max3 maxed out

[Shane5578]

my current setup

3.2 ES (should be able to do atleast 400fsb)
max3
pc4000 gold
geforce2 ultra
single wd caviar
win2k


max fsb for the ic7 max3 unmodified = 295 stable dual channel

max pc4000 gold @ cas2.5 = 265 stable dual channel, 285 single stable

they might seem low, but when i say stable, i mean at least 2hours of prime95 running simultaneosly with 3dmark01 then sisandra burn in.

i have also found issues, such as vdimm >2.9 not working when certain settings are used and cold boots.

[FragMagnet]

You may want to trade notes with Kenneth Chong, he hit 340 ish with his Max3 with stock NB cooling. Then he cooled it with P/C and hit 36x fsb.

[Amoeba Assassin]

3.2 ES (should be able to do atleast 400fsb)

not any day soon....

[charlie]

400fsb, lol..........
Anyway...the 3.2ES only has like 14-16 multi's I don't believe the 3.2 ES goes down to 8X.........dunno'
And from what I've heard they don't OC very well...
C

[Shane5578]

these 800fsb HT ES cpus have 8, 12,13, 14, 15, 16 multis available depending on stock rating.

the 533 ES chips had only 12 multi at lowest.


anyway, i'm quite happy with the max3, it can do 300fsb, but not prime95 stable.

there seems to be issues with ES when lowering the multi, as i can't increase vdimm >2.9 don't work, i get very bad cold boots.

[phil stanbridge]

I am ditching my Max3 Shane - do not like it one bit. It's incredibly fussy and it's as quirky (IMHO) as the IC7. I could only get a 600mhz overclock with my L311 3.0C and the Max3. With my Asus P4C800-E and the same processor I am now running with a 1200mhz overclock - go figure :rolleyes:

[Major]

phil stanbridge, IMO it would have to be a setting that you've overlooked in bios to account for the difference in OC. That's a big difference, my P4C800 will OC about 100mhz maybe alittle more than my IC7 certainly not 600mhz difference !

[macci]

my max3 maxed at around 300fSB too.. funny how mr. chong run it at 340FSB with NO NB cooling at all!...not to mention 2.4C@4.3G at 1.50V :P

[macci]

phil stanbridge, flash the latest bios and see if that helps.. it fixed mine :)

[phil stanbridge]

Guys, thanks for the replies. I am using 1.2 bios for the Abit - I presumed this was the latest bios. I had tried every setting I could think of to find the sweet spot. I managed to get my 2.8C to 3.92ghz once, but it was totally unstable. It crashed and I couldn't get booted at that speed again. I then tried the 3.0C which was untested at that time - I could only get a 600mhz stable overclock with that. Now I'm running it in my Asus and I can get into windows over 4ghz every time, and that's without the Northbridge waterchill.

[Arsenal]

I've managed to get my L310 3.0c stable to 3.67Ghz (245mhz fsb) on the Max 3 at stock volts, but any more (even one 1mhz fsb) and it will fail prime no matter what volts.. i am sure my problem is similar to Phil's so i have also ordered the Asus.

[Shane5578]

sorry to hear phil. oh well.

i think the otes thing is purely cosmetic.

[rabeb25]

Originally posted by Shane5578
sorry to hear phil. oh well.

i think the otes thing is purely cosmetic.
and blinding

[Kunaak]

macci

did it really max out at only 300?
which chip was that?

hopefully in your case your talking about a 3.2 ;)

300 is rather easy to get with good cooling and a decent chip, I'd hate to hear all these people spending 230 on this super hyped up board just to get avearge OC's.

[Tony]

Here you go guys...12 bios with all the unhides..i did it yesterday.
says bigtoe mod1 as bios message.Spread spectrum is unhid and tweakable as is quite a few other items.

