Getting rid of my P4C800-E for a....

[rsandru]

Ok, now I've had enough of it... I'm fed up with the Vcore of my P4C800-E going all over the place and I'm fed up with it crashing and being unable to reset the CMOS, or whatever.... it locks completely and it takes me three hours of CMOS resets to have it back working - and it's my second board (a Rev 2.0 now). I'm spending more time tweaking my rig than playing... :mad:

I know about the "droop" mod so the AD voltage regulator doesn't drop the Vcore when under load but the chip is just under the MachII's hermetic cell and I'm not sure that I'll get good seal for everyday 7x24 use. I just want a board that keeps it's vcore to what I set and doesn't get locked when I try to OC it.

I can't understand how anyone can be happy with this board and phase-chage.. :cussing:

Here's my setup:
Mach II
P4 3.0
Corsair CMX256A-3500C2 x2
P4C800-E Dlx (crap AFAIK)

I'm targeting 3.9- 4.0Ghz (260-270 FSB @5:4) and *stable* under *any* condition and my next move is to switch to an IC7-G.

Am I going to have the same vcore problems with the Abit???
:brick:

Is it worth changing??????

Cheers

[typer77]

I know ic7max3 had a big fsb/ratio issue. But is it the same with Ic7-G? I am tempted to build another rig....

[rsandru]

Originally posted by typer77
I know ic7max3 had a big fsb/ratio issue. But is it the same with Ic7-G? I am tempted to build another rig....

AFAIK this has been fixed with the most recent BIOS. Software can always be fixed ;)

[rsandru]

Hmmm, any opinions from one of the Abit owners ??

Thx

[sadcat]

I own both Max 3 and P4C800. The Asus overclocks the processor farther (with the Vdimm volt mod). All my best scores on 3DMark are with the Asus. However I never had the much talked about divider problem with the Abit either. My choice is Asus for now.

[climbski]

Although the voltage regulation on the ASUS blows I haven't found it to be a serious problem for OCing..It's certainly not my limiting factor. Every board has it's drwbacks but the ASUS has the least and the least important ones.

[TysonM]

Just last night I was reading about people complaining that the IC7 Max3 has a vmem bug above 2.9v.. where the vmem swings too wildly above it. Someone's been waiting a month for a bios that will fix it (if it ever can be fixed). So don't jump on the MAX3 just yet.. there's quite a number of people that dont like this board.

[Vatt]

I totally agree with topicstarter. I have EXACTLY the same issue's.
It seems the CMOS clear jumper doesn't even work!!!

I also owned a Abit IC7-G and IC7-MAX3. Both boards died within 2 weeks due to condensation from my MachII.
But those boards were absolutely stable and required very little vcore.

Asus --> BIOS 1.775 --> dropped to 1.635 under load
Abit ---> BIOS 1.675 --> dropped to 1.635 under load

So the Abit needs a whole 0.1 v less to attain the same speeds.
And the best is, there were no random reboots. It was rock stable.

Now this sh*t P4C800-E , behaves very differently. I can't get it stable even at FSB 250(5:4). The same CPU did FSB 280(5:4) on my IC7-MAX3.

I could go on , but I think you know what my suggestion is.
Buy the MAX3 asap !! and throw the P4C800 in the garbage

[CrashOv3r1De]

I had the MAX3 and it was horrible. I could not overclock my P4 3.0C past 3.3Ghz at all no matter what divider I used. The problem was not the cpu because dogman had it at 3.6 on air w/ his P4C800 Deluxe. I tried bios updates aswell. Vdimm above 2.9 was all over the place. I set the vdimm to 2.9 but it would show 3.2~3.48 in Winbound Hardware Doctor. There are soem MAX3 boards that work and when they do their unbeatable however getting a working one is difficult. I got mine from excaliberpc and it did not overclock well at all. However I read some reviews of the MAX# from Newegg and almost every user was satisfied!

I think you should try a P4C800 Deluxe-E from Newegg or just a P4C800 Deluxe. IMHO its a great board. Easily got my 2.4C to 3.4Ghzon air w// stock hsf.

