new shuttle ak31

Okay, I have to admit that until now, the first thought that came to my mind when I heard "Shuttle brand motherboards" was "piece of crap."

However, I've seen a lot of good reviews by overclocker sites on the new AK31 DDR model. Looks like it has loads of adjustment potential for both voltage, multiplier and fsb. So has anyone here had a personal experience with it?

If it performs as well as the sites say, then you can't beat it for the price - around $89 U.S.

Hey I got it and I'm happy. I just can't wait to get a new power supply and a better processor. I can do 160fsb though with a 5.5 multiplier. Even thogh the multiplier isn't high, it still shows that the board can handle it. There are a few other who visit the forum regularly and you will probably hear from them.

Its a good board, I've got one here waiting for another CPU in the mail to come. However, I wouldn't buy anything untill the AK31 Rev3 or something comes out with the new KT266A... man that chipset is sweet

Hey ,I have the ak31 rev.2 booard and I am very pleased with it myself.I would recommend it to anyone .It has more buttons then any review shows in the bios ,my favorite still being the temp monitor.The monitor shuts off your PC at whatever temp you set it too and if your fan,pump,etc dies in the middle of the night then that is a little x-tra insurance.I have had mine to 158 fsb but I am afraid to run any mb like that in fear that I will trash my hdd.Two more things , this mb has real support for the Palimino and is one of the few boards out there that is recommended by AMD.
wildone

I've had mine for over a month and it's a great board. Very easy setup and overclock. Works and plays well with GeForce2 GTS, SBLive!, and SCSI. I've been running my 1.4 GHz Athlon at 1.6 GHz since I got it with no problems.

I love my AK-31. I've had it for over a month now, and it behaves perfectly. The only inherent problem I have found is that no matter what you do in the bios, you can't get over 1.85v. Fill in all the L7 bridges, and it won't go any higher. However, with the help of a easy voltage mod, I can push it to almost 2.4v. I'ts easy, and reversable. No soldering needed!

If you need some help. give me a shout.

Check my specs, and you will see why I'm smiling .....

Doctor said:

If you need some help. give me a shout.

Check my specs, and you will see why I'm smiling .....

Click to expand...

Ok, I'll bite.... I just got my system set up, and am unable to push my 1ghz Thunderbird above 1.4. It will do 1.4 at default voltage with no problems (at least in about 15 hours of continually running windows 98se)... I was able to run my FSB up to 150 without any problems, but when I changed the multiplier to something that would put the speed over 1410 or so, it would post, but I would get an error going into Win.... Methinks that an increase in voltage would help put me up to 1.5 or so... This AYHJA-Y seems to have alot of potential, and Shuttle has given us a great board in the AK31....

Lay it on me, Doc, I'm ready to fly!

rmf

The key to Doc's happiness lies in his Vapochill case.... -9C...Doc, you bastard!!

OK, here we go. To do the voltage mod on the AK-31 you need to go to Radio Shack, and pick up a 47K variable resistor/potentiometer. Go here for a cool little clip that will pinch right onto the IC leg. No need to solder your precious board.

Here we go...

Turn your puter off, and unplug it!

Connect the center (of three) terminal on the potentiometer to a wire you have soldered onto the IC Clip you purchased above. Connect one of the outer terminals of the pot to a wire that you have soldered a terminal connector that is suitable to fit under one of your mobo's mounting screws. Get your ohm meter connected to your wires, and turn the potentiometer in the direction that gets you the MAXIMUM resistance. REMEMBER the directions you need to turn it for max/min. Connect the wire with the terminal connector to the mobo mounting screw on the upper left hand corner of your mobo. Connect the IC Clip to leg #7of the "HIP6301CB" Voltage controller IC. It's the one next to the upper left corner of the processor socket. See the attached picture for the correct leg.

Boot your machine up into the Voltage/Frequency screen in your bios. Now while watching the voltage monitor, slowly turn the pot in the direction to LOWER the resistance. You will see the voltage rise. I have mine set to 2.2 as maximum. You can now use the bios to LOWER the voltage if you like.

Good luck with your new found POWER!

Of course, I hold no responsibility for smoke, fire, or electrocution!

My best,

Doctor

Let me know how you make out!

Doctor

Ok, well, I haven ordered an ak31 yet but I'm getting to it, I had a small question, I know it would probably still be easier to use a terminal connector to use the motherboards mounting screws as grounds but I also notice on your diagram that leg #9 of the "HIP6301CB" Voltage controller IC was also a ground so could I also use that instead??

Sure you could, but I think that the less connections you have on the tiny IC chip legs, the less chance you have of messing somthing up.

There is a mobo ground screw only 2 inches away from the Voltage Controller.....

Doctor

hey Doctor

If you just closed the connection ,you know ran a wire straight from leg 7 to the gorund ,what would the max voltage be ,do you have any idea?

wildone

Hey Doctor, I linked a guy from another board to your mod instructs. He's one happy AK31 oc'er. Thanks

wildone said:

hey Doctor

If you just closed the connection ,you know ran a wire straight from leg 7 to the gorund ,what would the max voltage be ,do you have any idea?

wildone

Click to expand...

I really don't know, but if I turn the pot to "0" resistance, the puter will shut down.....

No problem though, just turn the resistance back up, and reboot All is back to normal.

Doctor

LutaWicasa said:

Hey Doctor, I linked a guy from another board to your mod instructs. He's one happy AK31 oc'er. Thanks

Click to expand...

Doctor

Hey Doctor, I have a big question for you about this non-soldering voltage mod.

I just read in another post that the link you provided to buy the SMD Grabber is to large to clip on the leg. He said he purchased them and found out that way. He also said that Radio Shack had smaller SMD grabbers, but it doesn't work nearly as good as the old soldering trick.

My question to you did you actually purchase the grabbers from the link you provided and then use the grabber? Or, did you just solder?

Hey Ace-a-rue, welcome to OCers.com

I take it by the insanely high FSB's you people are running on this board that it has a /5 divisor in the BIOS. Is this true?

Bummer...

Ace-a-Rue said:

Hey Doctor, I have a big question for you about this non-soldering voltage mod.

I just read in another post that the link you provided to buy the SMD Grabber is to large to clip on the leg. He said he purchased them and found out that way. He also said that Radio Shack had smaller SMD grabbers, but it doesn't work nearly as good as the old soldering trick.

My question to you did you actually purchase the grabbers from the link you provided and then use the grabber? Or, did you just solder?

Click to expand...

I had a couple of them left over from an old Mac overclocking adventure. They were provided by the manufacturer of the mod. I decided that they were perfect for fitting on the voltage regulator legs on my Ak31 Rev2. They also fit perfectly on the Rev3.1 because it's the same.

Since I kept reading about the horror stories of other peeps burning up IC's, pulling legs off, etc, I decided to find out where to buy these things. The ones I am using say "Pomona Grabber" on them. After searching on the net, I found then online from the link I provided, and they appear exactly the same as the ones I have. Because of that, I assume they are the same.

The problem in purchasing them from that company, is you need to purchase a minimum of $20.00 worth of stuff from them. Monday.

I should have them today.

I'm bumming, Big Time now because mine were not sourced from originally from that site, but by looking at the picture on the link, they are identical to the ones I have.
There are also IC chips out there that have much smaller legs on them than the HIP6301, thats on my mobo. as well as many others. It's possible that the IC chip the other person is trying to use them on is one of the smaller ones.

I have some of the ones from Radio Shack, but they don't grab as well as the ones I'm using. It's really easy for them to move, and short out to the adjacent leg on the IC.

I will post my findings as soon as I recieve mine, and if they are the same.

Doctor