JNav89GT
08-04-2004, 06:34 AM
ok further testing and I'm in love with the OCZ 3500EB 2x512mb kit I have. :)
well not actually in love,but I like them.
Took 4 boards to find a home though.
lemme update you all on my journey.
Board #1 Asus A8V w/working locks. VapoLS, FX53 cpu. OCZ 3500EB. Worked fine at stock, didn't oc worth anything, board died in about 1.5days so no further testing. Sent off for RMA
Board #2 Gigabyte 939 cap and vcore modded. VapoLS, FX53 cpu. Unstable at stock bus speed(Pkrew reported this after cap mod as well) and unstable at .230fsb, moderate stability at 220-230. Fans blowing on dimms. Passess memtest at 240mhz. Same with 2 diff Dual packs of Mushkin Level II PC3500 2x512mb. Board has bad flucuations of vcore. pretty much a POS IMO. Might be an ok unmodded board for someone not oc'ing, but that's not me.
Board #3 Abit AV8 ver 1.1 w/working locks and multipliers, beta bios 13. 1st stable 939 board I worked with. VaooLS with lowered head, Using Opp's(bought/traded him for it) 3800+that is naked. Oc's well(12x245=2940mhz) but limited in how far I can push ram at 1:1 and overall limited to usable 245fsb b/c after that 3d becomes unstable. Need to set OCZ EB to 333 setting so in effect at 245 runs just under 200mhz. Despite this I can pass memtest at 240mhz at cas 3 2:3:8 at 2.8v in bios at 1:1 and 1T command. Windows however dies at desktop. Setting 2T command allows to get into windows but still not stable. Mushkin Level II PC3500 totally unstable even at 200fsb(3 sets tested). Get BSOD/errors installing windows etc... wierd hugh!!!! Mushkin Level I PC3200 ch-5 runs ok, but nothing to write home about. Some cheap hardcorecooling.com BH-5 chipped dimms I have work fine in the Abit as well.
Board #4 Asus A8V replacement. Working locks with 1005.021 beta bios. Prometia machI 507a Modded by Chilly1. Using FX53 for now, will trade this cpu off as it maxes at 2850mhz on phase change. Using initially Mushkin Level II stable at stock, can't push bus past 235-240 even at divided setting of 333. Figure another POS board and ready to box it up and sell. However, got an idea to try some hardcorecooling.com BH-5 ram 2x512mb and now I can run about 260-265 fsb stable at 333 ram setting. Hrm Things get interesting. Then I try OCZ EB 3500 2x512mb kit in blue slots. Run memtest stable at 245mhz, happy with this I boot windows and start prime. Fails in a few mins. Think here we go again. Set to 240 and runs a bit longer but errors. Now I'm thinking I'm getting closer and could stabilize this. Set to 238 and try and runs for 1+ hours at which time I shut it down to monkey with something. Can't remember. Boot back up and try 238 again and fails. Think hrm wtf. Feel dimms and they are burning hot. Even at just 2.8v in bios. So put a 60mm 20cfm fan from old Athlon socket A heatsink and use some sealstring to attach side of fan to prommy head. Now stable at 238 again. Try 240mhz and appears stable but have to shut down after about 1.5-2hrs due to storm that hit area and not wanting to lose hardware. I think now that after fan 240-245mhz is going to be stable. I'm getting over 7000+ in sandra which is great I think.
So there's my tale. I think that the 939 platform is great but I think that most people won't have the luxury of having 4-5 different types of ram to play with. Also, seems running 2x512mb of ram continues to be difficult, as many experience with 754 setups. Certainly, the board manufacturers are grossly at fault for releasing boards that have ram issues/incompatibilities with current/past performance dimms. Out of all the boards I've tried the Abit and Asus(2nd one) have impressed me the most. My abit is a rock although I have to use divided settings and I believe this to be more of a bios issue that should be resolved in time. I think the bios revisions should also address the 3d instability past 245 HTT. The Asus seems to be my best board now. I am pumping out some very decent performance in that system and if I had a graphics card better than a 9800pro to put in there for now I'm sure I could get a decent orb score given my ram speeds etc...
I am thinking the DFI could be the salvation of 939. I think their bios should be well tuned and a fairly open overl:banana::banana::banana::banana:ing platform. I say open b/c at least with the abit, although solid at less than 245HTT the 3d is unstable for me past that. Also, ram in compatibilities could make this board a nightmare for some. Bios definately needs addressing. The Asus in much the same way suffers from similar problems though not quite as bad. I get stable default performance and some oc with Mushkin BH-5's with divided settings. Different branded rams behave strangely in both this and the Abit board suggesting to me very very immature bios's. Combine this with the probability that the DFI should have out of the box decent voltage options should all pushing limits even further, especially with phasechange cooling. For air cooling I have no reservations on recommending the Asus board, and to a lesser extent the Abit board(provided you have ram that will work).
There's my observations and if I had more time and patience I could probably write an article. So what you think?
I am going to sell all 3 sets of my Mushkin Level II and probably pickup another set of OCZ EB ram 3700 flavor. Might also pay to get a set of "benching" ram 3700EB but can't afford it now after dumping so much $$$ in my 2 939 setups. Also plan to get a x800vivo and mod it to XT. Then run some 3d benches and see if I can hit front page. Probably not b/c I don't know all the xtra tweaks and I run XP w/cheese :), but should still put up some decent numbers.
well not actually in love,but I like them.
