**Update, now with Mainboard comparision** All about P4 1.6a Northwood here!

[SchoolBus]

Well i ordered a 1.6a from mwave $151.00 shipped, Epox 4BDA2+ motherboard from Newegg 132.00 shipped and i ordered the Swiftech MCX478 for 57 shipped, so i think i will get some good news, i know someone who has hit 2.4 with sunflower using 1.6a and Epox board so i hope to hit that or more..

 

[Yourself]

where did you find the swiftech for $58 shipped?

 

[SchoolBus]

Here is a review of the Epox 845 chipset board
http://www.tweakersasylum.com/Reviews/EPoX/4BDA2P/00000001.htm

and i got it from coolerguys.com for that price....inregards to the MCX478

 

[Errtu]

BigJ2078 said,



<<
There's been quite a few reboot issues with the Gigabyte 8IRXP after ppl attain memory speeds of 125mhz. Personally I think this is a fatal flaw in the boards design and value to an overclocker. The 125mhz memory speed issue has not arose in any other boards. I would personally go with the MSI 845 Ultra-ARU. Its got ATA133 raid and USB 2.0 like the Gigabyte board, and is about $30 cheaper also. Also, the 125mhz memory speed issue has not arose in any other boards. >>



Tom's Hardware says, "According to our test findings, the Gigabyte GA-8IRXP provides the optimal basis for overclocking an Intel Pentium 4 (Socket 478). It offers a core voltage of 1.85 Volt max. The majority of boards work with 1.65 Volt max."

On top of that, Anandtech's January review of many top i845 DDR boards gave the Gigabyte GA-8IRXP the editor's choice award. Because of all these reasons (and because of my phat tax refund) I went with the Gigabyte.

The problems BigJ is referring to (I think) are that when you have all 3 DIMM's populated you cannot break 125MHz FSB. Well, I'll settle for only being able to use 2 DIMMs then and I'll still be able to hit 150MHz FSB pretty easy with this board with a 1.6A. Also, the extra $30 is for the integrated Intel 10/100 NIC.

I've got my board and processor in from Newegg and now all I need is the RAM and I'll let you all know how it goes!!!

 

[whateverdude]

I dont know if I could handle that kind of noise for a couple hundred xtra mhz

 

[KenAF]

Well, I don't know about Tom's results, but according to the Hardforum.com posts, the Gigabyte isn't one of the better overclocking boards. If you search Hardforum.com for "Gigabyte P4," you can find about a half a dozen different users who replaced their Gigabyte boards with one from Asus (or someone else) and were able to clock their processor an additional 100-150MHz higher with the same voltage. It isn't all about FSB--virtually all of the recent P4 motherboards will do 150MHz easily--there are other chipset or mainboard design/signal issues that we don't really understand.

The only Epox P4 board overclocking results have been mediocre to poor (lots of disappointed Epox folks), so I would personally stay away from their boards right now. For the Athlon, Epox produces some of the best, if not the best, motherboards, but they don't quite seem to have the P4 figured out yet.

 

[KenAF]

For those that want to use the MCX462 heatsink (originally designed for Athlon) with the P4, you can buy the mounting kit below:

http://coolbreez.com/merchant/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=CB&Product_Code=MBKFPS41

Be warned, the Swiftech produces a helluva lot more noise than the quiet Intel heatsink. The Intel heatsink is more than sufficient for 2400-2500MHz and lower voltage increases, so the Swiftech is probably a waste of money unless you intend to try 2600-2800MHz with 1.7 to 1.85V voltage increases.

 

[whateverdude]

im looking at the thermaltake 7+, just for the variable fan speed.

 

[FrostyFlakes]

hum this seems weird i'm using a msi 6507 (matx mb) in an antec 1030 case, and my temps seem bit high 53C on load, and 40ish off, do i have the hsf on wrong or something? any input would be helpful. getting my 92mm fans for my matx case later so i'm using it in an atx case.
two L1As blowing in 2 L1As blowing out
enermax whisper psu.
1.6a -> 2.133
vcore shows as 1.41V

 

[y2kc]

Frosty, What are your room temps like? is your case closed? ( i leave the side off, always did), is your chip retail? if so did you remove the thermal tape and what did you replace it with?

 

[y2kc]

FYI, PC Power and Cooling is selling the Sunflower HSF for 19 bucks shipped. The deal can be found over in the Hot Deals forum (sorry no linkage, gotta go to work)

Edit: this is apparently an OEM version retailed under a PC Power and Cooling brand name.

 

[sigmatic]

While many people warn of the potential risks of overclocking the PCI bus, no one has really stated what problems they have had with overclocked PCI hardware. Have any of you had issues with your soundcards, NICs, or the like? Do I need to worry if I bump the FSB to ~150, and therefore, overclock my AGP and PCI hardware? I remember when I got my Pentium II sl2w8 300 mhz processor and originally tried to overclock it to 375 MHz in Win98, I had many issues with sound -- it seemed as though my SB Awe 64 did not like being overclocked. While the processor did not have any complaints, it also did not like to run at 450 MHz at the time and on that operating system, so I had tried alternatives. But at 375 MHz, it was right in between 66 and 100 mhz, so the PCI bus was overclocked. On top of it all, I had generic 64 MB SDRam, and I'm pretty sure it was defective (either from being damaged by my first experience with overclocking or just because it was cheap generic crap). Thankfully, I eventually got Windows 2000 installed, and it has been a rock-solid platform for my PII to run at 450 MHz at all times. I can run the computer for months without a single crash.

