What do you guys think about the P4B533-E?

[Ralphy]

In terms of overclocking and in terms of features. It looks like this board has it all(audio, firewire,LAN, RAID).

 

[oldfart]

Nice board except it does not allow 3:4 mem ratio above 132 FSB. Depending on how you plan on running your overclock, it could be a performance problem.

 

[gpanda]

I have one with a 1.6a. Currently running at 155 FSB which puts my RAM at 310DDR. Like Oldfart said, therein lies the problem. My RAM can do a lot more but I am stuck. Other than that, it is a good board. No other problems. I may be swapping out for a different board soon.

 

[oldfart]

Its kind of a fine line. In your case, 155 FSB = 413DDR with 3:4. I run mine 150 FSB 400DDR. I think 413 would be possible, but maybe a bit on the edge. If you are running high FSB (160+), you are not likely to be able to use the 3:4 anyway. Thats what I mean by it depends on how your overclock is setup.

 

[Ralphy]

So the only ratio above 133mhz is 1:1? If that's so that doesn't sound too good.

 

[Duvie]

for ppl with 1.8's or greater the 3:4 would be nice...for many with the 1.6's a 4:5 would be great...

 

[Clevor]

You may want to look into the P4S533. It's a SIS645DX chipset. To me, the board is 20-25% faster than a P4B266-E or P4T-E, seat of the pants, e.g. stuff like booting up an OS and partitioning/formatting and stuff.

I got a P4S533 1.03 Rev. board + audio and LAN for $108 from Multiwave. I get the same overclock as on a P4B266-E board (as good as it gets), with a tad less voltage: 160 FSB at 1.775 volts.

It has mem ratios of 1:1, 3:4, 3:6, and 4:6 (I think) below 133 FSB, and 1:1, 4:3, 4:5, and 4:6 above 133. Somebody said you lose this >160 but I have to check.

It has an overvolt jumper that increases your CPU vcore by .15 volts (not quite the 0.2 advertised), but this means you can get up to a 1.85 vcore in the BIOS without vid pinning!

It has adjustable VMEM of 2.6, 2.7 and 2.9. The only drawback of the board is the FSB only goes to 166 in the BIOS, but that's enough for most people.

So far the board is totally stable in 3D at 160 FSB, the limit of one of my 1.6a Northwoods. I've been using Intel chipsets so far but I am damn impressed with this SIS board. I'm still burning in my Samsung PC2700 in hopes of doing 200 mhz, 2-2-2-5-1, which is what I would get at 160 FSB, 4:5 mem ratio. So far it will only do 2-2-2-5(4 actually)-1 at 180 mhz.

 

[danlui]

i'm thinking about getting this board also. but i dont know what this 3:4 thing is. can someone elaborate on this? I'm planning on getting a 1.8A to run with it. also, what board would have that? would i need that?
thanks


EDIT - nevermind, i got it. I read the P4B533-E O/C with 1.6a thread by gpanda. sheesh, i didn't even know such an option existed.

anyway, since the 3:4 option for this asus board is "broken", i'm thinking about going for the gigabyte ga-8iexp which offers similar components for a better price. anyone know if the 3:4 thingy works or is available on this board?

 

[danlui]

gpanda, what board are u thinking of replacing it with? also, what HSF are u using with the 1.6A?

 

[gpanda]

I was going to replace with the new Epox but right after I ordered I was told of problems with O/C on the board due to lack of 12v connectors. I am going to refuse delivery on it from Fedex today. I'm going to wait a bit. Maybe the new Abit BD7II will be good but 1st I want to see how others do so I don't fall into that issue again. I have till Friday to get an RMA on my ASUS.

 

[galtsfan]

danlui says

i'm thinking about going for the gigabyte ga-8iexp which offers similar components for a better price

you might want to read about gsethi experience with this board.

 

[Mikki]

I really like my -E cause I have the goodies I wanted (raid, usb 2.0) and it's a good overclocker (1.6A @ 2.4). I think there are better boards out there for overclocking a P4, but this one fit my needs perfectly.