Updated Abit BD7-Raid and TH7II-Raid Bios. Get them here!

[QuantumPhase]

Well MrNatural, I think this ones gonna work fine! Flashed to 7D for the TH7II and no problems so far. System screams! No cold boot 26's yet (Had em all the time with 39C and others). Had to wire mod for 1.7 default volts though but i did the U shaped fine wire in the socket mod so no big deal. I think 1.95v max with 1.7v default should push most if not all Northwoods into orbit with stock cooling and without frying! Great job MrNatural!

 

[PascalF]

7D versus 7c01

Just made a small comparision between 7d and 7c01..

Both bios seem to work fine under windows, but with games i think the 7c01 is more stable.. just ran a few levels of rtcw with each bios.. the 7d wouldn't let me go to a new level (the game would kill itself i found myself at the windows screen again)..
The 7c01 didn't give any problems.. passed several levels.
Both bios have been setup identically.

I'm running a stock 1.8a northwood at 1.7v @ 2,4ghz, 512 mb (300mhz bios setting, 128/4 modules), stock cooler. ATA133 controller, dual 60gb maxtors D740x, 1 wd204BA, SB Live!, network, modem, MSI Ti4400 GF4, CD reader, CD burner.
No voltage mods..

(but i think i'll make one)

Pascal

 

[webwilli]

Re: Re: Re: hehe

Did I not just tell you in another post in this same thread earlier that I have not fixed the 1.85v mod yet? I know I did. What part did you find hard to understand?

yes, yes. I understand it, now...

 

[Redphex]

Re: 7D versus 7c01

Just made a small comparision between 7d and 7c01..

Both bios seem to work fine under windows, but with games i think the 7c01 is more stable.. just ran a few levels of rtcw with each bios.. the 7d wouldn't let me go to a new level (the game would kill itself i found myself at the windows screen again)..
The 7c01 didn't give any problems.. passed several levels.
Both bios have been setup identically.

I tried to reproduce your problems - but my rig runs every game (including RTCW), graphics application or benchmark flawlessly with the 7D Bios.

 

[arman68]

I flashed the 7D bios on my TH7-II and everything seems to be fine.

No more cold boots, although I had to reduce my OC to 120FSB @ 1.625vcore instead of 125FSB @ 1.725vcore. So the lower voltage might be the real reason.

I did not try the C00 and C01, so I do not know which HighPoint BIOS were included.

Mr Natural, what changes did you do apart from updating the highpoint bios with cbrom?

.aR

 

[Macu]

..this is my first post so be gentle ok?

..I was wondering is there detailed and clear instructions anywhere on this forum how to flash Mr Natural bios to TH7II? How to make boot diskette, which version of flash utility and what kind of settings to use?

I have done some flashing in past so I'm not totally green in this but I still wouldn't like to risk killing my fresh mobo by doing something wrong, so info would be appreciated. Thanks in advance!

 

[Jirnsum]

get DrDOS from

http://www.hellasystems.de/ftp/Utilities/BootDisk/DrDos70/drdflash.exe to boot into a clean DOS environment.

Then use AWDFLASH.exe and the instrunctions by Mr N. from the very first post of this thread.

Good luck!

 

[Macu]

..thanx for info. One more q: if flashing for some reason goes badly how can I restore the old bios, or is restoring impossible if mobo doesn't boot normally?

 

[Jirnsum]

If it doesn't boot (even after you've cleared your CMOS) you're ****ed

However there are companies which can help you get a new BIOS in these cases.

Don't worry to much about it though. Just follow the instructions, and you will be perfectly fine (also check the manual of your MB, and the site of its manufacturer). People here are flashing their BIOSes all of the time (especiallu with the Mr N BIOSes which have come out lately ). I personally never had any problems (knock on wood)

 

[PascalF]

Re: Re: 7D versus 7c01

I tried to reproduce your problems - but my rig runs every game (including RTCW), graphics application or benchmark flawlessly with the 7D Bios.

Strange..Hmm.. i'll try again this evening.. It might be the Ultra133 controller.. i'm running my drives from that..

By the way: how much memory do you have? I've got 512 mb in 4 modules (256mbit modules.. that is 128/4)

madonion pcmark seems runs fine on both bioses...

greetz,

Pascal

 

[VaTechHokies]

Hey, I've been reading this thread, even though I don't own an abit. It's just some good information to know so maybe one day I can answer someone else's question. I, myself, have a question though.

What kind of temps are you all getting with the high overclocks? I have turned my system back down from 136 FSB because it raised my temps liek 2-3 degrees from 133 FSB. I don't really thing they were that high though. My temps at 133 are about 29-31 startup, under no load, w/ a room temp of about 22-24 Celcius. Under full load at 133 I have seen anywhere from 38-45 (45 was when it was hot out) Celcius. When I bumped it up to 135 FSB I was loading around 33-34 degrees and when the processor was under full load, I around 44-46. I know this isn't tooooo hot, but I don't want to do any extra damage. Thanks for all the help.

