New IC7/2.4c system (first impressions)

I've had about $500 burning a hole in my pockets for a few weeks now, so I've been doing some extensive research ... I finally decided to go with the following core components:

Abit IC7
Intel P4 2.4c
Geil PC-4000 Platinum (2x256 Dual Channel)

And my recycled components:

Radeon 9500 NP converted to 9700 Pro
WD "Special Edition" 80 GB HDD
Sound Blaster 5.1 X-gamer (since I've heard horrible things about the IC7 onboard sound)

The new parts arrived yesterday and I was happy to see that I got a Malaysian made P4 (forgot the stepping ... at work now, will update later). I cleaned out my old stuff and installed all the new stuff in no time. The preliminary results were pretty impressive.

I know that 3Dmark 2001 isn’t the best program in judging “real world performance”, but I think it gives a good overall comparison between systems, so I like to use it in that respect. I also used Sandra to test Memory timings.

My numbers for the Athlon XP 1800 system in my sig were around 10,000 with default settings and about 2300 memory score at stock speeds. After applying the Radeon mod to 9700 Pro, and bumping the FSB to 145 I was getting results in the 12,500 range and a memory score of about 2600. Not too bad for a system that is nearly 2 years old.

My stock scores for the new system were about 11,800 initially and 4700 on memory. After applying the Radeon mod and upping the FSB to 210, I was getting 14,000 and 4900 on memory. Then I took some time to fine-tune the bios settings and memory timings, etc. I set the FSB to 225, NB Strap to PSB800, Ram to 1:1 at 2.5-6-4-4 (pretty good since these modules are rated for 2.5-7-4-4) and Ram voltage to 2.8v. The only problem I ran into was trying to enable the “Street Racer” and “F1” modes. I could not get Windows to boot with these settings even with the Ram timings fully relaxed (3-8-4-4). So, I booted up with “Turbo” mode enabled and Sandra scored 16,800 and 5500 on the memory benchmark!

That was all I had time for last night. I’m now looping Prime 95 and 3dMark 2001 while at work, so I’m hoping to have the system burned in nicely by the time I get home. I’m really hoping the Ram will burn in more and allow me to at least be able to run in “Street Racer” mode.

Also, I’m running on a stock Intel HSF and my temps are getting kind of warm. 45 Idle – 56 Load. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to hit 250 FSB on stock cooling, but I have a new Zalman CNPS7000-Cu HSF on the way. I am still running the CPU at stock voltage and everything has been 100% stable, so I know I still have a lot of room to OC this thing.

So far I am completely satisfied with the results. I am sure I will be able to hit 255 FSB with a good HSF, and with Abit releasing a new bios next week I have a good feeling I will be hitting 265-270 or more with this setup. I will update with screenshots and more info after I get off work.

Thanks for the report. I'm pretty tempted to try out a 2.4 or 2.6c system so I enjoyed reading this.

UPDATE

Got home from work to see that my system was still burning in. YAY! So, I decided to push it as far as I thought it could go. Right now I'm at 255 FSB, 1:1 Ram ratio at 2.5-5-4-4 in Turbo mode (not the best timings, but that's the only thing that's stable right now).

The bad news ... still no luck getting Street Racer or F1 to work. I set the timings to 3-8-4-4 and tried it with 2.8 volts but it still locks right before Windows boots up in both SR and F1. Guess I'll be burning in some more over the next couple days and see if I can get this Ram to let loose.

Here are some pics of the current results. Looking very good so far, and I'm sure I can do more once the new bios is released.



I'm happy with 6000+ scores



Also, I'm going to be adding some Ram-sinks and applying some Ceramique to the video card GPU which should give me some more room to OC those clock speeds.

The 2.6's aren't supposed to overclock as well. The 2.4 800mhz with HT are supposed to be the best bang for buck Intel's on the market right now. That is what I plan on upgrading to in a few months...but the 2.6's will probably be about the same price as the 2.4's are by then. But as for right now...get the 2.4!

Forgot the important one




Also, my stepping is L321A657 ... Correct me if I'm worng, but I believe that means Malaysia, 2003 Week 21. I'm going to assume this is one of the better OCing steppings because of my initial results. Anyone else have good luck with similar steppings?

Joker76 said:

Forgot the important one

Also, my stepping is L321A657 ... Correct me if I'm worng, but I believe that means Malaysia, 2003 Week 21. I'm going to assume this is one of the better OCing steppings because of my initial results. Anyone else have good luck with similar steppings?

Click to expand...

lots of peeps like week 10 and week 20...a week or two before or after are good too.

