What is the best DUAL Mobo for OC'ing?

[nikhsub1]

I am interested in building a Dual rig with some XP 1600's. What mobo's are out there that allow for good overclocking? Are there boards that have VCORE, Multi and FSB options? Any advice is appreciated!

 

[FunkDaMonkMan]

The MSI k7d is the best, and i'm sure that everyone else is going to recommend it also.

I personally do not own it, but I wish I did.

If you want stability, you can go with a tyan s2460, but there are no overclocking options.

the msi board has vcore, multi, fsb, and ram timing options in the bios.

 

[Spec_Ops2087]

MSI is the BEST dual OCing mobo...it lets you change CPU voltage(ONLY found on this board), FSB,multi, RAM OCing...gotta love it! and is VERY stable OCed too...I got mine right now at 150x11.5


Spec

 

[nikhsub1]

Is the "L" version just have the built in lan? Do you have to use ECC memory on this board? Thanks!

 

[Spec_Ops2087]

You do not have to use ECC for eithor boards....the L just means onboard...besdies that they are both EXACTLY the same board(but the L is red)

I would get the L though....you will be wanting that extra PCI slot and it is a VERY good LAN...Intel is one of the best and that is what it is...highly recommend it



Spec

 

[nikhsub1]

One last question! What is the deal with the 4 pin (P4) power plug on the mobo? Is that used WITH the ATX connector or is it used if you only have the 4 pin on the PSU?

 

[Spec_Ops2087]

that is used WITH the ATX connector....don't worry almost ALL PSUs come with the p4 connector...

And these duals obviously need that extra power



Spec

 

[jstutman]

what was the secret to making 1600+ an MP processor? wasent it a WIN LOSE situation? not all single processors work as duals?

 

[Spec_Ops2087]

you can connect the bridges....look at the sticky...it will tell you which ones and how to make them MP



Spec

 

[donny_paycheck]

Also there's a small chance a XP will not work in SMP. AMD tests all their MP cores to make sure they'll run in SMP so with an Athlon MP you get the cream of the crop. The XP you get might be a core that they sold as a XP because it failed MP testing.

I've never heard of this happening though. Just about everybody here uses XPs and Durons in SMP. Neither are supported by AMD.

 

[Caffinehog]

K7D master. Works great. The only problems I had was incompletely MP-unlocked processors (fixed) and you have to use switches, and not the ones they suggest, when running the program to update the bios. (switches as in "/L" in the command line)

 

[Mr B]

A bump for a question...

I've got a pair of XP1600+'s on the way, and will be looking for a dual board soon. I've been reading thru this, and the AMD Mobos Topics, and this board seems to get a lot of good things said about it.

I just downloaded the manual from MSI...I don't see anywhere in it where it does specify that the vcore for the CPUs can be manipulated....

You can absolutely, definitely change the CPU voltage in the BIOS on either ("L" or non-"L") board??

Other than that (not seeing it in the manual..), this does look like a sweet board. I've got the MSI K7T266 Pro (KT266) and love the Fuzzy Logic and Monitor programs. The temps sensors and software seem to be fairly close to accurate on that (K7T266 Pro) board. How accurate are the temp sensors on the dual board??

Thanks in advance!

Brian

 

[Spec_Ops2087]

YES YOU CAN....

the BIOS has options to change Vcore and multi....gotta love it

MSI is definatly a great choice Mr.B

As far as fuzzy logic...it only gives the temp of 1 cpu, unless I doing somthing wrong and it is the cooler CPU temp not the (primary one) hotter one....but it is right in line to what my digi doc says



Spec

 

[donny_paycheck]

K7D = the best overclocking dual AMD board around.

Voltage, multiplier and FSB adjustments, plus memory tweaks. It rocks. I have a pair of 1.3 Morgans at 1470 1.8v on one of them.

 

[cmcquistion]

Gotta cast my vote for the MSI K7D Master, too. I have two of them, one regular and one -L. They are incredible motherboards. Faster and more stable than other duals I have used.

Mr. B, yes, I have both boards and you can change Vcore on both of them. I'm using BIOS 1.3, at the moment. I was running dual XP1600's at 1.45 volts! I only did this because I had cheap heatsinks and hadn't put together my watercooling setup, but, man, was that thing running cool!

Currently, I'm running dual XP1600's AROIA at 1800 MHz and default voltage on my main rig. My other K7D Master has dual XP1600's AGOIA at 1733 and default voltage.

 

[Mr B]

Thanks for the answers! Looks like the best game in town.

$200 and $225 at Newegg... *whistles* That's more than I've spent on some cars I've owned...

Do they still give ya a few bucks for donating blood?!?

Thanks again!

B.

 

[cmcquistion]

$187 shipped from Einux Systems off Pricewatch.

 

[SickBoy]

I'll add that both the K7D Master-L and the plain K7D Master BOTH come in Red PCB now. It seems only the earlier versions used a green PCB. I have one with a green PCB but it -does- have the B2 (USB Fixed) southbridge.

I'm almost 100% sold that this board uses on-die temp monitoring - why, you say? Because my system registers ridiculous temps and I think it's because Durons don't have a functional on-die thermal diode. In fact, right now supposedly my temps are 29C for each CPU and 32C chassis....

sb

 

[cmcquistion]

Yeah, it does read the on-die chip diode. If you run a regular Athlon, it reads 0 C.

 

[donny_paycheck]

No thermistors here:

I get the same stuff from my Durons as SickBoy does.