOS and reset the settings back to 140 / 4:5.

I am thinking that I need a BIOS flash but I don't have a fdd or a burner in order to perform this task. I am leaving the country for the next 10 days so I will not be able to do anything any time soon.

Why is this happening? Is there an alternate fix to my problem?

I'm guessing since its fine with 4:5 and not 3:4 that maybe its your ram? The bios crashes supposedly were fixed in the new bios update but I haven't had any problems with the original 4/24 bios.

 

[kgraeme]

Originally posted by: Quixotic

Originally posted by: kgraeme
Those temps look great compared to my system. I was doing a sandra burn-in test and it locked up. After reboot I saw that the CPU was around 89-deg C.

Aiya! There is definitely something wrong. Are you sure your heatsink is making proper contact with the top of the cpu?

No. No I'm not. I thought it was, but obviously the temps indicate otherwise. It's been idling now at 67C. I've only had about an hour cumulative time to tinker with it since Sunday, so I haven't done extensive troubleshooting yet.

One problem I am seeing though is the hanging boot issue on a soft reset. It looks like it hangs just as it tries to load the Highpoint controller. That is even with moving the memory to slot 2.

 

[kgraeme]

Ah, that's a little better. I'm running my 1.8A@2.4 with RC5 and seeing 47C now with the stock HSF.

Gotta say that I love the P4. The problem was that in my tinkering, I had disconnected the CPU fan. So while I was doing the burn-in test, it was running with no fan! And it booted up just fine afterwards. I've put a few boxes together over the years and this was the first time I've ever come close to burning out a CPU.

 

[ahsia]

Originally posted by: Quixotic

Originally posted by: ahsia

Originally posted by: Labdog

i dont understand you can't correctly overclock your EPoX 4G4A(+). but whatsoever don't replace it by the gigabyte (bad overclocker). take in that case an Asus P4B533(-V ; the i845g chipset is the faster chipset from intel for the DDR memory) or Abit BG7. if you want plenty of features you have also the Abit IT7 Max which is just coming out. you can plug on this board 12 hard disks; it's a record i think.

A few posts later, I mentioned that I kepted the 4G4A+. I did some more reading, and realized that the 845G chipet is much faster than the 845E. I am able now to OC to 2.4GHz at 150FSB, DDR400 at CAS2.5 3:3:6 memory settings. I am worried about my vcore being too high, it was at 1.7v, and Prime95 errored out after 80 minutes or so. I bumped up the voltage to 1.725v, and running it again to see how long it will run. Is running the 1.6A at 1.75 or 1.775v too high and unsafe?

Those voltages should be fine. Your case cooling must be better than mine, cuz I have my vcore at 1.625 and it runs 1.6A @ 2.4Ghz without any problems but with 55C full load temp.

Hopes so, I am a happy camper right now. I am running at 2.4GHz, VERY STABLE. I surfing, doing all kinds of stuff, and forgot that I left Prime95 running, it was running for 3 hours, and my system didn't crash at all. My vcore is around 1.75-1.77v, but even after running Prime95, my CPU temps never hits 50C or above, and system temps stays around 35C.

I am going for either an Enermax or Antec power supply to be on the safe side. Which one is better? Antec seems to be a few bucks cheaper.

 

[WangButter]

1.75 vcore is borderline. I personally wouldn't recommend running at anything over 1.7 for long periods of time. Even if you are getting OK temperatures, you could still burn out your CPU with a high vcore.

 

[Labdog]

Originally posted by: ahsia

Hopes so, I am a happy camper right now. I am running at 2.4GHz, VERY STABLE. I surfing, doing all kinds of stuff, and forgot that I left Prime95 running, it was running for 3 hours, and my system didn't crash at all. My vcore is around 1.75-1.77v, but even after running Prime95, my CPU temps never hits 50C or above, and system temps stays around 35C.

I am going for either an Enermax or Antec power supply to be on the safe side. Which one is better? Antec seems to be a few bucks cheaper.

i think an Antec TruePower True430 is a good choice. it is a new model with an integrated voltage regulator. fine
if you have few buck more you can go to the True550. (Enermax are very good PSUs but they are alot more expensive. :frown:

 

[Muadib]

To get the 4:5 ratio, you need to remove the jumper on the motherboard that sets it to 133 mode

This doesn't work on my board. I get a siren like beep, and it doesn't post. I replace the jumper to either the auto or 100 mhz setting and I'm good again. I had just installed the latest bios, but I don't think that thats the problem as many of you are using it. Does anyone know what's the deal here? And while I'm at it, is there a why to stop the siren short of unplugging the pc speaker?

 

[CrazySaint]

Any of you had a successful overclock with Corsair XMS PC2700 CAS2 RAM? I ordered it from googlegear for $87 last week because the prices were going up and just found out they only have a 15 day return policy instead of thirty and it doesn't look like I'll have my board soon enough to test it :frown:

 

[etrin]

Just got the board ordered and wanted to ask someone with good
success with this board what settings I should use in bios and what
if anything I need to set on the MB before I start?

I am trying to get a 1.8 Northwood to oc on this board.
Hope it gets here by friday, good weekend fun


thanks for any help or pointers
Etrin

 

[terminalmind]

MuadibIt could be the 1.8 thats causing your problem. From what
I have read some people are not having as much success overclocking the
1.8 though there are exceptions. I have a 1.6A and have no problem with
the 4:5 ratio. I am currently running 157 FSB 2.51Ghz at the default 1.50V
Vcore. What kind of memory are you using?
What is the LED readout showing when you get the alarm?


etrin If it were me I would get the 1.6A instead of the 1.8.
I think your chances of getting a decent overclock would be better
with the 1.6A.

