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Abit Bh7

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huneycutt

Member
Joined
May 4, 2003
Location
SC
Only $81.00 from newegg and looks like an economical, feature rich, good OC'ing board with good user reviews at newegg.

Like some advice please. I have a Best Buy vprMatrix 1.6GHz and would like a better board as the Intel board doesn't allow OC'ing. About how much could I expect to OC the P4 1.6GHz? Any reason I couldn't use the P4 that came on the Matrix's Intel board?

Not looking to OC it to heavy, just kick it up a notch or two, maybe to 2GHz or so. Would I need to get an aftermarket cooler and if so which one would be good at a decent price?

I have a fair knowledge of computers and bought the Matrix before I started building my own and built two using AMD CPU's & Soltek board and OC'd no probelms whatsoever. However, when it comes to the P4 boards I'm a dummy so please bring me up to speed and thanks. Also feel free to suggest other boards and would like to stay at or under $100.00

I did some homework and read the reviews at Tomshardware and man oh man, some of the P4 boards shore do get pricey! Thanks and have a great day. OldBird
 
the bh7 is a good board (i have one), but it reads temps a bit off, and you would have to do something to secure the northbridge heatsink because in time it has a clip break off the board and it drops the heatsink.

if the 1.6 is a willamette core p4 your oc on that board would probably be in the 2 ghz range. but make sure you check and see the pin count on the processor to see if it is a 423 or 478 pin socket. (actually i think the 423 chip is a lot bigger than your typical 478).

a good priced heatsink for the processor would be the vantec aeroflow, it costs $30 and delivers decent cooling. plus it's pretty:).
 
You mean I gotta' count all the little pins?

WHOA! Counting the little pins would be a real challenge. Any other way to tell if it is a 423 or 478, maybe measure it or something? If all I could expect was 2GHz I don't know if it would be worth the money to get a new board because I must say as is the Matrix runs darn good for store bought. I kicked the RAM to 512Mb of Crucial RAM, canned the stock module that came in it.

"you would have to do something to secure the northbridge heatsink because in time it has a clip break off the board and it drops the heatsink."

Now that don't sound a'tall good to me. Going to keep looking and sleep on this venture a few nights. I'm an old feller and an old friend once told me, "Don't go off looking for better when you're doin' alright where you're at . . . " ;-} Yeah, I can dig it.

Thanks much for the info and have a nice evening.

OH! Please allow me to pass on a tip. I built two using the AMD XP 2100 OC'd to a 2700, one using the ASUS A7N8X and one using the Soltek SL-75MRN-L. The Crucial RAM runs fine in the Best Buy Matrix and the other two home built computers. I read where different MB's are sensitive to particular types of RAM but you shore couldn't prove it by me. Guess the quality of Crucial RAM shines through again . . . . OldBird
 
no you don't need to count the pins

the 423 chip has a lot more circuit board(?) protruding(*sp) from under the ihs, the 478 is almost all ihs.
good news though... wcpuid tells you if you have a 423 or 478:)

and the 423 wouldn't fit in the bh7 anyways.

edit: if you are stilling thinking about it you would need to check if your chip was a willamette because they made 478 pin willos.
 
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Wcpuid is a neat utility, first time I used it, thanks. Yeah, we still thinkin' about it and I 'preciate your help.

Here's what I have:
Intel Pentium 4 Brand 8 Socket 478 (mPGA478) APIC 0
Genuine Intel OEM Processor
(Standard) Family 15 Model 1 Stepping ID 2
When I click the wcupid icons there's a lot of info that means nothing to me.
Didn't see anything about it being a Willamette but if you'll tell me where to look in wcupid I will.

Willamette - Willos . . . . ?? What's all that about anyway ?
Is one better than the other ? Sorry I'm not more familiar with the Intel lingo so bear with me please.

OldBird
 
I ran Sandra and got all the info one could want. it's a willo.
Thanks for the help.
 
honeycutt if your still looking i'd go with an abit is7 or is7-e theyre both pretty cheap right now, maybe same as what you were going to spend for the bh7, plus they dont have the breaking northbridge cooler problem :)

also the is7-e has about the same amount of extra goodies the bh7 does.
 
I got the EPOX 8RGA+ and it's up and running like an OC'ing champ. Already had the Athalon 2100 up to 2195Ghz by just setting the memory to auto and the fsb 168. Going to dig in a bit deeper later on and set the multiplier and fsb higher. I'll let you know how it goes. The EPOX runs as good as the SOLTEK thus far. Both very nice boards, easy set up, stable and good looking.
 
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