AI7 Owners UNITE!

[Beginner]

hello guys,

i have 2 abit ai7's i'm going to be putting together. 1st for one of my brothers and 2nd for a buddy using a 2.4c chip.

microfire recommended this app for pat enabled on the fly - Tweak865 enables you to change memory timing and force PAT on the fly, works in Windows with the Intel 865/875 chipsets.
You can also place the tweaker in the startup folder. Make a string with your favorite timings, settings, and auto exit the program (ghost mode) each time you boot.
Get it here: http://www.cpuid.org/download/Tw865.zip

i'm looking for modded ai7 bios's

volt mods

vagp mod that was never concluded - http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=36860
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=38846&page=2
http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=270187&highlight=ai7+vdimm+mod

vdimm mod -
http://www.cooling-masters.com/vmod.php?id=10&marque=ABIT
in french i think

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=23491
no pictures.


this is what i'm trying to do, fully volt mod this ai7 like i did to my nf7-s.

thanks for looking.

 

[Beginner]

i've also d/l'd all of the drivers and utilites from the abit site.

 

[Evilsizer]

well with the Vdimm that board offers, i don't know why you would want too. Unless your doing LN2 or something along those lines for high oc. Not many cpus for s478 did real high except a small batch of 2.4c that were failed EE's. my s478 memories are slipping away, but that's what i do remember people saying. I still have a 3.0c that will do 3.6ghz with 1.55v, its about to get a ninja like my rig#2. i love my AI7 and cant see selling it now after what i have been reading about Abit's trouble. eh i still got an abit st6 815p mobo, not giving that one up either.

 

[Beginner]

evilsizer thank you for your post, i'm either going to run 2x512mb of bh-5 or 2x512 of utt(bh-5/ch-5).

i love my nf7 buuuuuuuut, i just benched this ai7 with the 2.4c chip, here are the comparisons.

nf7/ai7
read 3300 overclocked/4000 stock
write 1300 or so/1737 stock
latency 98.7/103

ok, my nf7 scores are with my chip clocked to 2.62ghz. right now this ai7 is running 12x204(thats how it reads it in everest), this is still running on windows default drivers, the hdd is a 5400 rpm, 2mb buffer.

why is this ai7 ripping my nf7 to shreds? ai7 is running stock on windows drivers, my nf7 fully clocked with alot of optimizations.

also, i don't know how to overclock this ai7. i saw psb400/psb800/psb667 etc. i'm going to search for a guide.

guys please post your recommendations. also vdimm is at 2.62 and vtt is at 1.51, is this normal???

any diagrams with voltage read points and advice are greatly appreciated.

 

[batboy]

Here is an overclocking guide for IC7 BIOS settings. The AI7 is about the same.

With a 2.4C, set the N/B strap at PSB800.

http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=258345

 

[Beginner]

i also found this post, it has some help on overclocking this board - http://www.ocforums.com/showpost.php?p=2645449&postcount=4

review with some oc settings from the bios - http://www.driverheaven.net/reviews/AI7/overclocking.htm

 

[Beginner]

Here is an overclocking guide for IC7 BIOS settings. The AI7 is about the same.

With a 2.4C, set the N/B strap at PSB800.

http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=258345

thanks batboy

i really want to work on this board, not sure if you saw the everest benchmarks i post, ai7 stock(2.4c) vs nf7 clocked to 2.62ghz(xp-m).

i have my board running on "fail safe defaults" so far. i'm going to start loading the drivers i d/l'd from the abit site.

i'm hoping on running this board 1:1 with a good fsb, the memory on the board is 2x512mb kingston bh-5, i hope i can find a good vdimm vmod guide.

 

[Beginner]

2.4c has a multi of 12x.

right now i'm running 12x220 for 2.64ghz. i'm still running on default drivers. someone mentioned about ram from www.komusa.com (samsung) ran really good on these s478 865/875 motherboards. does anybody remember which ic's they were and if they are still available?

i might just end up running 2x512mb of high voltage loving ram, but if i can find stocks of this ram from komusa, i'll go with that.

 

[Beginner]

still doing some massive google searches and here's what i found for ai7 modded bios's by tictac

Modded by tictac:
Bios 11
Bios 12
Bios 13
Bios 14
Bios 14 Beta 1
Bios 16 Beta 1
Bios 16 Beta 3

here's the link - http://www.hwtweakers.net/postx4741-0-0.html

i think bios 17 from abit is the one that loves bh-5? if this is the case is there a modded 17 bios?

