• Welcome to Overclockers Forums! Join us to reply in threads, receive reduced ads, and to customize your site experience!

2.53 on the way...which mobo?

Overclockers is supported by our readers. When you click a link to make a purchase, we may earn a commission. Learn More.

Ross

Senior Intel-lectual
Joined
May 20, 2002
Hey all,

I haven't been on the forum in a few months as I've been too busy to "play", but I was happy to see the 2.8s released and the subsequent price drop in the slower procs. That said, I ordered a 2.53 today from Newegg.

Now the last time I was contemplating the upgrade, it was only going to be to a 1.8A. As with the CPUs, I see there are some new chipsets out there and I have no idea what is going on in the memory world right now, so naturally, the mobos I had in mind are out the window.

I was hoping someone could help me narrow down a good O/C-friendly (duh!) mobo for the 2.53. It doesn't need to be the permanent setup, but something that will hold me over for at least a few months and stands a good chance of getting 3.0+GHz stable on "good" air-cooling.

If memory serves, the SiS645DX chipsets were slightly out-performing the Intels 845s, but now I see SiS648DX and 845GLs.

For the time being, I would prefer integrated graphics unless there is a non-IG chipset that performs seriously better. So that would leave me with the 845G/GL?

Something with PCI/AGP lock, HW monitoring, and good DDR BIOS control (thinking 3000/3200 CL2). Everything is plus. I don't need RAID, ATA 133, LAN, 6-ch audio (2-ch would be nice :), etc.

I seriously don't have time to scour the Net for all the lastest and I'd like to get a mobo/DDR ordered in time for the CPU to get here, so any help in narrowing a few choices down that I can check out would be really appreciated!
 
Wow, this forum got slow over the past few months. I am usually able to get a bunch of feedback.

Anyway, I scoped around about the P4B533-Vs and noticed that there is talk of problems when using 2 DDR sticks with them. What's up with that? I also noticed that most places only list the -VM (mATX) in their catalogs.

I may just have to bite the bullet and get vid card. So, maybe just a P4B533. Anyone else have any other suggestions?
 
Gigabyte 8iexp

http://service.madonion.com/servlet/Index?pageid=/orb/projectmanager

I got my 2.53 @ 3.1 stable MCX4000 80mmVantec Tornado
512 Corsair 3200 c2
I've gotten the CPU over 3.2 and beyond (but its just so scary) although it wont restart (must shutdown).
I got 16k on 3dmark with the mem. at stock settings

My 3dMark scores is 16492 after twiddlin wit the mem a bit
who knows what a future bios rev holds. Its a nice feature rich board. Intel Lan, Creative audio....read the reviews. It came out on top of a recent shootout with other 845e boards. I love it. My other choices were the asus and the abit, but I went with the 8iexp. Rockin Overclockin.

PS Easytune SUCKS!!! If they get it out of beta it would be awesome, but for now it BLOWS!!!!
 
Well, if you're having some really great RAM sticks and you seem to be buying a vid card, the P4B533 might do. Though it only has a 3:4 ratio as compared to an extra 4:5 ratio the -V has.

e.g. You buy a stick of PC3200, up the FSB to 150MHz and make a 3:4 ratio. Your RAM's running at 400MHz DDR, which's the rated speed of PC3200. Maybe you could try running much higher. :D
 
Ross,

I've also read about the 2 stick issues with the 845-based boards. Why don't you get a single bigger stick of RAM? That would sidestep any potential probs with the 2 stick thing.

Stay away from the micro-ATX board. It's pretty limited in it's BIOS options (though the web site doesn't mention any of that!) and only has the three PCI slots (of course).

IMHO, spend the extra money and get a vid card. You'll be happier with two pieces of hardware that work well rather than one piece that could be a poor performer. You'll probably be able to take the video card to your next machine too. I've read that the GF4 cards are coming out now supporting AGP 8x!

Cheers
 
Wow, that's more like it :) You've restored my faith in the forum...LOL.

Yeah, I have actually looked at the 8iexp online. It is rated pretty well. Oddly enough, the P4B533 is rated slightly better...probably just for features. Nice O/C and nice marks on it. Now I know what I need to shoot for.

I had planned on getting a 512 stick to start and probably another down the road. I have 512MB of PC 133 in my 1.2 Cel machine (for the daily grind) and it has it's hand full quite often. Maybe 512 DDR is a completely different story though. I may still consider the -V, but it's kinda like buying a 2-seater car that doesn't run right if there is a passenger :) Why bother?

Well, the CPU should be here today or tomorrow so depending how long I can wait, my mind may just be made up by what the local Fry's has in stock :D I am pretty sure they have the 8iexp and the P4B533 and -V, so I will keep those at the top of my list.

Thanks for the replies and I will let you know what I end up with and how well it works!!
 