Keep the bios' comin' Mr. Natural!! It's interesting to see what you can fix and abit can't!

 

[Redphex]

Hmmm .. I don't really know the real-world performance of the swiftech heatsink, but in my opinion, your temps are too low

are you sure, you're not measuring the Northbridge temperature? your stated cpu-temps are more or less equaling my northbridge temps ...


I'm running at 59° full load CPU temp ([email protected] GHz) with the AVC-Sunflower

 

[PascalF]

Temperature

Well.. at 133 fsb and 1.7v mine runs about 45 celcius...

after gaming some time rtcw the temp is about 50 celcius..

all measurements were taken with the included winbond hardware doctor..

Pascal

 

[VaTechHokies]

I am using the temperature readings from the bios and mbm5 which are both the same. I had the stupid Asus Probe (you've probably heard about it...it is really crappy and measures temps too high) and it said my temps were more in line with what you all were saying, but once again the bios says about 30 at 133 FSB when I am first starting up. Hopefully my probes are reading correctly. Overall, thats good news though, that means maybe I can raise my OC a little higher...but i can't get above 140 cause I get random reboots at that speed. Thanks for the help! If anyone has any more info it would be much appreciated! Thanks

 

[HeXaDeCiMaL]

With my 1.6A @ 2.13 (133FSB) I'm idleing @ about 42.5C and MAxing out with UD running while looping 3DMark2K1SE @ 52C , games never take me higher than 50C, thats with the CoolerMaster Low Noise HeatPipe cooler IHC-L71.

 

[QuantumPhase]

Well, I'm on day 2 of the 7D bios and have had absolutely no problems! I have cold booted numerous times without any 26 cold boot errors! I have run Sandra tests extensively under WinXP without errors or lockups. Running 2X420(840MHZ data rate) CPU temp 46.5 as I'm writing this post with 1.71 actual core voltage! Now its time to play! See how far this can be pushed with stock cooling (already at 2.52G with a 1.8A and rock stable!)
Gotta love Abit boards and MrNatural!

 

[PascalF]

7D versus 7c01 : part II

Ok,

I flashed my system with the 7D again and started playing again...
Playing was relatively ok..some times loading failed and i experienced some minor problems..
Madonion benchmark crashed once.. (settings at 1280x1024x32)

After lowering the FSB from 133 to 132 and setting the frequency stuff from the default 6x to 4x everything runs stable.

It seems that the 7D version is just a little more agressive in it's timing / or efficiency than the 7c01 version...

Next: vcore modding...


Pascal

Strange..Hmm.. i'll try again this evening.. It might be the Ultra133 controller.. i'm running my drives from that..

By the way: how much memory do you have? I've got 512 mb in 4 modules (256mbit modules.. that is 128/4)

madonion pcmark seems runs fine on both bioses...

greetz,

Pascal

 

[pbs]

Very happy with the latest bios

Abit TH7II-Raid

P4 1.8A @ 2.502 @ 1.675V
FSB 139
PCI 46
AGP 92
RDRAM x3
512MB Samsung PC800

GF3 @ 240 GPU 552 MEM 8978 3Dmarks 2001 SE
SBLivePlatinum 5.1
ALPHA PAL89472 HS with YS-Tech 80mm Fan
CoolerCase Tornado 6x YS-Tech 80mm Fans - 282 CFM
Enermax 431W PSU

IBM 75GXP 30 GB
6X DVD
12/10/32 CD-RW

Anybody Got any suggestions on how to get even more out of the system ?

LS-120

 

[LarryJoe]

pbs - that's a nice overclock with reasonable voltage. 1.675 is great. My only advice is to try and run the cpu slower at a level where you can run the ram higher. 500 on the RDRAM would most likely result in a faster system at the sacrafice of bragging rights.

 

[pbs]

Thanks for the reply.

As you have rightly said there is a trade of between raw CPU performance and memory bandwidth.

A similar trade off used to exist with PCI/AGP overclocking before the bios upgrade when a lower FSB with a lower AGP/PCI division ratio would usually result in higher graphics benchmarks.

I am really impressed with the performance of this Abit setup. My previous motherboards had been ASUS ones but I felt like a change. Couldn't decide between DDR or RIMM but I feel like I made the right choice

I will experiment with lower CPU speeds and 4X ram and see how I get on. I might knock up some ramsinks this weekend or look to get some more airflowing over the rimms - i have got plenty of papst high flow 40mm fans or a serious delta 80mm unit to play with......

Anybody out there found the sweetspot?