How far will a 600Mhz P3 go?

[FIZZ3]

The PCI divider of the i815 was 1/4, but most BX boards also had that (for example the Abit BX6r2). I do remember BX boards having a higher AGP speed above 100Mhz even. On the CUSL2, the PCI definitely is the bigger problem.

I used the i815 for its 133+ speeds. At the time BX did fine at 133, but getting much higher became increasingly difficult due to the dividers mostly. Going from 133Mhz stock to 166 was a nice overclocking goal back then.

Now I will probably retire this rig at stock clocks and use 2x 256Mb of different brands just for the extra Mb's. The Mushkin is allowed to retire now.

 

[larva]

Later BX boards had a PCI multiple of 1/4, but all had only 1 and 2/3 on the AGP. 100fsb x 2/3 = 66MHz, the AGP spec. I'm not exactly sure whey they added the 1/4 for the PCI and didn't change the AGP also, but that's the way it played out.

I ran the BX also because it was faster. A P3B-F at 150fsb 2-2-2 would smoke all comers of its day, including a cas3 166fsb i815. Just needed a little higher cpu multiplier. It's a stradegy that has proven viable to this day (see sig for the modern equivalent).

 

[larva]

On the subject of ram, I normally use Kingmax PC-150, a single 512 MB stick. This ram can do at least 150, 2-2-2-5, even though it is rated CAS3 at 150 mhz. Problem is the 512 sticks are sometimes recognized as 256 MB on CUSL boards (I had no problems). But on the 440BX chipset, 512 MB sticks are not supported (they are seen as 256). That's why I can't run them on the BE6II or P3B-F.

Yeah, the incompatiblity of the BX's memory controller with the newer dimm organization schemes is well documented. Gotta have older, low density ram for it to see the full capacity.

 

[Turbo]

I had my P3 600 (Coppermine) running @ 900 Mhz (150 Mhz fsb) in an Asus P3B-F with an Alpha P125s heatsink and a Tom Leufkens peltier kit. Awesome setup, 2x256 MB @ cas 2-2-2 as well. Did 840 Mhz (140 Mhz fsb) without the peltier kit.

Man I loved that P3B-F setup, had 6 different cpu's in it

 

[larva]

Yeah, the P3B-F was really rightous. I've still got a nice one (and a C step slot1 700) around here somewhere...

What kind of ram were you running? Sounds like it was good, I never ran 2 dimms at that speed.

I had stacks of P3B-Fs when they were current. I sold countless examples of my basic P3B-F formula coppermine machines. There is no motherboard I had as completely a positive experience with as I did with the P3B-F.

 

[Turbo]

Yeah, the P3B-F was really rightous. I've still got a nice one (and a C step slot1 700) around here somewhere...

What kind of ram were you running? Sounds like it was good, I never ran 2 dimms at that speed.

I had stacks of P3B-Fs when they were current. I sold countless examples of my basic P3B-F formula coppermine machines. There is no motherboard I had as completely a positive experience with as I did with the P3B-F.

I was running Apacer PC133 256 MB cas2 blocks. I even had the board running with 3x256 MB at tight timings, but with the huge heatsink + pelt 2 memory blocks were blocked.

My son was using the system with a 1 Ghz EB chip @ 1125 Mhz and a GF3 up until a about year ago. Best mainboard and Intel chipset (BX) I ever had

 

[FIZZ3]

Priming an 866EB/160FSB at 1040 right now.

I remembered the AGP thing: on i815 it could be 1/2 at its lowest as opposed to the 2/3 of BX. So my videocard was running at 83 only. If only the BX had a 1/2 AGP or if the i815 had a 1/5 PCI...

BTW going above 166Mhz FSB isn't really worth it anymore; 4/5 ram speed is mandatory then. Although perhaps that's not even such a bad bottleneck.

 

[Clevor]

Priming an 866EB/160FSB at 1040 right now.

I remembered the AGP thing: on i815 it could be 1/2 at its lowest as opposed to the 2/3 of BX. So my videocard was running at 83 only. If only the BX had a 1/2 AGP or if the i815 had a 1/5 PCI...

BTW going above 166Mhz FSB isn't really worth it anymore; 4/5 ram speed is mandatory then. Although perhaps that's not even such a bad bottleneck.

I also found you lose a whole lotta performance at other than 2-2-2 CAS timings with SDRAM. I mean try running one full loop of Memtest. Even at 2-2-2- it takes 30' or so.

I ran 157, 2-2-2 on the Everest latency bench and scored eight-nine notches down, beating a lot of 800 fsb DDR and AMD rigs .

On the subject of P3B-Fs, I stockpiled four Rev. 1.04s. Was easy to pick out the Rev. I wanted over the last couple of years as guys unloaded them at used parts stores here. I still see one selling most every weekend. The Rev. 1.04 supports up to 1 gig Coppermines. They are still going for decent prices on Ebay. The P3V4X still garners high prices there. I snagged four of the ones with ICS mem controller, which goes to 166 in the BIOS.

The P3B-F outperforms the BE6II Rev. 2.0, but the latter goes to 180 fsb in the BIOS. The Asus only does 140, 142, 144 and 150 I think above 133. The BE6II is the best overclocking P3 board I seen. At extreme overclocks where the board has hot restart problems and BIOS checksum errors, if you can get into Windows, it benches all 3D. Just amazing.

 

[larva]

Yeah, my P3B-F is a 1.04 (1 isa slot).

Just got a 128mb stick of 7ns Infineon to match the other 128 I have laying around (sold all my 256s :/ ).

I liked the BF6 best out of the Abits. As far as I know it was the latest and best of the slot1 Abits. I used it for fsb beyond 150, but preferred to simply match cpu multiplier to the 150fsb of the P3B-F rather than push the fsb into (the essentially unstable) regions allowed by the Abits.

The P3B-F only offered 133, 135, 140, and 150fsb (plus the lower stuff) if memory serves. This was the only weakness of the P3B-F.

 

[FIZZ3]

I also found you lose a whole lotta performance at other than 2-2-2 CAS timings with SDRAM. I mean try running one full loop of Memtest. Even at 2-2-2- it takes 30' or so.

I ran 157, 2-2-2 on the Everest latency bench and scored eight-nine notches down, beating a lot of 800 fsb DDR and AMD rigs .

I used to accept nothing but 2-2-2, 5/7t. Currently I haven't re-examined the CAS latencies, but I will. I've installed my second i815 board, the CUSL2-C after completing the 1040 run on the CUSL2. I'm not sure whether I'll see tangible gains, to be honest, but we'll see. I've got a new version of Sandra and 3Dmark2K1 as benchmarks on the system.
In the context of SDRAM: does anyone remember what "SDRAM driving mode" (normal/strong) in BIOS did?

 

[JCLW]

My P3B-F is now running a Tualatin Celeron 1200 @1440mhz (120FSB) for my mom. Still a great office/internet machine.

My TUSL-C is running a Tualeron 1200 @1600mhz (133FSB) for my g/f. Surprisingly fast computer.

 

[FIZZ3]

Ahh, the Tualatin chips... never had one, although they have always appealed to me. It's too bad that they found out about the pin trick that allowed Tua's in older boards so late. I might have gotten one otherwise.
Perhaps an idea for future 'upgrades' of this P3 system though... who knows when one of these Tua's pops up for (almost) free somewhere.