Remember this bios will invalidate your warranty and will not be supported by abit.I have the bios loaded fine and have been benching for 20hrs plus.If it kills your board i take no responsability..you flash at your own risk.

grab it here (http://homepage.ntlworld.com/ad.leach/modded%20bios%20files/ic7p_12.zip)

[rabeb25]

can you tell me what else there is? so i know before i go flashing
Bryan

[Tony]

Auto options for memory timings...spread spectrum unhid and tweakable..and a few other options..

TBH i wasn't taking much notice as i unhid them all as im mad busy compiling a report for OCZ on the board.

[Semper Fi]

what does spread spectrum do?

[macci]

macci

did it really max out at only 300?
which chip was that?
Used my mates 2.4C (does 3.55G stock voltage/cooling) R404ed so it wasn't the chip :)
At 305FSB I could just pass SuperPi 1M but going higher than that would give calculation errors (and this was done on ambient temp of around +15C). So its basically identical to the IC7 I had at one point. Also 5:4 FSB seems to max at 285.

[JCviggen]

Originally posted by macci
Also 5:4 FSB seems to max at 285.


same as both my IC7's...

they're fast for high multi chips but you need the P4C for the high FSB's, that is of course unless you get as lucky as Mr. Chong ;)

[Major]

My IC7 maxes out at 292, nothing is stable above that with any of the chips I've tried.

[Vatt]

Originally posted by bigtoe
Here you go guys...12 bios with all the unhides..i did it yesterday.
says bigtoe mod1 as bios message.Spread spectrum is unhid and tweakable as is quite a few other items.

Remember this bios will invalidate your warranty and will not be supported by abit.I have the bios loaded fine and have been benching for 20hrs plus.If it kills your board i take no responsability..you flash at your own risk.

grab it here (http://homepage.ntlworld.com/ad.leach/modded%20bios%20files/ic7p_12.zip)

Thanks...

did anybody test this yet? And what exactly does it unhide?

[rabeb25]

hmmm i wonder if my max 3 was above max fsb @285ish seeming it will do 280 with 1.7 volts, yet at 285 it is not stable at 1.9. I have never removed the stock cooler i spose i could check and see. maybe i did get a good chip afterall.
bryan

[ROACH]

Originally posted by JCviggen
same as both my IC7's...

they're fast for high multi chips but you need the P4C for the high FSB's, that is of course unless you get as lucky as Mr. Chong ;)

I have spoken with Abit and they are working on bios update for the 5:4 bug which has to do with CH5 memory.

[Creative]

Will it fix the bug where you have to keep the top GAT option at Auto when running any divider except 1:1?

:)

[macci]

I have spoken with Abit and they are working on bios update for the 5:4 bug which has to do with CH5 memory. well thats cool but I'm running with BH5 :)

[gabbax]

Strange, my M3 does easy 312x12 Pi 3D perfectly

[Tony]

Seems there are a few good max 3's and a lot of bad ones.

Mine does 285max(unstable) 5:4 and 1:1 with a cpu good to over 290(stable) on an asus.

[Creative]

When the prommy arrives Ill be able to tell you if mine is one of the 'good' or 'bad' ones :thumbsup:

If its a bad one, then Ill just throw the IS7 back in....same performance for 1/3 of the price :banana:
hehehehe

[Arsenal]

Well, it seems my Max 3 wasn't that bad after all.. i have installed my p4c800e deluxe now and i have hit exactly the same limit, my chip is prime stable at 245fsb (3.68Ghz) with stock volts but if i go any higher it will fail, regardless of volts.
I seem to recall hearing on here somewhere that some p4's don't respond to voltage changes, so it seems i have one of those.
Really sucks though, i was led to believe that L310 should be a decent chip.
Pretty disappointed considering i'm using a Mach II.

[ROACH]

There is also a modded bios out at www.asusboards.com for the MAX3 which enables the blocked out options.

[ROACH]

Here the link to the topic

http://www.abxzone.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=54598

[ROACH]

Yeah Macci is it true that systems with ATI cards can't OC over 300fsb, but Nvidia cards can?