 

[batboy]

I still have an AI7, plus I still have a pair of Kingston HyperX BH-5 RAM and Komusa Hyperram PC4200. I have used a 2.4C on this mobo (although I currently have a 3.0C in it). My Kingston HyperX BH-5 RAM didn't really do much more than the stock 3.2v when I tried my OCZ booster in this rig up to 3.5v. So, I don't think doing the vdimm mod is worth it from my experience.

My Mo stepping 2.4C would easily do 292 FSB rock stable (with a lot of vcore, it would do 296 FSB). With the BH-5 RAM, I could do 2-2-2-5 timings at 5:4 ratio. The Hyperram would do 283 FSB 1:1 with 2.5-3-3-6 timings (this is all with no volt mods). The higher FSB and BH-5 RAM with tight timings would benchmark higher even at the 5:4 ratio.

Think I'm still using BIOS 14 in mine. Those BIOS download links are dead.

 

[Beginner]

i googled for hours yesterday trying to find modded bios's for this board. i have everest loaded, i'll check what bios rev. i have and start playing with official ones. i'll try bios 14 as well.

on this board i'll pass on the vdimm mod but on the second board i'd like to try it so i can compare. do you know of a working link for the vdimm mod?

are there any vdroop, vagp, vtt mods for this board? i'm going to also search a pic that has the voltage read points for vdimm/vdimm/psu/vtt/vagp.

i really want to get this board going

 

[batboy]

All the volt mods I know about are for the IC7. Really though, not sure why you are so concerned with modded BIOS and volt mods, that AI7 is one of the better overclocking motherboards for Northwoods right out of the box. Just get some decent cooling, then update to one of the newer BIOS versions and start overclocking. Let us know how you do.

 

[Beginner]

thanks batboy, i'm just amazed at the read/write speeds of this combo. when i loaded up p95 it seemed like it just blinked and bam, loaded.

i'm glad because this pc in the first couple of months will be used to make backups. my brother bought an nec 3540 that i flashed with rpc1/dvdbitsetting/speed patches already.

i'll update

 

[Evilsizer]

when you run superpi post your score.. my 3.0c @3.6ghz ram@ddr480 4-4-4-8 timings, did 43sec 1mb run... compared to my dothan @30secs @2.4ghz big differnce in games.
Its from komusa when they first started getting high speed ram. i need to rma the sticks one of them just died. they were running posted voltage of 2.8v. i have noticed that @3.6ghz with the #2 is quicker then my ai7. I will compare later after i have gotten the ram rma'ed.

what kind of HD's are you using and what ram did you wind up getting?

 

[Ssetre]

I miss my AI7

It was the best system I've ever owned. Stable, fast, and it just felt smooth.

 

[Evilsizer]

I miss my AI7

It was the best system I've ever owned. Stable, fast, and it just felt smooth.

thats why im holding on to mine for as long as it will run.

 

[Beginner]

update,

i put the mobo/hdd/cdrw/pci vc into the case and i cant get it to reliably post and even less in windows.

post codeds 90 and F come up, nothing in the manual about these. i cleared the cmos, removed cmos batter and only got into windows once.

i'm having issues with the bios recognizing the hdd? i looked to make sure nothings grounding out.

don't know what to do, i've been on this for 3 hours and nothing. i'm going to stop for today before i lose it

 

[Beginner]

removed mobo from case. this is what is connected -

cpu, heatsink and fan
hdd, cdrw
1 x 512mb, pci video card.


now it will post to the logo and stay stuck there. post code now is 75.

 

[Evilsizer]

umm the only thing i would do. Since its out start with mem and vid. then add the others one at a time. inside the case, sounds like something might be shorting out? i know sometimes cables come lose when im messing with stuff. all i can say is just unplug then plug back in for the cables.

 

[Beginner]

thanks for the tips evilsizer,

i can reliably get to the logo screen now. problem is my hdd's aren't being detected. they are all pata 100's. i've tried other hdd's as well and the bios will not recognize them???

i tried one hdd at a time, jumpering them to master, then cable select them jumperless.

i have no clue whats happening? i'm going to try another ribbon cable.