However, as The Bob once said, the times they are a'changin'. I'm moving to the 1.6a/p4b266-C platform with 256MB Crucial 2100. I have a Soundblaster Live! Platinum, CL Annihilator II (Geforce2 GTS), Adaptec 2940 UW SCSI card, and finally, a 3com 905B-TX which will be transferred to this new system. Should I be concerned about any of these causing problems or possibly getting damaged from overclocking? Is there any way to tell if it's your memory that's the problem, or perhaps, the video card? If I was to download an 800 MB file at high speed (I have cablemodem) and the computer crashed in the middle of doing so, is it possible that it is because my NIC overheated?

Apparently most of you seem to have no problems at all - aside, perhaps, from the USB issue on Asus boards - but are there potential long-term problems that one should know about? I apologize for asking these questions, I know how stupid they sound (to be honest some of it is somewhat intentional) but I think this could interest others as well.

One last question: will a 300W power supply cut it, or should I seriously consider a 350/400W power supply? I'd buy one, but they are rather expensive (I don't want just any $25 400W power supply off pricewatch) and before I make such a purchase, I want to make sure that my current power supply is obsolete. It is very reliable, so I don't want to just dispose of it if I can avoid that.

Thanks for the help. Sorry for the length

 

[y2kc]

<< One last question: will a 300W power supply cut it >>



Works fine in my rig. 1 HD, 1 CDROm, 2 NICS, 1 56k modem, GF2 (annihillator 2 ultra).

 

[FrostyFlakes]

case temp is 35C, my room temp who knows maybe 30 C or so.

i replaced wit either AS or ASII i forget which i used. when i used the retail fan with their thermal paste it was 56C so it did drop with AS

 

[l31itz]

Is it better to set DDR200 or DDR266? I got my 2.13 to work at DDR200. Will I see any performance gains if I set it to DDR266? Thanks guys!

 

[DAPUNISHER]

<< Is it better to set DDR200 or DDR266? I got my 2.13 to work at DDR200. Will I see any performance gains if I set it to DDR266? Thanks guys! >>

It will increase the system bandwidth significantly and look great on the benchies but as is often pointed out, it'll depend on what apps, ect... you run. I would think you'd see some difference in high-bandwidth hungry games though.

 

[l31itz]

thanks for the info dapunisher. i'll see if i can get it to work set at ddr266

 

[kulki]

<<
I love this Asus board and 1.6a chip!!!!
Ive got the screen shots if anyone can post them or wants them >>


Can I have a look at ur screen shots?

 

[BigJ]

Errtu said:



<< The problems BigJ is referring to (I think) are that when you have all 3 DIMM's populated you cannot break 125MHz FSB. Well, I'll settle for only being able to use 2 DIMMs then and I'll still be able to hit 150MHz FSB pretty easy with this board with a 1.6A. Also, the extra $30 is for the integrated Intel 10/100 NIC.

I've got my board and processor in from Newegg and now all I need is the RAM and I'll let you all know how it goes!!! >>



To clarify this, most systems will not even boot at default settings with 3DIMMs populated. It is a limitation of the i845 chipset, and is not associated with a certain brand of boards, but all i845 boards. The chipset can only support 4 banks of RAM (99% of RAM sticks that are 256mbs or greater are double sided which = 2 banks per stick). The problem I am talking about is that many people have to literally rip the cord outta the wall or from the PSU to turn off their systems when the FSB is greater then 125mhz. There are several threads in this forum about the Gigabyte issues, and StrawberryMom has attested to this also. If you dont mind the ability to not be able to reboot, then the Gigabyte looks like a good option.

 

[FrostyFlakes]

some mb doesn't have asyncro settings so in order to get ddr266 u need to set it to ddr200 and then go to 133fsb. that's how my msi 6507 works.

 

[Daovonnaex]

I don't have a P4 1.6A, I bought a P4 2.0A instead (I avoided the P4 2.2A b/c I wanted to reach higher fsb speeds). Here's a useful tip if you want to go extreme: remove the heat spreader. Your temps will drop, and then you can overclock higher. If you're worried about damage the core, make a shim.

 

[dAv]

Gigabyte GA-8SRX, 1.6a Malay, 150Mhz-2.38Ghz
Details at
Text

 

[Expandable]

Some report Gigabyte tech. is very bad. so be carefull!

 

[t0lik]

I got that Gigabyte GA-8IRXP board with 1.8A P4 and 512 Crucial 2100 DDR. So far I'm running it at 2.4Ghz (133FSB, 1.65 Vcore) with memory at 266Mhz and PCI/AGP at 33/66. Runs like a charm with stock P4 HSF. I'm waiting for Sunflower, then I'm planning to do some more OCing. I like this mobo a lot: it has everything you need (well, almost everything - LAN (and not some Realtek, but Intel 10/100+), 6 chanel audio (although i'm using SB Audigy), RAID, and 8 USB ports (4 USB 1.1 and 4 USB 2.0). I was going to get Asus P4B266 first, but since it lacked the RAID, and separate RAID card cost like $70-80, 8IRXP became no brainer.
Aside from the reboot issue some people mentioned (and I don't really care about, since my comp is on 24/7 for weeks...), this board is a very good. Plus, I just noticed that instead of 15 IRQs, I have 23 IRQs... Is it a new standard I missed? If I remember correctly, there were always 15 irqs? Or it's just this board that has that many? Can you guys verify that or tell me what's i'm missing here?

 

[Robor]

After 48 hours of running my Asus P4B266-C / 1.6a combo @ 2128Mhz (133FSB) I bumped it up to pass the 2.2Ghz mark. I set it to 138FSB and booted with default voltage. I got a BSOD/memory dump on WinXP load. Powered off and bumped the voltage up to 1.6 and tried again. I've been using it for about an hour and so far so good @ 2208.

Not quite a 300A overclock but dasmned close! Thanks again everyone!