Yeah, another 1.6A success story...but come on in to hear about the really sweet EPOX 4BDA2+ *Updated* 2.4GHz/DDR400

[oldfart]

Getting kind of boring to hear about 1.6A overclocks, but I wanted to share with AT members my exp with a mobo I don't hear too much about here.

I did my research and decided in the EPOX 4BDA2+ Intel i845 based board. The guys over @ [ H ] forums really have had fantastic luck with the Epox.

There are a few key features that I like:

PCI/AGP Lock. This locks the PCI/AGP @ 33/66 at any FSB 117 and up.
3:4 mem ratio available @ ANY FSB speed. This is the big one. Most i845 boards do not allow the 3:4 mem ratio @ 133 and above.
Vcore up to 1.8 V
Some other cool stuff like boot from USB drive. I can boot from my compact flash card on my Sandisk.

I'm not really a hard core overclocker. I dont go for big Vcore increases. I'll give it a little extra, but thats it. Here is how I run it for now:

2.3 GHz
144 MHz (576 QP) FSB
1.55 Vcore
Stock HS/Fan with ASIII
512 Meg Samsung PC2700 @ 384 MHz DDR speed. This is ~ PC3100. Without the 3:4 mem ratio, I'd only be @ 288 MHz DDR.
I get ~ a 2950 Sandra mem score. I could up the Vcore and overclock it higher, but I'm happy with it @ 2.3 G. The system is really fast, and so far, perfectly stable. I'll keep fine tuning it as I get more time with it. Full system specs are in my rig below.

If anyone is building a P4/i845 setup, give the Epox 4BDA2+ (RAID) or 4BDA (non RAID) a serious look.

 

[Duvie]

I am interested in getting one...if I can get the same near 400mhz ddr I get now...however I would like to get the better harddrive performance and agp performance of theintel chipsets...

How much did you pay??? Can I get a board for right around 100 bucks???

 

[oldfart]

I paid $119 for the 4BDA2+ from Outpost.com. Mwave has the 4BDA for $99.

 

[EdipisReks]

my ep-4bda combined with samsung 2700 can run at 400 mHz DDR (albeit at normal settings, cas 2.5,6,3,3). beats cas2 pc800 RDRAM by quite a margin, according to sandra 2001.

--jacob

 

[oldfart]

Yup....had some "peer pressure" from a member here to crank it up a bit. Now running........

2.4 GHz
150 MHz (600 QP) FSB
1.65 Vcore
400 MHz DDR 2.5, 6, 3, 3 also. Samsung mem rocks! Running PC3200!

Sandra score is ~ 3040 or so. Very nice! I may keep it at this speed

 

[WarCon]

Nice overclock (especially the memory). I am hopeful that Asus will put out a bios that allows 3:4 timing at 133 and above for my P4B266-C, but am doubtful. I think I need a better heatsink and fan on the northbridge though because my passive one is getting pretty warm.

 

[BFG10K]

Nice overclock Oldfart and I'm glad you like your new system.

I've bumped up my voltage to 1.625 and it's been running 100% stable at 2.3 GHz for several days now. I might try going higher later.

 

[oldfart]

I wound up needing 1.675 Vcore for Prime95 to run. It still errored out after a few hrs. I'd probably need to go to 1.7 Vcore. It was running @ 55C which is kind of on the hot side for my likes. The P4 fan is variable speed, temp controlled. At 55C it was running ~ 3400+ RPM which is pretty darn loud. Hot and noisy is not my thing. I just ran 2.2 GHz, 138 FSB, 368 DDR stock 1.5 Vcore. Temp was 45C, fan speed ~ 2800 - 2900. I'll play around some more to find the sweet spot which will be in the 2.2 - 2.3 range. For me, the extra heat and noise are not worth it for an extra 100 - 200 MHz.

 

[John]

None the less, congrats on a fine o/c. After reading your success story, I placed an order for the 4BDA2+ last night.

 

[oldfart]

Its really an awesome board. I dont know of another 845 board that can touch it (is there one)? There are a couple of weak points. It has a NB fan which I ditched and replaced with a Zalman passive HS right away. The board is BIG. It reminds me of my old BX6 rev 1. Not a problem fitting in my Enlight 7237 though. The ATX power connector is in an odd place. All minor things really.

I'm now back to 2.3 GHz, 1.55 Vcore, 384 DDR speed. I'm running Prime95 and temp is 47 - 48C, fan RPM ~ 2900. I'll likely keep it pretty close to this config. Still tweaking to find just the right spot. For those who are less picky about noise and heat, this setup for 2.4 GHz and 400 MHz DDR is pretty sweet.

John, be sure to let us know how yours runs!

 

[Duvie]

keep us informed....

Do you have any failure to boot at certain fsb or vcore??? Ie some boards once above 1.6v or 125fsb will have a 50/50 chance of failing to reboot on a startup...

 

[oldfart]

Update: I did an overnight "burn in". It seemed to help. I'm now running 2.4 GHz! The current setup is:

1.6A @ 600 MHz FSB (150 MHz)
1.65 Vcore
3:4 mem ratio
400 MHz DDR
PCI/AGP lock @ 33/66


I get ~ 3050 Mem BW bench in Sandra. This Epox board, the 1.6A and the Samsung mem are a nice combo.

Temps are much cooler where I live this week. We went from that heatwave to a cool spell. This may have something to do with it. I'll know once it warms up again.

 

[chiangm]

I have a 1.6a that can run (16x170), but momory is running at (170x2).
Which one is faster? Run it at (16x150), memory (200x2) or (16x170), memory(170x2)?

 

[Texmaster]

Nice Overclock Oldfart.

Another P4 success story

I'm not exactly sure what is holding me back. I can hit 2.9 but not stable. Best Stable I've been about to get is 2.8. Its not the heat that I know and its not the ram. I'm guessing its just the chip because I bought them when they were just days from being out on the market.