wild_andy_c said:
Merlins Taipain 0.2 BIOS with modified 3.19c NVidia ROMSIP for the following features :-
- Identification of Mobile AMD Athlon XP-M
- Romsip Bios Tables Cpu Interface 133 & 166 & 200 MHz (Romsip Modded by -=Merlin=-)
-- TaiPan 0.2 (Optimised 200FSB Register)
- L12 mod built-in
- Bpl 3.19 Cpc Off
- ENABLED CPU Interface
- Alpha Memory Timing : Stock *DFI* Configuration (Bpl 3.19 4-2-2-5-3-2-3)
http://hslab.pl/biosy/Beta/8RDA3+/8RDA3+ TaiPan 0.2 Bpl 3.19C 11.10.04.rar
I really applaud the creation of modded BIOSs for Epox boards, similar to what's been done for the NF7-S.
I have spent the last two weeks flogging the Abit board trying every trick in the book: L12 hardmod, various modded BIOSs, VDD mod, enhanced cooling on the NB/SB/mosfets, and the conclusion I come to is this: the board is just not totally 3D stable much above 220-222 fsb, 2x512 MB ram, CPC Enabled.
Yes, the L12 mod eliminates the lock in the #5 Memtest above 223 fsb, and the modded BIOSs allow you to boot >225 fsb clear up to 240+. And yeah, I can get my ram to run Memtest clean >230 fsb. But know what? While I can get by 3DMark2001 and 3dMark2003, the boards refuse to clear 3DMark2005 or 3DMark2000 above maybe 220-222 fsb.
I can show you some nice Sandra screenies of 3600+ bandwidth at 232, 2-2-2-11. Even the Cache and Mem test passes which suggests the ram is stable. I bet Prime95 will pass overnight. But there is random instability in 3D. This just doesn't cut it. I'm wondering: are these guys claiming high fsb on the NF7-S being honest with themselves?
Bottom line is 2x512s is no go, CPC Enabled, above 220-222 or so, as far as 100% stability in 3D is concerned.
I just got a Rev. 3.2 8RDA3+ and will be trying to see if I can run >230 fsb with or without mods. What's needed is a BIOS that allows you to boot at high fsb so you can at least run Memtest in DOS to check ram/CPU stability. Above 225 fsb or so, I found I had to use an APIC disabled OS to boot cleanly into XP on the NF7-S.
I tried both a new NF7-S with Sempron compatibility as well as the earlier, black dimm boards, with the same disappointing results. I have five rigs including several DDR and RDRAM P4 systems, and the NF7-S is more trouble than it's worth, considering how much easier it is to get better benchmarks P4-wise, with much less heat.
I really doubt I will far much better with the NF2 Epox board, but at least it uses a new 2-Buck phase power system and maybe some hardware mods that get around the CPC problem with 2x512s at high fsb.