Cheap (free?) upgrade?(downgrade?) 506 vs 520

[darufe]

I'm currently running a 520 2.8@ 3.67ghz on air but since the 915 chipset sucks for some reason anything above 262fsb sata hdd doesnt get detected even with both pcie and pci bus locked.
My ram is doing fine with a 5:4 divider been stable for ages.
The cpu can go higher still ( used to be able to hit 270fsb with ide drive %#@#$) but the ram had to get some pretty loose timings to survive.

As i just spent the last of my money on a 7800gt and am very disapointed on my scores compared to any amd rig or compared to any intel at 4.0ghz+ i'm thinking of selling the 520 and buying a 506.

I've heard most of thse if not all will hit 4.0@200fsb easily and from the benches ive seen it would be a good boost. Also runnin the ram on 1:1 would probably help a bit.

My questions are these:
Is it really worth the hassle?
Will this thing survive at 4.0-4.2 on air?
What kind of load temps would you think id have with this compared to my 520? im getting under 50°c dual prime right now.

The cool thing is i can get almost the same amount of money for my 2.8 as it would cost for a 506 lol

And what i wonder is if it would be doable to hit maybe 205-210fsb i know the ram can take that much without breaking a sweat. I know the stupid sata drive wont be going crazy cuz of the insane fsb. But can the cpu take it and can the xp120 cool it? ;)

suggestions?

[batboy]

I would swap out the motherboard, that i915 is holding you back. I know that means going to DDR2 RAM, but it'll be worth it. You'll be able to use the 1:1 ratio for more bandwidth and it probably won't cost that much after you sell the old components.

[larva]

My 506 won't run at even 205fsb. It's fine at 200, but don't expect more.

A 506 would pick up your scores a bit, but they are just numbers. In reality it would be nearly the same machine you have now, but without HT. I agree that it would be better to fix the problem rather than treat the symptom.

[darufe]

Well if i had money to spend id just grab an opteron :P
Isnt HT just totaly useless when gaming anyway? specially if a game doesnt take it in charge :\ Then yer pretty much stock using one logical core yuk.
Ive been doing some tests in BF2 and 3dmark scores are directly linked with my overall fps. Everything stock im getting 40fps everything maxed 60-80 :\


I cant really justify buying a new mobo + cpu + ddr2 just for 10fps and 300 3dmarks
(specially when going opty would give an even better result for much cheaper)
Unless intel drasticly changes this was my last intel rig.

[batboy]

Intel is making a drastic change. It's called the Conroe and it should be here early summer. Save up some cash, it'll be worth your while to wait.

[hrhrhrFOOT]

Hmm...i'm pretty sure there's another divider at 266. I heard someone(cant remember where) running 280 fsb on a 915. Can anyone confirm/deny for me?

[darufe]

Hmm...i'm pretty sure there's another divider at 266. I heard someone(cant remember where) running 280 fsb on a 915. Can anyone confirm/deny for me?

you thinking memory divider?
The problem isnt the ram its the frequency locking that goes crazy at around 260 fsb.
Using ide drives wich are much less sensitive to bus speed then sata i could hit 270 without any problems (other then having to relax the timings on the ram)
I *think* that the bus locking works with unseen dividers and at some point you just cant keep it close to what youre asking to lock at.(on the 915p)

And back on subject i think ill go to a local store buy a 506 see if itll do 200fsb out the box without overheating do some benches and game runs and if it isnt solving my problems ill return it if it does solve it ill sell the 2.8 for like 100$cnd or something making the upgrade nearly free.
(or maybe keep it for the gf whos still stuck on a p3 lol)

Maybe ill try to change my sound card too my lag spikes are mostly when theres too much sound going on in bf2.
Or maybe an another gig of ram :/
*sigh* i hate beeing broke