Took 4 boards to find a home though.
lemme update you all on my journey.
Board #1 Asus A8V w/working locks. VapoLS, FX53 cpu. OCZ 3500EB. Worked fine at stock, didn't oc worth anything, board died in about 1.5days so no further testing. Sent off for RMA
Board #2 Gigabyte 939 cap and vcore modded. VapoLS, FX53 cpu. Unstable at stock bus speed(Pkrew reported this after cap mod as well) and unstable at .230fsb, moderate stability at 220-230. Fans blowing on dimms. Passess memtest at 240mhz. Same with 2 diff Dual packs of Mushkin Level II PC3500 2x512mb. Board has bad flucuations of vcore. pretty much a POS IMO. Might be an ok unmodded board for someone not oc'ing, but that's not me.
Board #3 Abit AV8 ver 1.1 w/working locks and multipliers, beta bios 13. 1st stable 939 board I worked with. VaooLS with lowered head, Using Opp's(bought/traded him for it) 3800+that is naked. Oc's well(12x245=2940mhz) but limited in how far I can push ram at 1:1 and overall limited to usable 245fsb b/c after that 3d becomes unstable. Need to set OCZ EB to 333 setting so in effect at 245 runs just under 200mhz. Despite this I can pass memtest at 240mhz at cas 3 2:3:8 at 2.8v in bios at 1:1 and 1T command. Windows however dies at desktop. Setting 2T command allows to get into windows but still not stable. Mushkin Level II PC3500 totally unstable even at 200fsb(3 sets tested). Get BSOD/errors installing windows etc... wierd hugh!!!! Mushkin Level I PC3200 ch-5 runs ok, but nothing to write home about. Some cheap hardcorecooling.com BH-5 chipped dimms I have work fine in the Abit as well.
Board #4 Asus A8V replacement. Working locks with 1005.021 beta bios. Prometia machI 507a Modded by Chilly1. Using FX53 for now, will trade this cpu off as it maxes at 2850mhz on phase change. Using initially Mushkin Level II stable at stock, can't push bus past 235-240 even at divided setting of 333. Figure another POS board and ready to box it up and sell. However, got an idea to try some hardcorecooling.com BH-5 ram 2x512mb and now I can run about 260-265 fsb stable at 333 ram setting. Hrm Things get interesting. Then I try OCZ EB 3500 2x512mb kit in blue slots. Run memtest stable at 245mhz, happy with this I boot windows and start prime. Fails in a few mins. Think here we go again. Set to 240 and runs a bit longer but errors. Now I'm thinking I'm getting closer and could stabilize this. Set to 238 and try and runs for 1+ hours at which time I shut it down to monkey with something. Can't remember. Boot back up and try 238 again and fails. Think hrm wtf. Feel dimms and they are burning hot. Even at just 2.8v in bios. So put a 60mm 20cfm fan from old Athlon socket A heatsink and use some sealstring to attach side of fan to prommy head. Now stable at 238 again. Try 240mhz and appears stable but have to shut down after about 1.5-2hrs due to storm that hit area and not wanting to lose hardware. I think now that after fan 240-245mhz is going to be stable. I'm getting over 7000+ in sandra which is great I think.
So there's my tale. I think that the 939 platform is great but I think that most people won't have the luxury of having 4-5 different types of ram to play with. Also, seems running 2x512mb of ram continues to be difficult, as many experience with 754 setups. Certainly, the board manufacturers are grossly at fault for releasing boards that have ram issues/incompatibilities with current/past performance dimms. Out of all the boards I've tried the Abit and Asus(2nd one) have impressed me the most. My abit is a rock although I have to use divided settings and I believe this to be more of a bios issue that should be resolved in time. I think the bios revisions should also address the 3d instability past 245 HTT. The Asus seems to be my best board now. I am pumping out some very decent performance in that system and if I had a graphics card better than a 9800pro to put in there for now I'm sure I could get a decent orb score given my ram speeds etc...
I am thinking the DFI could be the salvation of 939. I think their bios should be well tuned and a fairly open overl:banana::banana::banana::banana:ing platform. I say open b/c at least with the abit, although solid at less than 245HTT the 3d is unstable for me past that. Also, ram in compatibilities could make this board a nightmare for some. Bios definately needs addressing. The Asus in much the same way suffers from similar problems though not quite as bad. I get stable default performance and some oc with Mushkin BH-5's with divided settings. Different branded rams behave strangely in both this and the Abit board suggesting to me very very immature bios's. Combine this with the probability that the DFI should have out of the box decent voltage options should all pushing limits even further, especially with phasechange cooling. For air cooling I have no reservations on recommending the Asus board, and to a lesser extent the Abit board(provided you have ram that will work).
There's my observations and if I had more time and patience I could probably write an article. So what you think?
I am going to sell all 3 sets of my Mushkin Level II and probably pickup another set of OCZ EB ram 3700 flavor. Might also pay to get a set of "benching" ram 3700EB but can't afford it now after dumping so much $$$ in my 2 939 setups. Also plan to get a x800vivo and mod it to XT. Then run some 3d benches and see if I can hit front page. Probably not b/c I don't know all the xtra tweaks and I run XP w/cheese :), but should still put up some decent numbers.