Is bh-6 ram good for IC7-max3 ??

[woutertal]

I am going to buy an IC7-max3 board, a 3.2 Northwood processor and some Mushkin 2225 bh-6 pc3200 ram. Does anybody have any experience with bh-6 on this board? I don't want to make mistakes, and I have read that this board is picky on ram?

 

[crotale]

I've only heard about success with BH-6 on IC7... But to get the most out of the RAM you would need to vdimm mod the board...

 

[woutertal]

Really? According to the Abit website, the board allows Vdimm adjustment up to 3.25 V. Is that not enough?

If the rail is at 3.3 V, You won't get a lot more, even with a mod? Unless of course you mod the 3.3 rail of the PSU.. ?

 

[crotale]

afaik, the Max3 only allows for up to 3.2vdimm, if they haven't extended it in a recent BIOS update.
The problem is the Max3 doesn't work all that well with vdimm over 2.8. The vtt voltage freaks out...

 

[woutertal]

Soooo is there a good vdimm mod around, or is it better to get a psu that can be modded?

 

[crotale]

I'm sorry to tell, but PSU mod will not increase vdimm...

 

[Styyn]

Actually, you won't need a vdimm mod at all, but, as mentioned earlier, a vtt mod. vtt tracks incorrectly above 2.8v on the MAX3 and thus causes instability with any ram running at 2.9v+, but is easily fixed.

Here's the link to the installation page for the fix:
http://home.columbus.rr.com/jsemler/message-images/IC7-MAX3_VTT_Mod/Installation_Guide.htm

And the link for the construction page should you wish to construct your own circuit:
http://home.columbus.rr.com/jsemler/message-images/IC7-MAX3_VTT_Mod/Construction_Guide.htm

And if you're like me and would prefer to just get one directly from Madcat1968 himself, head over to http://forum.abit-usa.com and PM him. I'm not sure if I can say how much he charges you, but I feel safe saying it's peanuts and he could easily charge two or three times more.

Oh, and I should also mention that I've done this mod myself, having never picked up a soldering iron before then in my life. Just follow his instruction page to the letter and you should have no problems

 

[Jimbob7]

If you want a board with high vdimm, get a AI7, its pretty cheap and its a solid reliable board. I have one with no complaints

 

[crotale]

Actually, you won't need a vdimm mod at all, but, as mentioned earlier, a vtt mod. vtt tracks incorrectly above 2.8v on the MAX3 and thus causes instability with any ram running at 2.9v+, but is easily fixed.

True, my bad.
But I would not consider the mod to be "easy"... (cutting trace for one)

 

[woutertal]

Thanks for al your replies & taking time to help. This forum is GREAT!!!!

I have read somewhere that the max3 vdimm problems only occur if a memory divider is used, and that it works ok at 1:1.

http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=300939&highlight=nail+head

Look at Clevor's post

What is your take on that?

 

[Styyn]

Clevor was right to a certain extent: you certainly can boot up at 220+ 1:1 with 3.2v. At 3.2v the vtt jumps to 1.39-1.40, while 2.9-3.1 goes 1.24, 1.29, 1.34, respectively. Running 1:1 or any divider at 2.9-3.1 is incredibly unstable, but some people find that 3.2v is stable enough for them. It *will* fail prime, though; usually within 30 to 60 minutes. Before I installed Madcat's vtt fix, I could usually get an hour or two of BF:V in at 240 1:1 3.2v before it'd spontaneously reboot. That just wasn't good enough for me though

Crotale:
I actually found the trace cutting to be the easiest part: with an eye loupe or a magnifying glass it's extremely easy to make one small scratch after another, each time testing for a short condition with a multimeter. Take a look at the location of the trace cut. It has a ton (relatively speaking) of open space around it which minimizes your chance of hitting another trace. The trickiest part was getting the solder beads in place the first time after removing the caps. But as long as you've done a few practice beads on an old pcb board of some type, and then go slow and steady on the real deal, it should go off without a hitch