Just wondering because with BH-5 memory I got to 300fsb with an ATI with 1.6vcore, but even with 1.8vcore 301fsb wouldn't even boot:shrug:

[phil stanbridge]

I had my Asus P4C800-E at 310FSB with a 9800Pro.
Edit: Wait a minute - it *might* have actually been with my 5900FX.. Interesting point. I can't remember what card my 310 was with now..

[Shane5578]

Originally posted by ROACH
Yeah Macci is it true that systems with ATI cards can't OC over 300fsb, but Nvidia cards can?

Just wondering because with BH-5 memory I got to 300fsb with an ATI with 1.6vcore, but even with 1.8vcore 301fsb wouldn't even boot:shrug:

i tried the max3 with a geforce2ultra and a rad9700pro.

theres is no change in max fsb, except that the geforce2ultra was able to run at higher agp spec.

oh i tried some ocz pc3200 and my vdimm probs was gone

[althes]

I just hit 300 on my max3 hopefully can push it somemore tomorrow.:D

[ROACH]

BTW new bios out for the MAX3 fixs 5:4 and 3:2 issuses.

[Creative]

Nah not here....:(

I still cant get anything stable for more than 2 mins at or above 285fsb in 5/4 mode and its quite annoying cos im currently at 290fsb stable with my 2.8.....but have to use 3:2 divider :(

Also still cannot run any setting other than Auto for the top GAT settings when using 5:4 divider also......

so yer, the bios did absolutly nothing for me, I may as well have not flashed :D
hehehehehe

[Semper Fi]

creative, is your khx bh-5?

[Creative]

Ive had it since January this year and I got it when they were making them with the Kingston 4.5ns chips I think

Is this correct?
:)

ps got some HyperX 3500 CH5 sticks here so might even use them and see how they go?

[GomerPyle]

Is there a new bios for 4/5 and 2/3 divider problems??

[m0lg4n``]

IC7 MAX3 Beta bios can be found here (http://fae.abit.com.tw/download/beta/ic7-max3)

//m0lg4n``

[Bluebeard]

but it won´t solve any problems :-(

[GomerPyle]

dont it solve anything? If it dont I am considering RMA my MAX3 and get a P4c800-E

[Semper Fi]

Will the Mushkin Black lvl 2 work past 275 at 5:4?

[ROACH]

Well I found a review which states Abit has a 300fsb+ issue

Not being patient, the FSB was then raised to 300MHz FSB. Booting into windows gave us issues and we tried increasing the CPU voltage but nothing seemed to help. Then finally we got a break as to what the problem was. One of the Windows errors said that a device had failed causing the system to shut down. It was the 9700 Pro. The IC7-G we first tested also had a problem at high bus speeds and the ATi cards leading us to believe that the MAX3, like the IC7-G, has a faulty AGP/PCI lock over 300MHz FSB. Video cards were changed out with an NVIDIA card because they generally can tolerate high AGP speeds and the system ran without a problem. The highest FSB we were able to hit was 306 and it was our CPU that was topped out. The MAX3 wanted to go further but without some form of superior cooling, we had to stop.

Now fix it ABIT:mad:

[Tony]

I had this with the IT7 when running mobile cpu's, the fix was to run a divider instead of the fixed pci lock.

maybe worth a try here.

[mkleingeld]

Hopefully to blow some life in this.
What exactly happens to you people when you push it a little too far?
For me the pc just blocks hard and I need to reset it. Only when it does something to stress it though so I'm not really sure yet if it's the cpu temps or the supposed 5-4 issues. Although for me 275mhz would seem very low to run into that problem.
No reboots or bsods or anything, just a freeze.
Curious about this, pls let me know.

[Soulburner]

Any new developments with this board? BIOS fixes? Anyone new just get one and care to add their experiences?