The problem with the 8iexp is that you cannot use the 3/4 fsb/memory ratio with a 533fsb northwood... Else i would buy it tomorrow vs the epox 4g4a+
 
I don't know what a 3/4 fsb ratio thingermabobber is so I don't miss it as much. I do hope (and believe) a bios revision in the future will allow for me to change this setting. I do know that alot of people have mentioned it as being important so take that into account. The 8iexp is a really awesome board (my overclock has been pretty easy ans stable). You really can't lose with any of the recommendations you've gotten.
 
Thanks for the info. They are all about the same price +/- $10. I am headed into the store in a few hours so I'll try the P4B533E, 8EIXP, and P4B533 in that order.

I am not sure if I'll set it up today or over the weekend, but I'll let you know what I end up with and how it's working...
 
stay away from the 8IEXP, many people have had them in these forums and have had nothing but problems. Check out the IT7-MAX / MAX2 series from abit...I love mine
 
Yeah, I forgot to add it my list (IT-7MAX). They have it, but it's a tad more pricey than the others. I don't need RAID and wanted to get a decent "cost-effective" mobo, but everyone seems to get good stable OCs on them. Guess if I can spend $130 on the P4B533E or 8IEXP (which I am a little nervous about now), I can spring the $150 for the IT7.

Just need to get to the store and see what they actually have in stock. Hopefully they have some vid cards on sale :D Between the mobo/DDR/vid card, this is going to be a $500 bill...ouch!
 
Well, to my dismay, the store didn't have any ASUS P4 mobos at all, just a single one for the AMDs. I carried the IT7-MAX around for 45 min. looking for a friggin USB keyboard and mouse. In the end, I couldn't justify spending $150 on mobo + $60 for non-legacy input devices :eh?: so I ended up bringing home a Gigabyte 8IEXP, possibly against my better judgement.

They have an no questions asked return policy, so maybe I'll be back there tomorrow. I also got a 256MB stick of Corsair 3200 CL2 and an ATI 8500LE<--$80 whitebox, figured it was worth it since I am not a gamer ;)

In case the Gigabyte doesn't pan out, anyone care to comment on the Soyo Dragon Ultra 645DX or the MSI 845E MAX (with BlueTooth). Both are the same price, but I remember way back in the day (4-5 months ago), the Soyo got a bad rap for OCing. Anything change there?

How about Albatron? They weren't even around the last time I was looking. The store had a few, but I was wary.

Thanks again!
 
DON'T DO IT! GA-8IEXP is going back tomorrow :mad:

OK, I figured that even a pile of a mobo would get me 2.8GHz on the 2.53, let alone a $150 mobo that comes with it's own "O/C software". Nope. Granted I am moving slowly as this is my first P4/DDR system and maybe I could even live with 2.8 if the memory could be OC'd.

The board is nice and has a lot of features, but the BIOS blows...or something does and I doubt it's the proc or Corsair 3200 CAS2 (1 stick). On the 533 bus speed mem adjustments are limited to 1.5x or 2.0x and that's it. If some of you are seeing 3:4, it has got to be on 400 bus speeds or a different BIOS cuz I don't have it.

Long story short: benched at stock settings and crept up 1-2 FSB at a time to 143. Everything was going so smoothly up to that point (even though benchs were pretty weak), I jumped for a solid 2.8. The second I hit 148 FSB (2812MHz) and hit OK, the system reset itself. Being that the PCI and AGP are locked at 33/66 respectively, memory timings are stock except the change to CAS 2 I am really not sure what the deal is. All voltages are stock (1.5Vcore, 2.5Vmem), but I've seen way higher clocks at those voltages. CPU idle temp is 31-32°C and load maxes @ 53°C.

On the 141FSB/282DDR, Sandra showed:
5228 MIPS
1408/3311 MFLOPS

and for the mem:
2172 Int
2176 Floating

Total waste of 400MHz DDR, but with this BIOS, I'd have to run 200FSB to get that out of it and I doubt anything in this box will run 3.8GHz :)

BTW, the AGP vid card hits the DDR (or it's tab) and makes one hellacious rattling sound. I had to wedge a piece of paper between them to stop it.

Good looking board, lotsa features, but is seriously not a good O/Cer....at least at 533 or with PC2700+.
 
I keep talking to myself, but maybe someone will find it useful :)

I took back the 8IEXP today and picked up a P4*S*533. Here are some comparison numbers. Total stock settings in both cases:

8IEXP:
Sandra:
CPU: 4899/3132
Mem: 1878/1872

PCMark2002:
CPU: 5915
Mem: 4941

P4S533:
Sandra:
CPU: 4886/3114
Mem: 2484/2486

PCMark2002:
CPU: 6186
Mem: 5853

133 FSB, stock DDR timings (2.5-3-3-7) and speeds for both (266). The P4S533 benchs higher default than the 8EIXP did at 146 FSB with DDR 292 (2-2-2-5) settings!

Will be back later when it's O/C'd :D
 
Please keep us informed. I am wanting to get something too & it looks like we have the same parts (or i will).

Rich
 
I just upgraded to a 2.53 and i use a Abit IT7, which permits the 3:4 fsb:memory ratio. I will run at DDR354 (i bought DDR400 to be sure that it will work...)
 
Back