 

[Muadib]

Originally posted by: terminalmind
MuadibIt could be the 1.8 thats causing your problem. From what
I have read some people are not having as much success overclocking the
1.8 though there are exceptions. I have a 1.6A and have no problem with
the 4:5 ratio. I am currently running 157 FSB 2.51Ghz at the default 1.50V
Vcore. What kind of memory are you using?
What is the LED readout showing when you get the alarm?


etrin If it were me I would get the 1.6A instead of the 1.8.
I think your chances of getting a decent overclock would be better
with the 1.6A.

I don't get the chance to even try to OC with that jumper off because it won't post. I can get to 2.4 Ghz using the 3:4, but I wanted to see if I could get more. I agree with you, on the 1.6 though. If I could do it all again, I would get it over the 1.8.

 

[Bad Dude]

Hey,
I don't see and additional bracket for the extra 2 USB ports.

 

[Muadib]

Originally posted by: Bad_Dude
Hey,
I don't see and additional bracket for the extra 2 USB ports.

That's because it doesn't come with one.

 

[ahsia]

Originally posted by: Muadib

Originally posted by: Bad_Dude
Hey,
I don't see and additional bracket for the extra 2 USB ports.

That's because it doesn't come with one.

Actually, some of them do. The first 4G4A+ I bought from mwave did, and I had to RMA it because the CPU bracket broke. The replacement I receive didn't. But I have so many USB brackets I didn't bother to call and ask. Look in the manual, I think it says the package includes a USB bracket.

 

[kgraeme]

Well mine is going back. I've decided that the hanging on boot problem is just too stupid to put up with. Moving the ram didn't help. It's fast and seems stable, but the boot problem isn't worth my time.

BTW, I've definitely narrowed the boot problem down to the Highpoint controller. Disable that and it boots like a dream.

 

[kgraeme]

Originally posted by: ahsia
Look in the manual, I think it says the package includes a USB bracket.

Nope, the manual doesn't say anything about a USB bracket. The only bracket included is the Com2/Gameport.

 

[audscott]

Originally posted by: kgraeme
Well mine is going back. I've decided that the hanging on boot problem is just too stupid to put up with. Moving the ram didn't help. It's fast and seems stable, but the boot problem isn't worth my time.

BTW, I've definitely narrowed the boot problem down to the Highpoint controller. Disable that and it boots like a dream.

I wonder...I had cold boot problems with a BD7II-RAID....845E chipset with same highpoint RAID controller running RAID0.

The 4G4A+ runs flawless.....I had attributed the difference to cheapo capacitors on the Abit, and better quality on the Epox to make up for lack of the +12 connector, which the Abit has.

I wonder how many other are having this cold boot issue with the Epox?

 

[Johnnychangs]

Well I got my 4G4A+ today and its been running for a little while. I have a bunch of things to say, all of which are pretty random:

I am very impressed so far. I put my memory in slot2, set the 133FSB jumper, blah blah. I'm running my 1.6a at 2368mhz, 148FSB, 4:5 ratio. I tried 150 and had some problems, went down to 140 for an hour or so, then tried 145 next for a couple hours. I'm trying to ease it towards 150, or higher. The mobo may need a little burn in time before it reaches its potential.

One thing that impresses me is the temp readings seem pretty solid. Its hot and muggy outside right now, and I have no air conditioning. Idle temp is 41C and load temp is about 51C. Plus I have to let the ASIII settle in a bit. The mobo and case temp doesn't seem to move much though.

I really like the Bios options and the Magic Health view of voltages and temps during the system post. Nice feature.

I tried the FSB jumper set to auto, at 3:4 ratio and 150FSB, but didn't have much luck so I switched it back.

I also updated the Bios to the most recent. I know some of you did not have as good luck with the newer Bios, but I figured I'd try it anyway.

Oh yeah, I replaced the mobo chipset heatsink with a Thermaltake Tiger chipset heatsink/fan. When I took off the Epox heatsink, I was suprised to see there was NO thermal compound between the Intel chipset and the heatsink. I threw on a bit of ASIII and the Tiger.

My P4 1.6a has always seemed to need more voltage around 2.4Ghz. at 2368mhz, I have the Vcore at 1.70v, and the Vmem at 2.7v.

Has anyone messed with the AGP voltage? Have you found that bumping it up a notch increases stability at high FSB settings?

Also the "Delayed Transaction" and some of the Bios/Video cache settings I disabled. I set the PCI Latency to 64, the onboard video, audio, Raid (no need for it) are all set to Disabled. Does anyone know what the other memory settings are?

Woah, ok thats enough for tonight. Contemplating calling in sick tomorrow and playing around with my new board ;-)

 

[audscott]

Hi Johnny.

I haven't made any AGP voltage adjustments....I suppose at a certain overclocking level it may help, but 165 is not it for me.

The other memory setting (cas, precharge, ect) are in the advanced chipset menu.

If you haven't already, I recommend you lock the AGP/PCI to 66/33 for higher overclocks.

Don't skip too many days of work.

 

[Muadib]

Who else has a 1.8 cpu? Can you get the 4:5 setting?

 

[Muadib]

I might have found the cause of my woes. The latest bios 4g4a2617 seems to have removed the raid controller from my 4g4a+, so I think it's not meant for the + model. I used the alt F2 to do the flash, and it doesn't backup the current bios before doing the flash. I sent an email to Epox, but it can take up to 48 hours before I hear from them.:disgust: