Some IC7-Max3 Questions

Dark_templar · Mar 24, 2004

Just got my ic7-max3 not long ago. Trying to overclock the system. Some questions i would like to ask.

1) Does the vcore really undervoltage or is the bios/programs just showing its undervoltage and should i up my vcore to compensate the undervoltage ?

2) Thinking of changin my northbridge ? should i change the default nb or leave it as it is. I have a Thermaltake Extreme Spirit lying around thinking of changing the default heatsink to this...

batboy · Mar 24, 2004

Most Abit mobos do undervolt a little. Go off the monitoring programs rather than what it's set for.

Northbridge heatsink is pretty easy to remove. Go ahead and try that TT heatsink, although I know nothing about it. But, with a 2.8C CPU, you probably don't need to worry too much about N/B heat. That's more important with the high FSB of the 2.4C.

Dark_templar · Mar 26, 2004

batboy said:
Most Abit mobos do undervolt a little. Go off the monitoring programs rather than what it's set for.

Northbridge heatsink is pretty easy to remove. Go ahead and try that TT heatsink, although I know nothing about it. But, with a 2.8C CPU, you probably don't need to worry too much about N/B heat. That's more important with the high FSB of the 2.4C.

U mean monitoring programs like CPU-Z/MBM5/BIOS of the board are showing the actual voltages ?

SimGuy · Mar 26, 2004

1) The IC7-MAX3 v 1.x undervolts badly, especially VDIMM. There are some wire mod tricks you can perform to stabilize the VDIMM & VCORE, which work surprisingly well. AFAIK, the IC7-MAX3 v2 motherboards take care of this problem. Go by what the monitoring program tells you, not what's set in the BIOS.

2) Unless you are pushing a 250 FSB or higher all the time on that motherboard, I wouldn't worry about changing out the N/B heatsink. The default one works fairly well, provided you keep it free of dust.

Dark_templar · Mar 28, 2004

Hmmz. I just got a new board hw do i know whehter is a v2 or v1.x. Then i guess i will up my voltage to get the actual default voltage.

Seven · Mar 29, 2004

I believe most newer boards are rev 2s.
Mine works flawlessly.

If you buy it from newegg, you should get a Rev2 (a lot of people buy from them I assume, so they must have only rev2's now...

Dark_templar · Mar 29, 2004

Anyway i check my board its a Rev1.0 one. i got such a old board.

spclwpns · Mar 29, 2004

There is no such thing as a max3 rev2.

Dark_templar · Mar 29, 2004

SimGuy said:
1) The IC7-MAX3 v 1.x undervolts badly, especially VDIMM. There are some wire mod tricks you can perform to stabilize the VDIMM & VCORE, which work surprisingly well. AFAIK, the IC7-MAX3 v2 motherboards take care of this problem. Go by what the monitoring program tells you, not what's set in the BIOS.

Orginally posted by spclwpns
There is no such thing as a max3 rev2

So for ic7-max3 wat are the revision they have for the boards ?

Dark_templar · Mar 29, 2004

I used a temp probe to measure the temp of the Northbridge at when my CPU at load NB temp is about 49 Degrees using the Thermaltake Extreme Spirit NB cooler is it consider hot ? i have a ambient temp of about 30 - 32 degrees here.

SimGuy · Mar 30, 2004

There's only the Rev 1.0 MAX3.

The earlier MAX3's were shipping with the MC64 cap installed behind the CPU socket, which is believed to contribute to the wildly fluctuating VDIMM problem above 2.8V that us MAX3 owners have experienced.

Some of the newer MAX3's are shipping WITHOUT an MC64 cap, rectifying the VDIMM issue to a point.

There's info on it over @ XtremeSystems.org:

Dark_templar · Mar 30, 2004

My Vdimm has not much of a functuating voltage reading from MBM5

confused · Apr 3, 2004

Hey,

I recently converted from Asus P4C800E Dlx to the IC7-Max3 so far love the features but i cant OC not one bit.