[JoeBar]

Originally posted by climbski
Although the voltage regulation on the ASUS blows I haven't found it to be a serious problem for OCing..It's certainly not my limiting factor. Every board has it's drwbacks but the ASUS has the least and the least important ones.

I agree with u.

[rsandru]

Ok guys, so I've finally bought a MAX3 as well (now my wife *really* hates me...) and I'm going to be able to thoroughly compare it with the P4C800-E.

Since I'll be forced to use the dividers (I use Corsair 3500C2) we'll see if this is still a problem with the most recent BIOS. As for the Vmem fluctuating, I'm not going to go over 2.9 anyway so I see it as less of a problem than the Vcore going down.

My rig's been working perfectly (cpuburn and Prime stable) up to 3820Mhz @ 1.6v in the P4C800-E (higher than that I've always had a Prime95 failure after a few hours). The Vcore problem starts becoming very annoying when you try feeding it 1.65 or 1.7v. Since the integrated voltage regulator is designed to go only up to 1.6, ASUS had to implement a voltage offset to go higher. I found that the P4C doesn't undervolt too much at anything <1.6 volts. Above that it's a POS...

CrashOv3r1De: Wish me good luck ;) I hope yours was an isolated case.

climbski: I suppose it depends on your cooling. It's less of a problem on air or with W/C but under phase-change you need a board that behaves correctly when it needs to pump quite a lot of amps through the PCB. While I have no doubt that the three-phase power design of the Asus is very good, (macci's been doing 5Ghz on it if I remember well...), I'm not impressed by the voltage regulator IC they've used.

Cheers :thumbsup:

[althes]

Originally posted by rsandru
Ok guys, so I've finally bought a MAX3 as well (now my wife *really* hates me...) and I'm going to be able to thoroughly compare it with the P4C800-E.

Since I'll be forced to use the dividers (I use Corsair 3500C2) we'll see if this is still a problem with the most recent BIOS. As for the Vmem fluctuating, I'm not going to go over 2.9 anyway so I see it as less of a problem than the Vcore going down.

My rig's been working perfectly (cpuburn and Prime stable) up to 3820Mhz @ 1.6v in the P4C800-E (higher than that I've always had a Prime95 failure after a few hours). The Vcore problem starts becoming very annoying when you try feeding it 1.65 or 1.7v. Since the integrated voltage regulator is designed to go only up to 1.6, ASUS had to implement a voltage offset to go higher. I found that the P4C doesn't undervolt too much at anything <1.6 volts. Above that it's a POS...

CrashOv3r1De: Wish me good luck ;) I hope yours was an isolated case.

climbski: I suppose it depends on your cooling. It's less of a problem on air or with W/C but under phase-change you need a board that behaves correctly when it needs to pump quite a lot of amps through the PCB. While I have no doubt that the three-phase power design of the Asus is very good, (macci's been doing 5Ghz on it if I remember well...), I'm not impressed by the voltage regulator IC they've used.

Cheers :thumbsup:
Wish you luck.Lets see what happens.:D

[CrashOv3r1De]

Good luck althens I hope your max3 treats you well. If not stab it in the back and ebay it (thats what i did lol =D)

[luihed]

This is kinda late now that you have bought a new board already but you might wanna try the 1007-12or 13 bios for the P4C800..... that bios is for the nonE version but check if it is the same as yours or if the E version has a similar bios..... the reason is that I find every bios that came after the 1007.13 were crappy......

My non E P4C is completely stable, as for the voltage fluctuation, mine will overvolt lots at idle but when loaded it goes to what voltage you set it in the bios....

Good luck with the Max3

[sinn]

man i am torn between what mobo to get for my 2.4c system, i really want a max3 but they just dont seem to be very consistent, good luck with yours, its performance will probly influence my purchase alot

[rsandru]

Ok guys, just finished installing the IC7-MAX3 and here are my first impressions/remarks/findings:

1) Product packaging is much nicer (neat & tidy), but you don't get the free DVD software like the P4C800-E

2) A sticker on the board says rev 1.0.

