Anyone running the NEW mobo's?

Just curious, who is running the high $ ABIT "Fatal1ty AA8XE" 925XE chipset and what CPU? Interested in those running on piped air. DDR type, anyone running high end?

Cheers

I don't have a Fatal1ty, but I do have an AA8XE. I like it so far. Specifically, what do you wanna know?

Can't decide!

http://www.abit-usa.com/products/mb/comparison.php
ABIT comparison chart

It's not so much the mobo I guess, It's the CPU I having trouble with. I have this ingrained thing about a Northwood, but realize It's old (In some techinical issues, which goes back to the mobo's support of the Northwood vs Prescott).

I hate the idea of not getting @ least 800 gain on clock speed & It seems that won't happen with a Prescott, on Air. Ideas, suggestions welcome! I guess It's also relative that a 3.2g is pretty much the same as a 3.8g, as clock for clock decreases.

So, I'm set on ABIT mobo, can't decide Northy/Prescott -Or *Shudder* wait for something @ the end of the first quarter. I did 'hear' that the A88XE was essentially the same but would not run the 1066 FSB (Though the documents from ABIT claim they would). I'm not heavily into gaming, but am into graphics. Do like to get a heavy OC, for fun Able to mess around with a solder, capacitors, line voltage & BIOS ~HEX.

Cheers

Well, the i915/i925 chipsets only support LGA775 CPUs. These are only Prescotts, but the good news is that these new mobos have a power circuity that will handle the Prescott no problem. If you want an 800 MHz O/C, then get the AA8XE and one of the new E0 stepping 2.8 LGA775. You'll get 3.6 gig and maybe even 3.8 gig with good cooling and a little luck. By the way, the AA8XE (and the Fatal1ty version) are the only mobos that officially supports the 1066 bus processors. I had mine up to 275 FSB before this cheap RAM maxed out. Keep in mind, the AA8/AA8XE require a PCI-E vid card and DDR2 RAM while the AG8 uses regular DDR RAM, but still needs a PCI-E vid card.

Wonder whats next

I think I have narrowed down the mobo to the AA8XE , or if I can follow the difference perhaps AA8XE-3rd eye -If I'm not mistaken that's the first true ABIT move to actual 1066 FSB, prior to 'Fatality'; won't be using RAID.
- CPU:
2.8g=$158 (maybe)
3.2g=$215 (Possible)
3.4g=$280 (Perhaps)

Getting the right DDR for this ABIT mobo will be the next challange, as these are mobo specific items @ the extreme levels, particulary; low latency seems out of the question without dropping bandwidth:

PQI Dual Channel Kit 240-Pin 1GB (512MB X 2) DDR2 PC2-4200 (Tempted)
Speed: DDR2-533(PC2-4200)
Type: 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM
Error Checking: Non-ECC
Registered/Unbuffered: Unbuffered
Cas Latency: 3-3-3-8
Support Voltage: 2.0V
Bandwidth: 4.2GB/s
Organization: two 64M x 64-bit



GEIL Value Series Dual Channel Kit 240-Pin 1GB(512MBx2) DDR2 PC2-4300 w/ Aluminum Heat-spreader (Perhaps)

Speed: DDR2-533(PC2-4300)
Type: 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM
Error Checking: Non-ECC
Registered/Unbuffered: Unbuffered
Cas Latency: 4-4-4-12
Support Voltage: 1.8V
Bandwidth: 4.3GB/s
Organization: two 64M x 64 -Bit


CORSAIR XMS2 Series Dual Channel Kit 240-Pin 1GB(512MB x 2) DDR2 PC2-5400 with Heat Spreader (High price)
Speed: DDR2-675(PC2-5400)
Type: 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM
Error Checking: Non-ECC
Registered/Unbuffered: Unbuffered
Cas Latency: 4-4-4-12
Support Voltage: 1.8V
Bandwidth: 5.4GB/s
Organization: two 64M x 64 -Bit

Thoughts? Couple that with a good CoolerMaster piped air.

{Edit} -Always prefered ATI, though also own NVIDA -(Tempted yes, seems like a trend) To go X700 Pro OC to X800. But that's not a done deal, will also look @ the 6800 NIVIDA...Again, I'm not into gaming so much as MEDIA -You know, that stuff that does not waste endless hours for no results. Not to say gaming is bad, just not productive. Though both cards excel! Sorta like the expensive Playstation come Xbox, on a PC....Leave that to AMD, not everyone cares for 'gaming' for $. Though, once again, Intel does extremily well on both, ok ~a few points on gaming is hardly cause for the overall effect! Did I ramble...Lol

My Daughter kicks AMD players all over the field on her Intel Rig & her Brother has trouble keeping up with his AMD Rig...Lol -Both are fairly equal & in system expense, just a very few dollars seperate them. Though Intel has overall performance as a work horse!
Cheers

The third eye is just an extra gimmick clock device that sits on top your computer and displays temp, voltage, etc. The Fatal1ty, AA8XE, and AA8XE Third Eye all have the same i925XE chipset that supports 1066 bus processors.

Crucial makes good DDR2 RAM as does Kingston HyperX DDR2 which are both compatible with those Abit mobos. I found out the hard way that OCZ Platinum Enhanced Bandwidth Revision 2 Limited Edition PC2-4200 has some incompatibility with the AA8XE.

I would like to add one memory option:
OCZ Low Latency DDR2

Thanks

Never had any repect for the oCZ stuff, so I won't go there now. Might try to find if anyone has used PQI with ABIT AA8XE, if not I guess It will be GEIL or Kingston. Although Crucial has always been solid memory, in the past it has never been an OC chip. -Micron & Crucial are the same company, Micron in the past were the throw aways Crucial wouldn't take; but I'm a year out of date.