Any problem with HyperX 3200 BH5?

[Colin]

Just got my MAX3 yesterday and it can do 316 MHz FSB completely stable (highest my memory will allow me to go while at 2-2-2-5) and 334 MHz FSB with everything relaxed.

[Soulburner]

Originally posted by Colin
Just got my MAX3 yesterday and it can do 316 MHz FSB completely stable (highest my memory will allow me to go while at 2-2-2-5) and 334 MHz FSB with everything relaxed.
Kick ass. I plan on running it with the 5:4 divider around 300fsb to get the most out of these HyperX with the supplied 3.2vdimm.

Have you encountered any other issues? What BIOS are you using?

[Soulburner]

At only 1.6 vcore??? Holy §§§§...what stepping do you have?

Any mods to the board needed to hit that 333? What can it do on air? Talking about the best air.....SP94 + OCZ Ultra II + 92mm fan?

[mkleingeld]

Yea, I wanna know what you guys did to hit those numbers.
Any extra nb cooling? What bios?
And still my question stands, how does the limit make itself felt?
Does the pc freeze? give errors? reboot? etc?

[Colin]

Originally posted by Soulburner
Have you encountered any other issues? What BIOS are you using? I haven't noticed anything unusual about the motherboard and it's behaved quite nicely. Of course it's only two days old now so perhaps the quirks have not come out yet.

As for BIOS I'm using 13 beta 1. Is that the best one to use? I'm not really sure.

With the default HSF on the Northbrige I was able to do about 325 MHz FSB after I swapped that out wiht the DD Z-Chip I can do 334 MHz.

You can usually tell when your pushing your system to its limit as it'll start crapping out in the 3D benchmark tests and such.

[k|ngp|n]

I know I can go so much farther with this mobo but there is something holding my 3.2c back. anything past 269 is sketchy and windows doesnt report processor speed correctly. I will be at 4.35ghz and it will say 10mhz for processor speed in my computer?? wtf

I am using bios 1.2. I know this thing is capable of 25k+. This malay 3.2 I have only needs 1.675 to run at 4.3ghz and will complete complete 3dmark stable every time but as soon as I go over 268fsb weird things start happening with programs and voltage increases on my ram or cpu don't help.

[Creative]

But the question is, are you guys using 3:2 divider or 5:4?

Cos above 280 the 3:2 was find to 320fsb but the 5:4 was not stable at all after that speed

[Soulburner]

Originally posted by Creative
But the question is, are you guys using 3:2 divider or 5:4?

Cos above 280 the 3:2 was find to 320fsb but the 5:4 was not stable at all after that speed
Thats cuz at 320 you're asking 256mhz out of your RAM....

[k|ngp|n]

I am at 5/4 right now with 268fsb on this 3.2c
My hyperx is running at 216 when fsb is at 269 and I know its good till about 223 at 5-2-2-2.

This config gives me 24900 on 3d01 and it will loop this 4-5 times in a row before my card starts crapping out.

I actually haven't tried going over 270 yet due to problems with 269fsb, but I'm going to today. Another thing I noticed is that this max3 seems to get past it's own sticking points after ahwile........effects of burn in?

Setting the NB mem strap to by cpu seems to have helped alot. I used to leave it at psb800. Also, I only leave cpc disabled and read delay adjust is left on auto.

[Soulburner]

My HyperX 3200 are good to 223 2-2-2-5 as well but it won't run 3DMark past 221. Only 2.85v to work with and I hear the vdimm undervolts on these things.

[ROACH]

Originally posted by Colin
Just got my MAX3 yesterday and it can do 316 MHz FSB completely stable (highest my memory will allow me to go while at 2-2-2-5) and 334 MHz FSB with everything relaxed.

Do you have any benchies or compare links? Did you use a ATI or Nvidia to get over 300fsb?

[Colin]

Haven't had much time to benchmark but here are some initial results.