3) It was shipped with BIOS 12

4) The board really looks good with the black PCB & OTES LEDs on

5) I've had no issues with the NB fan and OTES system when mounting the Mach II cooling head.

Now for the more interesting stuff:

- Flashed BIOS v13 and had a few issues with the SATA settings but after some changes I've been able to boot on my existing RAID 0 & Windows XP I did install on the P4C800-E (good news.... :banana: ) No issues to be seen - just some minor reconfiguration. (Espcially the sound drivers)

- I've set my memory to 5:4 an I'm having absolutely no issues. I haven't played much with the timings yet - just manually set it to the std values for the Corsair 3500 (7-3-3-2).

- I've set the Vcore to 1.7v and did some CpuBurn: It almost doesn't move :D

AT LAST!!!!!!

It's doing 1.73 when idling and goes down to 1.68 on load.

- I've tried the FSB above 255 and it seems to boot fine at 267x15 = 4005Mhz...

Now for the issues:

- There's an IC that gets in the way of the Mach II's mounting bracket and because of it I'm getting bad contact with the cooling head. Sadly I'm out of seal string (it's ordered already)... so I won't be able to fix it immediately :(

The end result is that I'm idling @ -16°C instead of @ -33°C with a Vcore = 1.75v.

So far so good - I'll keep posting what I might find along the way but initial feeling is very positive.

Happy overclocking!!

:toast:

[Soulburner]

Very nice. Still a tough choice between MAX3, P4C800E or the Epox because they are all very fine boards capable of 300fsb+.

[Creative]

Sure theres a cap in the way?

I had no problems mounting a Mac2 on a MAx23 board - very very east and ample room if i remember correctly :thumbsup:

Make sure its being fitted correctly :)

[Vatt]

No, he doesn't mean a cap, he says a IC. ;) A flat chip that is right under the bracket. ;) ;)
I also had that problem, but the same goes for the P4C800-E. That also has a IC under the bracket.
I have a P4 without heatspreader, so I needed to lower that bracket, and I just shaved a little off the bracket so it doesn't touch the IC.

I told you , you would be happy with the MAX3. It has been my best board so far, and it is incredibly fast. At lower speeds, it even outperforms my P4C800-E.

One thing, the temps on the MAX3 are totally different than the temps on the P4C800. I have measured almost 15°C difference, but I'm sure it is only a difference in measurement. Abit just calculates the temps differently then Asus does. I guess your temps are just right.

[rsandru]

Originally posted by Vatt
No, he doesn't mean a cap, he says a IC. ;) A flat chip that is right under the bracket. ;) ;)
I also had that problem, but the same goes for the P4C800-E. That also has a IC under the bracket.

Yep, the P4C800-E has the voltage regulator IC just under the bracket but it's a really thin component so I didn't have any issues with it. This one's a bit thicker and it's along the long edge of the hermetic cell just below the OTES. I'll cut a small bit of the upper bracket plastic so it fits really perfectly. :)


One thing, the temps on the MAX3 are totally different than the temps on the P4C800. I have measured almost 15°C difference, but I'm sure it is only a difference in measurement. Abit just calculates the temps differently then Asus does. I guess your temps are just right.

Interesting ... do you believe that the CPU diode can be read differently depending on the motherboard BIOS and/or monitoring system/chip???

I thought that this reading is more or less independent of the board/chipset on the P4.

Oh BTW, I suppose you mean 15°C more than what other boards read no?

[JoeBar]

Originally posted by luihed
This is kinda late now that you have bought a new board already but you might wanna try the 1007-12or 13 bios for the P4C800..... that bios is for the nonE version but check if it is the same as yours or if the E version has a similar bios..... the reason is that I find every bios that came after the 1007.13 were crappy......

Why do u say that bios later than 1007.013 are crappy?
I have a P4C800 with 1013 bios installed. I've used all bios (beta and final) and haven't had any probs or serious performance diffs from one to another.

[Ewok]

ive used them all from 1002 to 1011 and havent noticed any performance difference or problems or overclocking differences either.