Getting there, thanks, fellas

[Edit] Seems when DDR2 is a factor, so is crucial. But take a look at this, found an ABIT compatable review: DDR2 667 PC2-5400 - PQI

http://www.cluboverclocker.com/reviews/memory/pqi/pc2-5400/page2.htm

Cheers

Nice find about the PQI, but why is it so expensive? I can get the Crucial direct from their website with a discount for only a little more cash and the Kingston HyperX PC2-5400 is cheaper than both of them.

Ddr

Well, I was looking at the numbers:

Corsair =Too expensive, no gain.
GEIL has PC5300 CAS 4-4-4-12 & Bandwidth of 5.3 =$313
PC5400
Kingston HyperX CAS 3-3-3-10 & Bandwidth of 4.3 =$280
Crucial CAS 4 / 5.3 =$304
PQI CAS 4-4-4-12 5.4 =$328

Best bang for buck seems to be crucial, then PQI -Though I wonder what type of chip is 'Under the hood'. Kingston would have worked with a higher bandwidth through put. Would still consider that though. Have some homework to do on memory type used.

Cheers

I really think you need to check the OCZ memories out:
http://www.anandtech.com/memory/showdoc.aspx?i=2306&p=5
http://www.anandtech.com/memory/showdoc.aspx?i=2306&p=6
http://www.anandtech.com/memory/showdoc.aspx?i=2306&p=9

These would be my only choice for sure...

G'Day

I appreciate the assist crotale, though I had many friends let down by OCZ over the years and therefore don't reccomend that line. If you looked @ the 'Test' you will find the chips tested were aimed @ making OCZ look good, I mean where are the 5400 comparisons? I have also learned to be careful how I read reviews, Anandtech used to be a favourite haunt; but if you look at the test bed you will find it extremily slanted. -Simply from exclusion of the chips referenced above, though "Nice" enough to stick Corsair 5300 in there " Corsair =Too expensive, no gain." as quoted in the post above

This is far more than just the mobo and that should be fine, after all there are more items than one that make up a functional system

I also decided to check out the fuss & bother over the the 'J' Intel CPU: BX80547PG3400ET / BX80547PG3600ET
http://www.intel.com/cd/channel/reseller/asmo-na/eng/95346.htm

BTX: Apparently nothing is out there to support this factor yet.
http://www.formfactors.org/FFDetail.asp?FFID=12&CatID=1
http://www.formfactors.org/searchproducts.asp

Though on a lighter & cooler note, think I'll head back to Coolermaster:
Hyper 48 KHC-L91-U1

-Decided on the AA8XE, for sure & the cooler solution mentioned. Although I liked the idea of the matched PQI (I always loved testing the higher end unknowns, did that with TWINMOS and that chip did very well.) -May head into Crucial, due to price & bandwidth ~Bandwidth counts, as much as latency.

Cheers

That OCZ Platinum Enhanced Bandwidth Revision 2 with 3-2-2-8 timings is exactly what I have right now and it don't work in the Abit AA8XE. I had to stick some cheap Samsung RAM in it for the time being. There is some sort of incompatibility between the mobo and RAM. Look around, you'll always see it reviewed in the Asus P5AD2-E.

Thanks for letting us know Batboy. I'll retract my advice then.
Hopefully it can be solved by a BIOS update or similar...

I've been sort of waiting for a new BIOS in hopes that will solve the problem. I just looked again and much to my surprise Abit released a new BIOS today (version 18). Think I'll download it now and try it out this weekend.

http://www.abit-usa.com/products/mb/bios_revision.php?categories=1&model=236

Another DDR2 RAM that looks promising and is priced good is the Patriot PDP PC2-4400 XBL (eXtreme Bandwidth and Latency) rated 3-2-2-4 timings, but I'm scared to try it after my OCZ misfortune.

The BIOS update didn't help.

Nope

Patriot is not a going concern & will not perform, already checked that out.

I'm still enclined to Crucial/PQI. AA8XE & now the 3.2g for this mobo. Add to the mix an ATI X700 Pro, that will OC to X800..Dang, getting there rather well right now!

I 'll never use OCZ, though..for the stated reason. I have a number of years to reflect on that topic, @ least 7 years!

This is begining to get interesting though, It's not often we get an overall picture, unraveling Reminds me of the old days, that's a cool thing; believe me

New info always appreciated Either way, we can get more than just the mobo out of this, you think......

batboy ...Thanks, on several levels

Cheers
Mick

Response requested.

That seems like a close contender, anyone have thoughts on the difference between these two mobo's? It's suggested that the ASUS is better mobo, though It's a chipset behind; OC features was the point made to me.

AA8XE Verse ASUS P5GDC-V Deluxe?

Anyone that can shed some light on this aspect, appreciated.

Cheers

I believe PQI, Samsung, and some other expensive overclocking memory use the newly beloved TCCD chips. TCCDs have won the latest rounds of overclocking for DDR2. (We'll never see Winbond BH-5 chips in DDR2...only in dreams)

PQI seems to be the newest favorite in the DDR2. Performance all the way, as well as a price tag for their best.

I decided to avoid using the first round of 915/925 chipsets. The 865PEs and a few select others have kept up or surpassed the first release in benchies. Thus, I went with PDP-Patriot Xtreme (TCCD-XBL) 2-2-2-5 memory that has repeatedly gone from 200 to 280 fsb.

Things you never should skimp on when building a system (if you can avoid it) - Motherboard and memory.