After a bit of tweaking I was able to run 325 MHz completely stable. ;)

3DMark2001 (http://service.futuremark.com/compare?2k1=7126104) with Radeon 9800 Pro at 535/401

3DMark03 (http://service.futuremark.com/compare?2k3=1445470)

And lastly here (http://members.lycos.co.uk/csmo/Computer/P4%202.4C/) are some benhcmarks with the system stable at 325 MHz FSB and at 334 MHz (only CPU there though as I haven't played much at that speed). Please keep in mind videocard Radeon 9800 Pro is at stock speeds.

Want more benchmarks? ;)

[Creative]

Originally posted by Soulburner
Thats cuz at 320 you're asking 256mhz out of your RAM....
Yep and they can do 260 loose or 245 tight so the ram isnt a problem ;) You have probably taken my comment the wrong way. I mean that I have had the board up to 320 in 3:2 mode but after 285fsb the 5:4 refused to work....:(

Please please dont turn into fan boys. Sure you guys might not have problems with the board but more users did that didnt and as a result have switched to other boards. I know I did and about 3-4 of my mates did too..:)

k|ngp|n, your current cpu allows you to only max out at 270. Most peoples problems kicked in at about the 280-285 range and the 5:4 divider didnt work above there.

pc ice, afaik you have an IS7 and not IC7? Or did u get a new board? :) But yer I agree about not liking to drop to the 3:2 option...niether do i :)

Colin, damn fine numbers there!!! :thumbsup:

[Soulburner]

I am anything but a fanboy, I have always used ASUS. I just am evaluating the hell out of this choice because both seem to be very good boards, just wanna know everything there is to know before I make a choice and make the switch from my current one.

[k|ngp|n]

Yep creative...right on. I tried 270 this morning and it will crash out on lobby every time. When you say 270 is the limit, do you mean for the 3.2c? Or do you mean that the max3's won't let a 3.2c go past 270fsb for stability? at 269 it is stable as hell and if I turn down my card a bit, it will loop 3dmark. The few times I tried 270 this morning it crashed 3d mark. Makes me think it's more of a limiting factor with the board and this proc speed ??270fsb= 4.32ghz?? I am still very happy tho and not complaining. I really wanted 275-280 though.

Also, the 5/4 div issue I figured we were talking about the inability to boot at +2.9v with ocz....:)

Colin really nice overclock......................I should go grab a 2.4c for fun ..they are cheap as hell now.

[gabbax]

Well i do not have any probbs to hit high FSB, this is the MAX OC yet, sadly my M2 went broke.....But it is 3D rock in 311x13 core set to 1.675....

http://www.angelfire.com/extreme4/ati/4200mhz.JPG :toast:

[Colin]

Thanks for hte kind words guys. :D

I just wish my memory woudl allow me to run faster... Already at 3/2. Oh well I guess I shouldn't complain. :)

[Nomjr]

Originally posted by Creative
pc ice, afaik you have an IS7 and not IC7? Or did u get a new board?

That screenie was with the max 3 that he has sold to me along with that 2.4. I'm running it at 310fsb now due to my mem limiting me. He has some hyperx that does around 260 in dc(wish I had em):slobber:


Nomjr

[NaHeMiA]

Wow I think this board is not so bad after all. Can't wait to get my hands on my 2nd one (1st was a pos unless my bh-5 mushkin pc3500 was having compatibility or lack of vdimm)

Those guys who are able to run atleast 270fsb stable WHERE DID YOU BUY YOUR BOARD FROM? I need the exact link.

Apparently some of the resellers still have some of their "old" shipments which are buggy. I have read many reviews on newegg and it looks like everyone was satisfied.

Let me iknow. Thx :banana:

[ROACH]

I got mine at www.newegg.com , but there is a new revisiom 1.1 or you can RMA Abit that fixes the dimm volatage 2.9v and above which flucates, or just do the vdimm modyourself :D