Here is what i have
2.6C
512 Corsair XMS Duel Cannel Kit (256 X 2) in one pair
1025 of Kingston HyperX (512 X 2) in other pair
Enermax 465
Stock HS but new SP94 coming (any hints on installation)
BIOS v13

i think it is the mixed match stick sizes that is hurting me but havnt had the time to switch them out yet (my CAD workstation right now for school and need all hte RAM i can get for now)

Any thoughts

Side note,

I ordered a bunch of the MicroCool mini heat sinks has anyone put these sinks on the south bridge and or the PLL to help with the OC, im also thinking about cutting the back of my sliding motherboard try out and mounting some of the heatsinks directly behind the voltage regs and mount a spare stealth fan on the back to add some CFM to it any thoughts on this?

SimGuy · Apr 5, 2004

I'd flash to BIOS 14 first off.

SP94 mates up to the MAX3 wonderfully. You'll need to remove the motherboard, remove the P4 HRM and mount the SP94 using the supplied hardware.

Is all your memory DDR400 or higher? If you tried to O/C @ 1:1 memory ratio, you probably pushed the memory out of spec, causing the dread "beeeeeeeep-beep-beep-beep" memory failure error at startup.

Personally, I haven't put anything on the underside of the board or the southbridge and I'm running a 285 FSB with no heat problems. Did beef up the northbridge cooler, but that's not the topic right now.

AFAIK, when you've got all 4 memory banks populated, with 2 matching pairs, it only affects your O/C by a few MHZ, but never completely impeeds your ability to O/C.

confused · Apr 5, 2004

SimGuy,

Thanks for your prompt reply,

Will flash to BIOS14

All sticks of RAM are DDR500 so i am 1:1 good to FSB250

and yeap the dreaded beep beep beep is what i got

i was reading a review on hardocp that your memory if all banks are full it all be the same size so 4 sticks of 512 or 4 sticks of 256 for best results

ill try the bios once i get the SP94 mounted and all the micro sinks mounted

cant really take chances with the rig until my project is done (Senior Engineering Capstone project with 5 other members counting on this thing till July 15 so dont have the freedom to completely go nuts yet)

thanks again

Dark_templar · Apr 6, 2004

I just install a Swiftech NB cooler on my IC7-max3 but i dunno whether my NB cooler is touching the Chip as the Zalman 7000cu seem to block it...

Hw do i know whether the Heatsink is touching the Chip....

confused · Apr 6, 2004

Well i took the BIOS plunge and got to FSB of 225 with no problem, however, 230 was unstable as of right now.

Still have OEM heat sink and the different sizes of RAM installed will try once newe SP94 and micro sinks are mounted properly

thanks for all the help ill more than likely have some more questions though about how the softmenu settings

again thanks everyone

Oren · Apr 8, 2004

SimGuy said:
1) The IC7-MAX3 v 1.x undervolts badly, especially VDIMM. There are some wire mod tricks you can perform to stabilize the VDIMM & VCORE, which work surprisingly well. AFAIK, the IC7-MAX3 v2 motherboards take care of this problem. Go by what the monitoring program tells you, not what's set in the BIOS.

2) Unless you are pushing a 250 FSB or higher all the time on that motherboard, I wouldn't worry about changing out the N/B heatsink. The default one works fairly well, provided you keep it free of dust.

Is there a v2 IC7-MAX3? How can I know what's the version?

Dark_templar · Apr 8, 2004

Oren said:
Is there a v2 IC7-MAX3? How can I know what's the version?

The revision is all the same rev1.0 just that newer MAX3's are shipping WITHOUT an MC64 cap, rectifying the VDIMM issue to a point.

ocman · Apr 11, 2004

Confused, try running your memory at 5:4 for curiousity to see what you get.

My memory will only do 225 FSB at 1:1 but it is only DDR 400 Corsair XMS.

Some IC7-Max3 Questions

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