IS7 Humble Beginner

[rhd]

Hi Everyone,

I was hoping for some guidance with my new setup I will be getting next week:

ABIT IS7-E
P4 2.4C 800MHz
GeIL Golden Dragon Dual DDR 512M(2x256MB) 433MHz Model GD3500-512DC
GAINWARD GF 3 Ti200 AGP
Adaptec AHA29160 SCSI - IBM 10K 9GB Thornback - FUJITSU MAN3184MP 18GB
WD Special Edition 100GB IDE
Allied 350W PS

I was hoping I would be able to push this thing to 3.0GHz if possible.

I am not new to OC'ing but the last system I worked on (a couple years ago) was a 1GB Celeron and the only setting that needed changing was the FSB on an ASUS TUSL2.

I have been reading all last week and this weekend trying to get a grip on all the various settings and performance tweaks of the Abit IS7 (and any other P4 MB for that matter.)

SOB! There is a literal plethora of settings to change on these boards, it's just not the same as the old BH6 / P2B Days. (sigh)

Would any of you be so kind as to help me with a basic start on what I need to do to get this thing moving toward 3GHz?

Which BIOS should I start out with?

I have gathered a basic idea from various sites, here is my thinking:

First, use default memory timings and voltage for 433MHz Model GD3500 (2-6-3-3) ????
Will the BIOS have default timings and voltage pre-set for me so all I'll need to do is choose PC3500?
Also DRAM ratio at 1:1

Second, Set AGP/PCI to fixed.

Third, N/B Strap set to PSB800 (I have no idea what this setting is)

Then slowly increase my external clock setting while periodically cranking a little more core voltage until I find a stable external clock setting.

After I find a stable clock setting then what?

Man... I hope I am not sounding like a total dork here... oh well.

Any beginning suggestions / BIOS settings / Links are humbly appreciated.

I will gladly post results when available.

This site rocks.

Thanks,

RHD

 

[OnDborder]

Welcome to the forums!!


Gee, not too friendly of a response on the question..


Ya, I'm in the same boat your in.. I'm getting an IS7 this week and would like some assistance with tweaking the bios.
Are there any websites for this??

I guess it's expected to "search" before asking...But what "keyword" to use? Newb? Bios? IS7? Tweak?

 

[mattspalace]

1 - 3GHz stable shouldn't be a problem. More likely, you'll get to 3.2GHz or more with that memory.

2 - I guess you already have the SCSI drives, or you could go with SATA drives. I guess you can still run SCSI with a PCI adaptor card.

3 - You might need a bigger/better PSU eventually...

4 - Bios is 1.3 that has the performance acceleration enabled, so that's the one you want.

Once you get up and running - and do yourself a favor and install everything at stock settings..

1. Go into the First part of the Bios (CPU and voltage page), manually set the CPU fsb to 250MHz.
2. Set a 5:4 divider
3. Lock your PGI/AGP to 33/66 - so it doesn't overclock these
4. You should be fine with stock voltage to the CPU and RAM.

Reboot.

that easy.

Once that goes okay, you can likely go to the stock speed of the memory, by increasing the CPU fsb. But, you have a couple of options since you have PC3700 memory...

1. Try for the max 1:1 ratio (running sync). You'll likely top out around 250MHz, depending on how well your memory does. -Prolly should go ahead and bump the memory voltage to 2.7 or 2.8v.

2. Try for the max 5:4 ratio, which means you probably get up around 285MHz to the CPU, and 230MHz to the RAM..
-You can try both ways, and see which performs the best for you.

 

[rhd]

Thanks for your replys guys...

I have already decided to up the power supply to a 400W and add a Zalman CNPS7000 CPU cooler, 3GHz should be within reach now.

I've had the SCSI Adapter and drives for a while now and can't really justify buying new SATA drives quite yet... try to convince the wife on that one , a new Raptor drive did cross my mind though.

I will post my results as soon as I get this baby going, prolly a week or 2.

Good luck on the 4th and thanks again.

-RHD

 

[GraveLayer]

Mattspalace....

My IS7 2.4 C is arriving today so your information will help me out! I'll be using 2x512M Corsair XMS PC3500 sticks I have (Not Twin or LL but rated at 2337 according to the spec sheet)
I too want to OC to the max on this setup. I'll be running an Alpha 8942L w/Sunon 50cfm 80mm fan.

How are you setup as far as F1 and the gaming thang!?!?

 

[rhd]

I finally got finished with my new system and I am very happy with it, thanks to mattspalace for helping with the settings.

I put up some pics of my rig building and some bench marks from sisoft sandra here: http://www.midrivers.com/~jkh

Please let me know if any of the settings or benches look funky, I would like to tweak it a little more if I can.

I've got the CPU FSB at 5:4, 279 at 1.6V and the RAM is 2.5-7-3-3 at 2.8V - solid stable, but if I
go lower with the ram I get the blue screen of corruption.

I have not tried the 1:1 divider, would that give me any better bench marks?

Thanks for your help.

-RHD

 

[GraveLayer]

Just finished my setup with the IS7 and that same Geil Ram. 277fsb 5:4 Cas 3363 is stable. I have yet to try higher. I have very similar memory scores to you rhd. I'm so happy with 3300 + I don't know if I want to push it to the limit! Why? Because I had an MSI board once that I took to the limited and XP didn't recover from the BSOD! But I'm sure I'll go until the BSOD anyway!

 

[OnDborder]

Where did you get that version of Sisoft Sandra?? Edit; I found it..

Geez, there must be something really wrong with this pos I've got.. On the older version of Sisoft2002 1.8.59, I'm only getting inthe cpu 6960/2420/6036 ,and the mem of 5320/5327...
Ram at 2 3 6 2
12x250 vcore @ 1.60 I think, it's set at 1.625 in the bios but reads 1.60 and the ram at 2.7 but reads 2.62... I'll be benching with the new version..


What do you guys have for the "n/b strap" and the "agp/pci frequency" set at?? Mine are PB800 and "fixed"..

 

[GraveLayer]

PB800 and fixed for me (66/33)

I'm at 277fsb though....your only at 250fsb OnDborder and it makes a BIG difference!

 

[GraveLayer]

 

[Cisco Kid]

So question guys I am lost when it comes to INtel I have completely been out of the loop, I know alot about AMD and the nforce but nuttin about Intel.

Switching from an XP1700 @ 2.4 on a Soltek nforce2 board using 1x512 and 1x256 OCZ PC3500EL DDR until I get another 512 stick.

Will I see a big jump in performance with a P4 2.4C and the IS7-E : P4, i865, 800/533/400FSB, Dual-DDR400, ATA133-Raid, 2x SATA150, USB2, Audio, Lan, AGP8x .

Cisco KId

 

[GraveLayer]

no you won't see a bid difference in any real life application (in my opinion)

 

[GraveLayer]

Seeing if I can still reply....

 

[OnDborder]

Hey Cisco joining the club??
Here's a pretty decent site for info.....http://forum.abit-usa.com/index.php?