I would try 3:2 ratio, and see what your max OC will be like.
then maybe try 5:4 ratio with the new bios.

you think that 1:1 is fast, try 3:2 with great timmings and a monster FSB.

good luck

mica

Yeah, my next step is to try 3:2 and 5:4 and see if I can get it to run in Street Racer or F1 mode with 260-275 or more FSB. I'm at work again, so I'm running Prime95 in ram testing mode as well as Sandra's memory benchmark burn in test.

Burn baby burn!



We'll see where that gets me. I''m hoping they'll be just about as burned in as they can get and I may be able to at least run Street Racer mode at 1:1. Will post results later.

Friday night update!

Ok, well the ram burned in all day while I was at work but I don't think it helped any. Still can't get this thing to run Street Racer or F1 at all ...

I did try for some FSB maxing by switching to 3:2 ram ratio and boosting it up. I got to 292 FSB/195 Ram fairly stable. Rock solid at 290/193, so I was happy with that. I couldn't get the ram to run even in Turbo mode though, which is weird since it runs Turbo mode fine at 255/255. My Sandra scores at 290/195 were in the 5800 range while my 3DMark2001 score stayed in the 17500 ballpark.

I ran some games using both 255/255 and 290/195. The games I played were BF1942, UT2003 and MoH. The frame rates I was getting were almost identical with both speeds. So, I guess the best bet at this point is to leave it at 255/255. It runs everything just as good and it won't stress my CPU as much.

Going to play around with some more settings this weekend. I'm hoping the new bios will be out at the beginning of next week. I just know this thing will do 265-275 at 1:1. I will update with more info soon.

most peeps can't run Street Racer or F1.

btw, looks like your doing great.

also, what is the fastest timmings you can run, and at what FSB???

mica

just picked up an q318 maly chip. hope it runs good..

micamica1217 said:

most peeps can't run Street Racer or F1.

btw, looks like your doing great.

also, what is the fastest timmings you can run, and at what FSB???

mica

Click to expand...

At 290 FSB and 193 Ram, my timings were 2.5-5-4-4. Not bad, but as I said, I couldn't even run in Turbo mode at those clock speeds. If I run 255/255 however, I can run 2.5-5-4-4 with Turbo mode enabled. Turbo mode seems to give about a 200 point boost in the Sandra memory bench, which is why I am trying my hardest to get this thing to run Street Racer or F1.

Patiently awaiting the new bios ...

Re: Friday night update!

Joker76 said:

I did try for some FSB maxing by switching to 3:2 ram ratio and boosting it up. I got to 292 FSB/195 Ram fairly stable. Rock solid at 290/193, so I was happy with that. I couldn't get the ram to run even in Turbo mode though, which is weird since it runs Turbo mode fine at 255/255. My Sandra scores at 290/195 were in the 5800 range while my 3DMark2001 score stayed in the 17500 ballpark.

Click to expand...

so your staying at 255/255...that sounds nice.
btw, what are your 255/255 mem scores?

5800 sounds nice for 290 3:2 ratio...btw.

also, thanks for ans. my last questions.

mica

That screenshot of the Sandra memory benchmark is up at the top (3rd post). That was taken at 255/255, the scores were 6002/6005. So even though I'm running the FSB 35 points lower, I'm getting better memory bandwith as well as equal performance in 3D games.

255/255 (with Turbo enabled) > 290/193 in memory bandwith

255/255 = 290/193 in 3D performance

I'm going to stick with 255/255 until the new bios comes out. It's giving me just as good (if not better) performance with less stress on the CPU.

Joker76 said:

I'm going to stick with 255/255 until the new bios comes out.

Click to expand...

PM me with your email...I'm testing beta 1.7b01 now.

mica

Joker, what PAT sub-settings did you enable for turbo mode to work?

PM sent Mica

My PAT settings are set to:

(In order)

Turbo
Normal
Auto
Disabled
Disabled

I just played around with each setting until I found a stable configuration and I got rock stable performance with those settings.

cool thanks.. time to switch in my Geil again and see how it does with those settings.

Joker76 said:

PM sent Mica

My PAT settings are set to:

(In order)

Turbo
Normal
Auto
Disabled
Disabled

I just played around with each setting until I found a stable configuration and I got rock stable performance with those settings.

Click to expand...

that's with 5:4, at 1:1 "turbo" may not work for most.

btw, you got EMAIL

mica

at 250fsb 5:4 i got street racer to work stable, memtesting about 100 times with not one error at 2-5-3-2, (i went out and came back, didnt do it 100 times on purpose, but seemed like a nice round number to stop on )

my GAT settings are
Street Racer
Auto
Enhanced, would run with Strengthened but was sketchy in games and 3DMark
Enabled
Enabled

and my ram is 512MB OCZ DC Platinum set.

although this is on an IS7, and not an IC7

just thought you may like to try it with the same settings as it worked for me, but street racer worked straight out of the box for me, i think its a 'it either does or doesnt' thing, and not something you can persuade your RAM to do